...was a good place for healthy and meaningful discussions about confidence, health, and family, according to organizer Brenda Barritt.
The conference, which sold out roughly a week before its April 24 date at the Stettler Community Centre, is a joint project between Stettler Adult Learning and the Stettler Board of Trade.
It had originally begun years ago as an office administrator's event, according to Stacey Benjamin with the Board of Trade. When it was noticed that most of the attendees were women, it expanded into the women's conference, now in its third year.
“It was fantastic,” Barritt said. “The parking lot was very full at 8:30 a.m.”
She said that companies even paid for people at some of their out of town branches to come to the conference. While companies sprung for a lot of their employees, though, some people were independently registered with friends just to have a day out with their friends.
“All of our speakers were really well-received,” Barritt said. It was speaker Laurie Widmark, a senior manager with the government of Alberta, who seemed to have made the biggest impact.
“Personally, she was one of my faves,” Barritt said.
With more than 20 years of experience in the fields of social work and organizational culture, Widmark has come to specialize in human behaviour, especially in complex or stressful environments.
She spoke about self-confidence, using a mix of science, social science and humour to keep the crowd entertained, all the while ensuring everyone left the conference feeling like they were able to take steps to boost their self-confidence.
Also well-received was a panel of health-care specialists – doctors and nurses – who hosted a health care panel. Guests at the conference were able to ask anything about women's health and how it changes, with health care specialists on hand to answer the questions.
“We had a lot of healthy conversation about our bodies and our health,” Barritt said.