About Us What's Happening News 2012 CanWIT National Spring Newsletter
CanWIT National Spring Newsletter
June 5, 2012
Welcome to our 2012 Spring newsletter! We'd like to begin with a huge congratulations to three wonderful CanWIT women who were honoured this year for their achievements! Our BC Chapter co-chair, Joanne Hausch, was recently honoured with a Peak Award in the category of Community Legacy for her dedication to her community, including her work with CanWIT. Two members of the BC Chapter, Valerie Mann, a Partner at Lawson Lundell LLP, and Catherine Aczel Boivie, CEO, Inventure Solutions, and Senior Vice-President, Information Technology, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, were both recognized as two of Canada's Top 100 Influential Women. Congratulations to Joanne, Val, and Catherine!
CanWIT is also pleased to announce its newest National partners: Accenture, Cisco, and TD Bank! Welcome to the CanWIT team, your support is invaluable to advance the growth of our mandate in Canada's technology sector.
Our new eMentorship program, funded by Status of Women Canada, continues to grow since its official launch in December. Mentorship is invaluable to women in technology and with our new on-line platform we strive to make relationships as efficient and effective as possible. We're always recruiting new mentors and mentees to engage with this important platform, so we do encourage you to sign-up as a mentor or mentee at: http://canwit.workingrooms.com/
Our National VP of Leadership Development, Anne Raymond, hosted the second session of our National Ask the Expert Webinar series on May 22nd. It was an excellent session featuring Dr. Cindy Gordon, who explored how businesses can go virtual through leveraging collaboration and social media. The next session of our Ask the Expert Webinar Series takes place on Oct. 9th and will look at 'unleashing the power of personal productivity.' This session will encourage participants to focus on strategic direction in order to think bigger and act bolder. Register today!
At a National level, we're also pleased to announce that the 2012 winner of the CanWIT Sara Kirke Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award is Valerie Fox, Executive Director of Ryerson University's Digital Media Zone! Valerie was honoured with the award at the 27th Annual CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Gala on May 30th.
On behalf of the CanWIT Executive team, we hope that you have a relaxing summer to celebrate your successful spring as Canadian women in tech!
Best wishes,
Sandra Saric and Shann McGrail,
CanWIT National Co-Chairs
Lessons in Leadership
Profile on Claudia Thompson, Senior Executive, Accenture
Claudia Thompson began her career with Accenture directly after graduating from Queen's University with a Bachelor of Commerce. As she's climbed the corporate ladder to her current role as the lead for Accenture's Health & Public Service work in Canada, her journey has been supported by strong mentors who helped Claudia advance to be one of the top female executives in Canada. She's now rewarded with the opportunity to give this same support back to all employees, through her additional role as the Managing Director of Human Capital and Diversity for Accenture Canada, where she is helping build an inclusive workplace for women and all employees within Accenture. Recognizing the importance that inspiring leaders played in her own career development, Claudia kindly met with CanWIT to share the leadership lessons she's learned with other women in technology.
Climbing the Corporate Ladder with Accenture
Sharing her experiences within the corporate sector, Claudia notes the key skills that assisted her advancement to a leadership role. Advice that she readily shares with her 14 year-old son is something she also shares with women in the tech sector: start building relationships and networks now. As a firm believer that the natural development of relationships is based on trust, Claudia places importance of building networks both within and outside your organization.
"Demonstrating motivation, communicating effectively, and the ability to re-invent oneself to be relevant to changing markets are key leadership skills," says Claudia. "And while it's important to have career goals, it's just as important to be flexible on your path to obtaining them. Otherwise you may miss an important opportunity while you're focusing on a single direction."
Pillars of Success
Mentorship and networking are two sorts of opportunities, in particular, for which Claudia is an advocate. She has had the benefit of gaining professional insight from both informal and formal mentors throughout her career. While formal career counseling and coaching have been integral staples within Accenture, Claudia has also made a point of building relationships with natural informal mentors easily found within her company.
"My mentors have had an invaluable impact on the way I lead my teams today. One of the greatest lessons I've learned along the way is that we often hold back on sharing our goals and aspirations with our mentors, but it's a really valuable part of the mentorship process. To help you get ahead, your mentors need to know where you want to go," says Claudia.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Claudia has gained valuable insight from being a mentor to others. "Mentoring keeps me challenged and fresh. What better way to understand a younger generation in your business. It's a great way to engage the youth within the company," adds Claudia.
Share Your Story
Claudia encourages all women leaders to share their stories, to help inspire a new generation of women leaders. "I continue to hear feedback from women early in their career that they are looking for role models in executive positions. It's critical that we become advocates to help our women know that they can advance within the company."
At Accenture, women are sharing their stories through the Accenture Women's Network, under the theme of Defining success. Your way, and recognized annually through Accenture's celebration of International Women's Day.
Meet Accenture, National Gold Partner of CanWIT
Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, is proud to be a new National Gold Partner of Canadian Women in Technology.
At Accenture, we strongly believe that attracting, retaining and promoting women is critical to the success of our company. It's why we have more than 80,000 women-nearly 35% of our global workforce-contributing to an environment that's rich in diversity, acknowledges each individual's strengths and promotes respect, personal achievement and stewardship.
Learn more about Accenture, our commitment to women and our new partnership with CanWIT.
Check out careers at Accenture
Social Media tips on Engagement
Most fan pages forget about the "social" part of social media. When you ask businesses what they expect from their fan page they say," I want to sell products and make money." Which is exactly what their competitor wants to do and the main reason why people will not become your fan. People don't want to be sold to, especially by someone who doesn't acknowledge them or make an effort to be different than everyone else.
The reality is that everyone wants to be acknowledged for what they do; that what they do is important and of some value. That is where the "social" part of social media comes into play.
Here are some tips to help with creating value and increase engagement on your fan page:
Put "Yes or No" in front of a post and see the response.
Try these on your page:
- Yes or No, do you wear make-up even if you're not leaving the house?
- Yes or No, do you like our posts?
- Yes or No, have you been in our store before?
- Yes or No, do you have a fan page?
You can also combine photos with a question; it will help in getting more "Likes" or comments. It's this type of engagement that fans LOVE!
Lynne Conrad
Community Manager and Founder
Activ8 Business
@activ8business
Facebook.com/activ8business
Chapter Updates:
BC ChapterThe BC Chapter has had a busy and incredibly successful spring! They held their spring Signature Lunch with over 80 attendees. Dr. Nancy McKay, well known author of The Talent Advantage presented and a silent auction was held with proceeds going to the YWCA. The Chapter is currently preparing for their next Circle of Wisdom event on June 11th, 2012 Be Confident and Be Yourself!. This session features Laurie Schultz, President & Chief Operating Officer at ACL Services Ltd., Board of Directors at British Columbia Technology Industry Association, Director at Dress for Success. Hear first hand stories from Laurie on how she reached senior levels with confidence and come away feeling motivated and inspired. Register today
The BC Chapter is sponsored by Deloitte & Touche LLP, Knowledgetech Consulting, Lawson Lundell LLP and VanCity Savings Credit Union.
Waterloo Chapter
The Waterloo Chapter is hosting their next networking Pub Night on June 13th. Join guest speaker Andrea Johnson, Partner, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, as she discusses crowdfunding, the new US JOBS Act, and how it affects the tech industry here in Canada. Register online at: http://watwit.eventbrite.ca/?ebtv=C
Waterloo's executive team is currently preparing for their Mentorship workshop with Dr. Suzie Labonne. Be sure to follow Waterloo WIT (@WatWIT) to stay up-to-date with their latest events!
Ottawa Chapter
The Ottawa Chapter completed their 2011-12 Professional Development series on May 29th. This speaker series was limited to smaller groups and facilitated by local professionals to provide an intimate and interactive setting. Ottawa recently hosted a successful Circle of Wisdom on professional development and managing-up.
Toronto Chapter
The Toronto Chapter kicked-off the start of their successful 6-session Professional Development series this spring and they are now in full-swing with additional networking events! The Chapter's fourth PD session will take place Sept 6th entitled Win-Win Workplace Conversations. This unique session is facilitated by Suzanne Park, M.Ed., DHR, Park Vandal and Associates and will provide strategic solutions for refining your negotiation skills. Toronto also has a summer-starter networking Pub Night on June 19th. Mark these dates on your calendar and register online.
Photo gallery from Toronto's 2nd PD Session with Liz Riddick on May 10th
Atlantic Chapter
The Atlantic Chapter recently hosted a great 'Girls Talk Tech' session with Dalhousie University's Women in Tech Society, featuring Julia Rivard, co-Owner of the Norex.com Group of Companies, Adrien Adler, Senior Consultant for The Barrington Consulting Group Inc., and Dr. Carolyn Watters of the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University. The Atlantic Chapter was also pleased to present on CanWIT's eMentorship program at the Canadian Coalition for Women in Engineering, Science, Trades, and Technology (CCWESTT) 14th Biennial Conference in Halifax. The Atlantic executive team is currently planning their Mentorship Matters session with Dr. Suzie Labonne for the upcoming Fall, as well as other events. The Atlantic Chapter would also like to congratulate their Chapter Chair, Laura O'Blenis, on the arrival of her baby girl Anna Frances Richardson (perhaps a future CanWIT member)! Congrats Laura! Please follow the Atlantic Chapter on Twitter @CanWITAtlantic.
The Atlantic Chapter would like to thank its Sponsors and Affiliate Partners for their support:
BMO, Centre for Women in Business, Dalhousie Women in Tech Society (DalWiTS), Digital Nova Scotia, NATI, Sweet Spot Marketing, Tech South East, The Discovery Centre
Photo gallery from CanWIT Atlantic's Girls Talk Tech Session (Photo credit: Chantal Routhier Photography)
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