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MainEvent® 2000 Description


On April 5, 2000 over 30 of the world's most inspiring women gathered as part of The Mother of All Business Events, an unprecedented one day live event for business and professional women that took place via global satellite in hundreds of local theaters, university auditoriums and corporate headquarters.


Topics for MainEvent® 2000

Goods On Goods
How do women influence the marketing and consumption of goods?
The marketing of products affects every aspect of our lives and shapes our tastes for products and services, from baby lotion to elder care. With sophisticated tools like focus groups and demographic studies, marketers seek to understand every aspect of the consumer's life. How much of it is answering a real consumer need? How much is focusing only on the bottom line? What is a woman's role as a consumer in this relationship? What's her responsibility when she is the marketer? Health New practices, new delivery systems, and new discoveries: What's the impact on women? New options regarding traditional and non-traditional medicines and medical practices. A rapidly growing population of seniors. New and dangerous viruses. Opportunities for childbearing at increasingly older ages. Advances in genetic engineering. Debates over the most effective delivery systems. Which challenges and opportunities within the healthcare priorities do women set? What obstacles do we face? How do we work with regulators?

Featuring:
• Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, Street Signs, CNBC
• Carolee Friedlander, President & CEO, Carolee Designs, Inc.
• Josie Natori, CEO, The Natori Company
• Irene Rosenfeld, President, Kraft Canada, Inc.
• Lillian Vernon, CEO, Lillian Vernon Corporation

Leadership
How has women's style of leadership changed work environments and the world beyond?

Whether you work for someone else, run a small business (or dream about it) or lead a global enterprise, the pressures and responsibilities of free enterprise affect you. How does your business handle its responsibilities to its employees and their families? How does a small business survive in the global marketplace? Can businesses be family-friendly and stay competitive? How?

Featuring:
• David Gergen, Professor of Public Service, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; Editor-at-Large, U.S. News & World Report
• Rt. Honourable Kim Campbell, Consul General of Canada and former Prime Minister of Canada
• Maxine Clark, Chief Executive Bear, Build-A-Bear Workshops
• Eileen Friars, Former President, Consumer Card Division, Bank of America
• Sally Helgesen, Author, The Female Advantage
• Anita Roddick, Founder and Co-Chair, The Body Shop International, PLC

Powerful Ways Women are Changing the World of Work
Tom Peters, Author, Tom Peters Company

Get A Life
Putting work in perspective.
Because technology has found a place in the home as well as the office, the line between work and leisure blurs more each day. Because we're a mobile society, families live several states apart. So when you need to "get a life," what kind of life are you getting? Is it possible to slow down in the age of the nanosecond? How does the gradual development of real intimacy occur in an age that encourages instant gratification? How much of your stress is self-created? How much is a sign of the times? E-volution How can women take advantage of the risks and promises of the new media? The Internet gives us the ability to reach more people with more information more rapidly than ever. How is your business taking advantage of this e-volution? Are we using this formidable tool only to meet the demands of the next business quarter rather than our long-term future? As a gateway for free speech, the Internet poses a host of challenges. How does a free society balance individual rights with community responsibilities? What are the gains and losses we've experienced since the birth of the Internet? What does the future look like?

Featuring:
• Gail Blanke, President and CEO, Gail Blanke's Lifedesign
• Tom Peters, Author, tompeterscompany!
• Dawn Riley, CEO and Captain, America True (America's Cup Sailing Syndicate)

Money, Money, Money
Now that we're earning more, how are we spending it, investing it and giving it away?
Women are working more and earning more than ever. What's been the impact of women's new found financial independence on our lives and our relationships? Where does our money go? How does our spending influence the market? How does it influence the culture? What is our attitude toward saving? How are we investing it? How equitable is this age of affluence? And how do women exercise power through philanthropy?

Featuring:
• Holly Taylor Sargent, Senior Associate Dean for External Affairs, The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
• Deborah Coleman, Partner, SmartForest Ventures
• Myra Hart, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School; Founding Officer, Staples, Inc.
• Doris Meister, Chairman and CEO, Merrill Lynch Trust Company
• Muriel Siebert, Chair and President, Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc.
• Lulu C. Wang, Chairman and CEO, Tupelo Capital Management
• Marie C. Wilson, President, Ms. Foundation for Women; President, The White House Project

Media & Culture
How do women influence what we see, hear and play with?

As the architects of culture, how do women as leaders of communication and entertainment affect what we see, hear and do? How strong is our influence? How much do we answer the needs of the citizens, audiences and students we serve? And what is the role and responsibility of audiences in this relationship? How does a democratic society define taste?

Featuring:
• Cristina Saralegui, CEO, Cristina Saralegui Enterprises, Inc.
• Carole Black, President & CEO, Lifetime Entertainment Services
• Goldie Hawn, Academy Award Winning Actress, Producer, Director; CEO of Cherry Alley Production
• Dr. Federica Olivares, Publisher & CEO of Edizioni Olivares
• Harriet Rubin, Author, The Princessa; Contributing Editor and Columnist, Fast Company


With Special Video Appearances By:
• Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Correspondent, CNN; Contributing Correspondent, CBS 60 Minutes
• Christine Lagarde, Chairman, Baker & McKenzie
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO, Carlson Companies, Inc.
• Kate Spade, Designer/Partner, Kate Spade
• Cynthia Trudell, President and Chairwoman, Saturn Corporation, General Motors
• Margaret C. Whitman, President and CEO, eBay


Audience Response From MainEvent 2000

Trisha G., Los Angeles says:
"Everyone at my site ended the day inspired and renewed and overflowing with excitement! Your event has made me rethink and reorient my goals, plan, and expectations and I intend to spread the word far and wide about next year's event!!! Pretty cool!!!"

smiling in denver, colorado says:
"I feel like a new women. The event yesterday was wonderful. I feel as if I can do anything this morning. The women on the money panel were wonderful!!!! Keep it going!!!!!!"

J. Cole, Washington DC says:
"I think this discussion about philanthropy was the most inspired of the day!!! Anita Roddick raised the issue in the morning and it was exciting to see that it was picked up later in the day. Because of the distance we have traveled, women should set an example by helping others who are presently marginalized in our society. This shows the greatest progress of all!"

Kristin K. - Harvard
"Bravo! Congratulations. We received great reviews from the students!"

Carol K. - Chicago
"The programming was wonderful. The women who worked for major corporations were extremely impressed, one of whom said she would take the program back to her office and hold a meeting for all her managers to discuss passion for what you do."

K. Whitby - Stamford, CT
"What a fantastic day! The Mother of all Events was truly amazing. I felt like a million dollars just being there."

Emily C. - Mexico
"Rave reviews for Women.future! I live part time in Mexico and drove a small contingent of Mexican businesswomen over the border to attend the event in Texas!"

Lenore - Dallas
"Thank you so very much for giving me the opportunity to participate in the most fantastic event of the year. The day went much too quickly. The diversity of the presenters made the whole day unforgettable. The theme that I picked up on was "Passion." I never thought about how important that word is in our job and home. My favorite segment was "Leadership." The women were dynamic, down-to-earth and informative."

Roberta - Singapore
"We all enjoyed it so much here in Singapore. The speakers and topics were all so wonderful. Congratulations on making this historic event possible!

Kathy G. - Phoenix
"The MainEvent was everything you promised and much, much more. I hope it will blossom into a cultural monument in the business community of the future. We can tell our grandkids we were part of the first broadcast!"

Anonymous - London
"No doubt about it. This is the seed of something important."

John B. - Florida
"As a man watching this, I realized what women can teach us about the new leadership. Show the video tape to every male executive and change the world!"


MainEvent 2000 Sponsors

Title Sponsor: Merrill Lynch
Sponsors: Baker & McKenzie, British Telecommunications, Ernst & Young, Futurestep, NYSE
Strategic Partners: BusinessWeek, The Committee of 200, Lifetime Television, StarMedia Network, Women.com Networks