#GIRLPOWER: Our Key Takeaways from the Annual Girls Who Print Day Online Conference 2024
From confidence and representation to turning ‘flaws’ into ‘strengths’ and channelling your inner #GIRLPOWER, the 12th Annual GWP Online Conference took place on November 7th, bringing together women of print from all corners of the globe. Here are a few of our takeaways.
The day kicked off with a welcome from Girl #1 at Girls Who Print and Ambassador to The Printerverse at Print Media Centr, Deborah Corn, followed by discussions from representatives from GWP EMEA and GWP Africa.
Danna Drion, General Manager of Marketing and Product Management at Mimaki Europe and Jennifer Kolloczek, Sr Director of Marketing & Innovation at Canon EMEA representing Girls Who Print EMEA, discussed their commitment to fostering career growth, education, mentorship, and networking opportunities for students and women in the industry as well as outlining plans for 2025.
Key focuses included strengthening GWP Europe’s advisory boards, enhancing EMEA content through localised news and updates on the GWP website and social channels, and fostering opportunities for learning and mentorship in local languages.
Following this, we were joined by Ayanfeoluwa Ibitoye representing GWP Africa who delivered her talk both via the virtual conference and to a room of 50 women of print in Nigeria. Ayanfeoluwa provided inspiring insights into the power of networking and investing in your community, as well as highlighting the importance of mentorships and utilising empathy as a strength to foster stronger relationships and connections.
Girls Who Print Goes Global!
It’s all systems go at GWP Africa with Ayanfeoluwa announcing plans for three events including in Ghana and South Africa, demonstrating the rapid growth and reach the GWP movement is gaining.
This growing global reach was emphasised by Deborah who informed attendees that alongside Kelly Mallozzi, Principal at Success in Print, Elected Official: Connecticut District 6 Council Member, and Mentor Matchtress, her work in 2025 will be predominately centred around GWP with the initiative being registered as an official Not for Profit organisation.
This will enable GWP to increase its support of women in the industry, and plans are currently in the pipeline to launch GWP India, Brazil, Middle East, Japan, and Latina to broaden the reach of GWP further.
Kelly said: “As big as this world is, the world is small. We are all networks. Each of us is a network when we walk into the room”, emphasising the importance and power of networking and community, visibly moved by the global reach GWP is having.
An Inspiring Address to Kick off the Event
Next it was time for Deborah to set the intentions for the event with this year’s theme being #GIRLPOWER. In an inspiring address, Deborah reminded attendees that this theme is “more than just a catchphrase”, and is in fact “a force” and “a mindset”. Deborah emphasised the importance of recognising your unique value, standing up for yourself, and being unapologetic in your thoughts and needs.
Reminding attendees that they are “the next wave of leaders”, Deborah continued: “It begins with confidence. You belong here. You’ve earned your place in the industry. Your voice and your ideas matter. Set boundaries and advocate for yourself.”
Unlocking your Inner #GIRLPOWER
Helping attendees to unlock their own #GIRLPOWER was Kim Wunner, CEO of Kim Wunner Consulting, a business and leadership coach and consultant. Kim began with a breathing exercise which saw around 80 women globally take a moment to breathe. The result? An event filled with much more grounded, calm, and focused women - according to the event chat.
Kim invited attendees to share their experiences in the group chat, focusing first on what the group believed to be their ‘flaws’ or ‘limitations’, in many cases this was due to being told this by co-workers or others in their life. Examples included being ‘too much’, ‘too positive’, ‘too nice’, and ‘too organised’.
Interestingly, Kim took these same ‘limitations’ and asked attendees to think about how these could be used as their #GIRLPOWER. A number of the women in the event shared experiences of times they had utilised these traits to their advantage, using the negative connotations as motivation to succeed.
Channelling Confidence to Promote Yourself
Following with the theme of #GIRLPOWER and channelling confidence, our own Account Manager Carys Evans shared her experiences as a trade journalist and editor, offering insights and tips on how to promote yourself internally and externally to create industry visibility.
A core topic was how to create compelling stories to pitch to the media and Carys’ advice was to “do your research and get the basics right, like the name of the publication and the topics they generally cover; pick out the information in a story that’s new, and lead with strong milestones or numbers that will ensure a story stands out from the hundreds of similar news being pitched”.
Carys also advised leaning into the human element of stories, saying: “It’s easy to forget about the humans behind the businesses and stories that evoke emotion or have a human element resonate with a much wider audience”.
When asked how women can put themselves forward for opportunities and improve the representation of female voices in the media, Carys’ advice was to focus on building a personal brand on social media and demonstrate that you have insights and a voice to share. Another tip was to connect and network with other inspiring women in the industry and reach out for advice or mentorship.
You can watch the full conversation here:
A Varied and Insightful Event
Throughout the rest of the day, women from all areas of the print industry shared their insights and knowledge on topics such as work/life balance, knowledge sharing, and resilience. The event also went live with a tour of the Canon Solution America’s Customer Innovation Center in Boca Raton, FL and two women were recognised with the 2024 Girls Who Print Girlie Award and Rising Star Award.
Taking home the Girls Who Print Girlie Award was Christine Hagopian, President of PINE (Printing Industries of New England) England. Having been in print and publishing for the past three decades, Christine was recognised for her strategic vision.
Kiki Heron, Account Manager, Training and Development Leader at Specialty Print Communications was awarded the Rising Star Award and for the first time, the Girls Who Print Ally Award was awarded to long-time GWP supporter, Ryan LeFebvre, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Specialty Print Communications in recognition of his internship and workforce development initiatives for students in Graphic Communication programs and creating a company culture where employees can grow and thrive.
The underlying themes that cropped up throughout the event time and time again were confidence and representation and it was so inspiring to see so many women from across the globe come together to support and champion each other. The global reach that GWP is achieving just speaks to the appetite and enthusiasm from women in print to network, collaborate, and form a strong community, and KC Media is proud to be a part of this.
At KC Media, we are always open and willing to speak with women in the industry and offer any advice or guidance on the world of B2B PR and Comms, so please do either connect with us on LinkedIn or get in touch if you’d like to chat.