POST-TRAINING REPORT on WOMEN EXPO AND FORUM WOMEN EXPO & INSPIRED CONVERSATIONS: NOTHING LEFT UNSAID FORUM

POST-TRAINING REPORT

Name of Participant : BEVERLY W. SIY

Office / Agency : CCP INTERTEXTUAL DIVISION-CCD

Title of Training : WOMEN EXPO AND FORUM
WOMEN EXPO & INSPIRED CONVERSATIONS:
NOTHING LEFT UNSAID FORUM

Duration : October 10, 2019, 9am to 5pm (one day)

Place of Training : Marriot Grand Ballroom, PASAY CITY



I. Highlights of Activities (Please include places/ organizations/ institutions/ visited with annotated documentation)

Women's Forum and Expo 2019 featured the country’s iconic men and women business leaders who shared personal experiences and advice to help women fast track their own career success.

The forum with the theme Inspiring Conversations: Nothing Left Unsaid was held last October 10, 2019 at various venues of the Marriott Hotel, Pasay City. It presented an extraordinary network of women who was ready to exchange ideas, learn, inspire, and build tomorrow.

For the morning plenary session: career advices were shared by thirteen top leaders including CCP's very own chairperson Margarita Moran-Floirendo. In the afternoon session which had "Fearless" as its theme, there were talks by journalist Maria Ressa, photographer Xyza Bacani, business person Micah Tan, and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.


There were several breakout sessions. The entire event was organized by the Filipina CEO Circle, and the Management Association of the Philippines.


The following breakout sessions were the ones that I attended. The details below include the names of the speakers and the companies or organizations they belong to.

Dressing for Success
Margie Moran
Chairman
Cultural Center of the Philippines

Invest in Yourself
Marife Zamora
Former Chair, Convergys

Making Your Elevator Pitch
Belinda Racela
President and Asset Manager
Chevron Malampaya, LLC

The Art of Persuasion In The Business World
Carol Dominguez
President and CEO
John Clements Consultation, Inc.

Presentation skills
Donna Grande
Vice President for Human Resources
QBE


PLENARY SESSION: “FEARLESS”
Moderated by: Maan Hontiveros

Mayor Isko Moreno – Mayor, City of Manila Mica Tan – CEO, MFT group
Maria Ressa – CEO Rappler Xyza Bacani – Documentary Photographer

Women in Other Places
Carol Dominguez
President and CEO
John Clements Consultation, Inc.

Women and Entrepreneurship
Moderator: Chit Juan
Co Founder
Echostore and GREAT Women

Jeannie Javelosa
Co Founder
Echostore and GREAT Women

Marcy Kohchet-Chua
Managing Editor & WealthHEad
ATRAM Trust Corporation

Imelda Dagus
Founder – Dennis Coffee Garden

Manny Ayala
Managing Editor – Endeavor


Women Paying it Forward
Moderator: Marivic Anonuevo
Chairman and President
Mejora Ferro Corporation

Gianna Montinola
VP Corporate Affairs
Hands on Manila

Mia Castro
Managing Editor
Consuelo Foundation

Joana Duarte
Sr. Executive Director
Ayala Foundation


II. Key points learned from the training program

• Sa pagdadamit, know your style.
• Don’t wear black or dark clothes if you will speak in front of an audience. Wear something colorful.
• It’s okay if you don’t want to wear dress.
• Fashion is about wearing the right clothes for each occasion.
• Wear comfortable clothes always.
• Present yourself well so that your presence will be something positive for others.
• Always dress up. It will help you gain more confidence.
• Executive presence is a skill, not a trait so invest in yourself.
• Dapat hindi lang subordinates mo ang iyong nai-inspire kundi pati ang iyong mga senior.
• Make your superiors feel that you are reliable.
• You can rise to the top if you invest in yourself.
• There are 14 passers of the foreign service exam, seven were women. During the speaker’s time, there was only one female. It was her. She did everything to introduce competent Filipinas in her field. She informed the world that in the Philippines, napakaraming babaeng CEO at leader sa kani-kaniyang larangan.
• Sa exam, hindi ginagraduhan ang test taker kung tama o mali ang kanyang sagot. Gustong malaman ng nag-e-evaluate ng test kung kaya mo bang ipaglaban ang sagot mo, at kung paano mo ipaglalaban ang sagot mo. Gusto niyang malaman kung gaano ka ka-articulate.
• Dapat laging ready ang CV mo, printed man o soft copy.
• There are five ways to persuade:
• 1. Reciprocity- people are obliged to give back in the form of a behavior, gift or service that they have received first.
• 2. Authority- people follow the lead of creditable knowledgeable experts
• 3. Consistency- people like to be consistent with the things they have previously said or done.
• 4. Liking-people tend to say yes to people they like.
• 5. Concensus- people check the decision of others before they make their own decision.
• Know the issues of the person para matulungan mo sila na malutas ang kanilang problema.
• Persuading is a win-win situation.
• Manipulation is selfish moves, pangsarili lang.
• Kapag magpe-present ka, work on your story first before preparing for the powerpoint slides.
• Wear up to five accessories only to lessen the distraction of the audience when they look at you.
• You project and you work hard for the word that you want people to describe you when you are not around.
• Data is the new plutonium. It is now destroying us through internet.
• Our data is being used against ourselves.
• Fake news is spread here in the Philippines via FB and Youtube.
• Convert your two weeks into one week to become more efficient.
• Ibalik natin ang pagkukusa sa ating mga utak.
• Meron palang Filipina CEO circle!
• Mentors are important especially for start-up businesses.
• Most of the business women at the event were former OFWs. They wanted to spend time with their children so they decided to establish a business, instead of going abroad for work.

III. Evaluation of the program

• Program Content & Methodology

The content of all the sessions I attended were great, very informative, very engaging.

• Effectiveness of the Speakers

They were all great. My most favorite were: Miss Margie Moran who experienced intense technical difficulties during her talk, but remained calm and composed, and Ms. Donna Grande, because her presentation mirrored her topic which was presentation skills.

• Administrative and Logistics

The venue was in a good location, the rooms were conducive for the said event. The registration was fast and easy. There were free food and drinks.

The members of the CCP team were allowed to go to different sessions. We were also allowed to explore the booths in both floors of the hotel allotted for the event. In that manner, the team was able to maximize the time and the offerings of the event.

• Allowances (if applicable)

N/A

• Relevance of the program to the participant’s function/ CCP’s mandate

As a member of the GAD Technical Working Group, the lessons I learned here and the insights I have gained may help me create more skill-building (arts and culture) events for women and girls. I can also apply the networking skills that I learned here in my work as a culture and arts officer of the CCP.

IV. Problems Encountered

Some sessions were so jampacked, some of the participants were already standing at the back. Some were not able to get in the room.

In the Dressing for Success session, the lapel did not work properly for almost 15 minutes. It was really distracting. The stage manager should have turned off the lapel and let the speaker use a regular microphone instead. Boss pa naman namin ang nagsasalita, none other than our Miss Margie Moran.

In the Women Empowering Tech session, some of the LED TVs were not working. The session did not start promptly because of that. I waited for almost 15 minutes. There were a number of participants who decided to go. I also left and went to another session before the tech crew were able to fix the LED TVs.

But these are minor things, still the impact of this event is greater than the said problems.

V. Impressions and Recommendations

I was so inspired as a woman after listening to fellow Filipinas who made it big in different fields. I hope that there will be more offerings like this to CCP employees. I also commend the HRMD TDD for the selection of the participants from CCP because the CCP team has diversity in age group and in the field of expertise.

My only recommendation is that we should also open this kind of opportunity to contractual employees and project hirees.