CONFERENCE IMPRESSIONS

By Aki Sigle

The 9th annual Professional Business Women's Conference was a wonderful experience for me and many of my co-workers. The conference provided us with the opportunity to relate to each other as woman and not as employees of the Company, with measured goals and missions to accomplish in a given time. I thoroughly enjoyed many of the seminars that I heard during the day. However, it was the keynote speakers that really pulled at my heart and my head. The most valuable lesson I was able to take away from Dr. Synderman's lecture was the story of her mother's ability to balance her self sanity with the traditionally strict role of supporting the family. Dr. Synderman's mother taking off without her family for a weekend in the 1960's was revolutionary for a traditional family homemakers of that time. It emphasizes the importance of the need to take care of yourself first, no matter how uncommon it may be. Dr. Snyderman's discussion around women's health issues provided insights to why women's medical issues took second priority to the research and treatment of men's medical issues. Why was viagra funded by insurance companies and birth control pills not? Uncovering such inequalities, leads us to the next step- how to resolve them? Perhaps it is time for the PBWC to provide the tools to support such issues. Anita Roddick shared the stories of her search for new products for her company and her attempts to balance growth with a social responsibility. These issues made so much sense. Why shouldn't corporations have the social responsibility of nations, especially when they generate as much or more money then many countries do? The most inspirational piece of her lecture was the story of how her hobby grew into a global corporation. It is these success stories that make the PBWC strong. The content of lectures provided food for thought. It was a refreshing change from our everyday environments that force us to focus our energies on our daily jobs. It is events like this that refill our cups. These energies provide us with the motivation to go back and do our jobs more effectively, and to relate with one another better. The only regret that I have is not being able to attend more of the seminars - as many of them were interesting to me. Aki Sigle is a Program Manager in the General Contracting Procurement department of SBC, Inc. She joined Pacific Bell one month prior to the merger of Pacific Bell and SBC in March 1997. Since the merger, she has been a key player within her organization for the savings initiatives from merger efforts, and business plan construction. Formerly an employee of NEC America, Aki's interests lie in the area of telecommunication technologies. As a employee of NEC America's Corporate Marketing Division, she was able to gain a broad knowledge of technologies ranging from global satellite networks to the traditional wireline switched network. Aki is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and holds a degree in International Marketing and a minor in Japanese. She attended Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan and studied Export/Import trade, Japanese Art, Language, and Culture. Her self- rewards come from her efforts of volunteering in Dog Rescue/Adoption. Her group, Friends of the Oakdale Shelter, (FOTOS) is a non-profit organization, run by a small group of volunteers dedicated to the rescue and placement of companion dogs from the Oakdale Animal Shelter in Stanislaus County, California. FOTOS's mission is to ensure that animals coming out of the shelter be altered and adopted into lifetime homes. The group successfully places about 20 dogs per month though their foster-to-adopt program. The need is also great for temporary caretakers, "emergency foster parents" for dogs. As an underfunded rescue organization without facilities, FOTOS relies on these foster parents who will care for puppies/dogs for a week to buy the animal time to live.

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