FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2008
Contact: Jessica Wong
(662) 329-7119

MUW to host statewide leadership and entrepreneurship conference for women

COLUMBUS, Miss. - The Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship will host
its first leadership and entrepreneurship conference at Mississippi
University for Women on Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28. The
theme is “Connecting the Dots through the Ages: Embracing Entrepreneurial Thinking as a Way of Life.”

The conference was planned after the Women's Center for Entrepreneurship co-sponsored the Women in Higher Education Spring
Leadership Conference at Plymouth Bluff last year. Lucy Betcher, director of MUW’s Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship, decided that the center would hold its own conference with emphasis on leadership as well as entrepreneurship.

Yolanda Cook, assistant director of the Women's Center for Entrepreneurship, said, “The WLEC 2008 is a statewide conference for
any woman in leadership or entrepreneurship, whether she is a new or
seasoned leader/entrepreneur. We are not discriminatory and men are
allowed to attend the conference, although we are focusing on strengthening women in these areas. Our goal is for the conference attendance is between 150-200 participants. We are expecting that the WLEC will become an annual event and with each year being better than the previous year.”

Admission for MUW students is free, while admission for non-university
students is $25 for the topic panels. Attendance to the banquet will be $15 for anyone who wants to attend. Pre-registration of attendance at the banquet is required by calling the Women’s Center office. Advanced
registration admission is $75 which includes a networking continental
breakfast, all educational sessions, banquet and luncheon. Onsite registration will be $85.

The Hearin Leadership group will be helping with 30 middle school girls
from the Roger F. Wicker Center for Creative Learning’s Crossroads program. These girls will be participating in leadership activities as well as a presentation created by several women community leaders.

Betcher said, “These girls were chosen under the possibility of becoming high school dropouts or becoming involved in future problems. The activities they will be participating in will teach them the skills they need to overcome these issues.”

The Crossroads participants also will be invited to attend the banquet on March 27 where they will network with prominent community leaders.

MUW faculty, students and staff will serve as session moderators and also introduce speakers. The conference will have two general sessions open for all attendees.

The first sessions will be on the MUW campus March 27 followed by a
banquet, and the second sessions will be held at Plymouth Bluff on March
28 followed by a luncheon.

Cook added, “The conference committee has put together some awesome
and very talented speakers for this conference. Not only are MUW faculty
and staff presenting sessions, but also local small business owners as well as faculty and staff from colleges and universities from across the state.”

The first general session will begin at 2-3 p.m. on Thursday with a presentation by Towanda Williams, director of MUW Career Services. The
topic is “Work/Life Balance for Successful Leaders/Entrepreneurs” where attendees will learn techniques to help them keep focused, organized and eliminate things that waste time and keep them from being productive.

The second general session will begin at 8:45-9:45a.m. on Friday led by
Dr. Joyce Yates, professor of health education at MUW. The presentation,
“Getting from Point A to Point B… and Doing It Well!” helps
participants create and set goals and all the while help understand
those goals.

Leadership sessions and entrepreneurship sessions will be held
separately with each topic in two formats the two days of the
conference. There are two leadership and entrepreneurship topics for
each session that conference participants may chose one topic from based
on their focus.

Leadership Topics:

March 27
Session I - 3:10-4:10 p.m.
Critical Thinking: Real-World, Real-Time Decisions
Determining /Developing Your Leadership Style

Session II - 4:25-5:25 p.m.
“Creating a Vision - “Thinking Outside the Box”
Empowering Others to Put Their Best Foot Forward

March 28
Session III - 9:50-10:50 a.m.
Emotional IQ and Its Importance
Communicating with Authority and Impact

Session IV - 11:05 a.m.-12:05 p.m.
Balancing the Stones
Leadership and Building Trust/Leadership Development as Self-Development

Entrepreneurship Topics:

March 27
Session I - 3:10-4:10 p.m.
Entrepreneurship: A Woman’s Perspective (panel)
Website Design: Building a Website Presence in One Day

Session II - 4:25-5:25 p.m.
Is Your Product Feasible? AKA: Is Your Product Going to Sell?
Social Entrepreneurship

March 28
Session III - 9:50-10:50 a.m.
How to Market your Product/Service to your Customer (offered twice)
Doing Business on the Web

Session IV - 11:05 a.m.-12:05 p.m.
How to Market your Product/Service to your Customer
Entrepreneurs as Transformation Agents

The banquet at 5:45-7:45 p.m. following the sessions on March 27th will
feature speaker Mandi Stanley with her topic “Hair-On-Fire!” communication skills. Participants will learn how to gain credibility by
presenting their ideas with clarity, confidence and power while thinking
and speaking on their feet.

The first Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year award will also be announced at the banquet. The award will be given to a woman who has shown devotion to the community by giving back to the community through
economic development of the area.

The luncheon at the closing of the conference on Friday at Plymouth
Bluff from 12:15-1:30 p.m. will feature keynote speaker Liza Looser,
founder and CEO of The Cirlot Agency, a full-service marketing, public
relations and corporate communications firm in Jackson. The firm has
grown to a multi-million dollar corporation that serves accounts ranging
from publicly traded companies to financial institutions and manufacturing corporations on a national and international basis. Looser is an alumna of MUW and recent graduate of Harvard Business School, which allows her to deliver in-depth corporate knowledge and capability to her clients.

Cook hopes “that participants will receive the necessary tools to assist them in becoming stronger leaders and entrepreneurs throughout the state and the information received will help them to have a positive impact on Mississippi's economy.”

For more information about the Women's Center for Entrepreneurship and
the conference, contact Cook at 662.241.6277 or email wceinfo@muw.edu.
The website for the conference can be found at www.wlec2008.com.