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Johnson, Inc. and the Sister
for Sister Family would like to thank everyone for their support and
participation in the 2008 Sister for Sister Conference.
In case you could not make it
here’s what you missed:
“Confessions of the Soul” featuring The African American
Repertory Theatre, which served as the Conference’s opening event, drew a crowd
of over 500 women who showed up to hear and share their own stories of trials,
tribulations and triumphs! From laughter to tears, the crowd felt an array of
emotions as women examined a multitude of issues and challenges throughout the
evening.
Saturday’s activities began with a host of seminars and
workshops that were designed specifically to empower and inspire. The
seminars touched on topics ranging from career and finances to personal
well-being and family issues. The seminars were all well-received and
made lasting impressions on participants. The Healthy Cooking workshop
with Alice Freeman, focused on taking control of what we eat and was one of our
most popular activities. Our guests found the speakers to be
“knowledgeable, moving, and inspiring”.
After a seminar
or two, attendees could relax and get rejuvenated in the Pamper Zone. The
Pamper Zone was filled with some of Richmond’s premier spas and
salons. Guests were treated to luxurious spa manicures and pedicures,
massage services and much more.
The introduction
of the Lit Lounge was a success and very well received! It featured authors
Victoria Rowell, Nathan McCall and Stacy Hawkins Adams. Each author
participated in an hour long intimate chat with their respective audiences and
afterwards had a book signing. Participants also had the opportunity to
purchase the authors’ books.
The highlight of the conference was the banquet featuring the renowned
scholar and social activist Dr. Cornel West! Banquet guests enjoyed a
three-course dinner while being serenaded by the talented Ms. June E.
Townes. Dr. West praised us for our “spirit of sweet sophistication” and
reminded us that we are who we are because somebody loved and reached out to
us. He challenged us to examine our lives, to affirm one another, to
courageously bear witness to unarmed truth with love, to maintain personal
integrity, to strive not just for individual success, and to pass on a legacy
of love and justice to the next generation.
We closed our
conference on Sunday with a Prayer Breakfast
featuring Pastor Natalie Francisco. Her words of encouragement and
inspiration were the perfect finishing touch for The 2008 Sister for Sister
Conference!
In our on-going effort to provide
conference attendees with the most empowering and informative conference
components, we gathered valuable feedback in the form of surveys. Attendees
were asked to rate various aspects of the conference using a scale of very
disappointed, disappointed, satisfied, very satisfied and non-applicable. The
following are some of our findings from these surveys:
- 87%of conference attendees responded that overall, they were “satisfied”
or “very satisfied” with their conference experience
- 94%of conference attendees were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with
the helpfulness of conference staff
- 91%of conference attendees were “very satisfied” or “satisfied”
by the content presented in the workshops and seminars
- 92%of conference attendees were “very satisfied” with our keynote
speaker, Dr. Cornel West’s message at Saturday night’s
banquet
- 88%of conference attendees responded that they would recommend the
conference to a friend or family member
- Top three favorite conference components were; Saturday night's banquet, Healthy Cooking with Alice
Freeman and the “Lit Lounge” featuring Victoria Rowell
The 2008 Conference was definitely
a huge success! We’re 14 years strong and anticipate that the 15th
anniversary will be even BIGGER and BETTER!!! See you there March 20th – 22nd 2009.
Stay tuned for more information
on the 2009 Conference.
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