For the second edition as Director of Women’s Forum Mexico, JC Agid worked with the similar local and international teams as we did in 2016. This included of course the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society, organizers of the conference and its parent company, Publicis Groupe, led in Mexico by Alejandro Cardoso – but also the Advisory Board joined in 2017 by entrepreneur Nathalie Baaklini, the program director Jennifer Milliken, the Hyatt Regency Mexico City where the conference was held, the local event company, Love Brand, a social media agency part of Publicis Groupe, Nurun, the translation company Word Factor, and the local media relations agency, Alchemia “In the business of transformation.”
With a theme on “Unleashing Leadership,” the second edition of Women’s Forum Mexico added new initiatives and sessions’ formats.
Challenges and scope of work included the coordination of the team; the development of a budget with active sponsors -corporate, non-for-profit, and media; positioning the brand in media and social media; developing story ideas about the topics and attendees of the conference; scouting for delegates and creating a community of leaders involved into the conference; building a delegation of women and men leaders from Canada; and associating Women’s Forum Mexico with other global events in Mexico, such as WeConnect, Morelia en Boca, and a special program for North American women held at the S.R.E. (Mexican ministry for Foreign Affairs).
Thanks to our partners and teams, more than 1,000 delegates and media were in attendance, including 26% of men (up from 21% in 2016).
- coordination of the team located in Geneva, Barcelona, Paris and Monterrey;
- development of a budget with active sponsors -corporate, non-for-profit, and media;
- positioning the brand in special off-events, media and social media;
- developing story ideas about the topics and attendees of the conference;
- Digital interviews of selected delegates
- scouting for delegates and creating a community of leaders involved into the conference;
- overseeing the initiatives CEO Champions, Amazing Talent, and Rising Talents Mexico;
- building a large delegation from Canada and working with the S.R.E. (Mexico’s Foreign Affairs), the Canadian and the US Embassies to Mexico; the Canadian Government’s Business Women in International Trade Program (BWIT)
- developing new initiatives (culture and nursery);
- Developing Call to Actions’ series of sessions.
Based in Geneva, Jennifer Milliken has produced most of the programs for the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society.
I have worked more closely with Jennifer on four conferences in Brazil and Mexico. Each time we tried to push our standards higher and experienced new formats of sessions. We looked for original speakers whose experience, talent and vision would bring positive and disruptive change to the conversations.
Here is to learn more about Jennifer Milliken (from her website):
I help organizations to deliver events that connect people and invite them to discover and engage. I craft purposeful programs for businesses and the non-profit sector. My approach is content-driven and participatory, including audience interaction and solutions-centered programming.I also showcase senior leaders and top executives and produce exceptional storytelling speakers.
Jennifer Milliken, Program Director | Women’s Forum Mexico
Nothing would be possible without the dedication and commitment of a team, which included consultants, the Paris-based Wefcos team led by Anne-Gabrielle Heibronner for Publicis and Chiara Corazza, and dedicated volunteers – and specially present in Mexico:
Magali Marrannes, Thomas Ladougne, Jessica Sanchez-Garcia, Jennifer Le Corre, Mathilde Guyot, Olimpia Giusti, Marie-Salomé Sarfati, Jacqueline Sánchez Garcia, Janete Sànchez Garcia, Mariana Chavez Garciam Diana Córdavo Gallardo, Nicoles Figot, Heather Milliken, Jorge Neiszer, Isabel Rojo, and Thierry Guillot & all his Hyatt colleagues.
A special thanks as well to François Alexandre-Bertrand, Gabriel de Gorostarzu, Gwenaelle Morin, Mathilde Asseman and all the other members of Wefcos.
new in 2017
- Women in Sport & New at the Top – developed by Jennifer Milliken
- Workshop Series – developed by Jennifer Milliken
- Call to Actions’ series of sessions
- Musical opening in partnership with SIVAM and a concert during the opening dinner
- Nursery
- Series of 50+ digital interviews with delegates and speakers prior to the conference
- Graduate students delegation during the last afternoon of the conference in partnership with PwC Mexico
- Pre-conference day of North American meetings held at Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Office (S.R.E) organized by the S.R.E. in partnership with the Canadian and US embassies to Mexico, and with Women’s Forum Mexico
- Partnership and participation in the second edition of WeConnect International conference in Mexico City
- Partnership with the Franco-Mexican Chamber of Commerce annual gala
- Special session held at Palacio de Hierro Polanco in partnership with Alchemia
- Post conference screening and debate on Human Trafficking with “Amazing Women” Norma Bastidas in partnership with Cinépolis
THE AMBASSADORS: THE ADVISORY BOARD 2017
I had the honor to launch -and work with- an advisory board.
Each member went up and beyond to make the first Women’s Forum Mexico a success.
These leaders embody the idea of co-creation. Grateful!
THE OTHER TEAM
Women’s Forum Mexico 2017 renewed its 2016 partnership with Lourdes Berho, the President and founder of Alchemia, a Mexico City-based full media agency. We met with Lourdes Berho when Danié Gomez-Ortigoza and I were scouting leaders who would be a great addition to the Mexican delegation to attend the 2014 Women’s Forum Global Meeting.
Lourdes Berho immediately became one of the very active members of the delegation. She had already pioneered many dialogues on women empowerment in Mexico and was particularly eager to see an international Women’s conference succeed in Mexico.
So not only did she join the Advisory Board of Women’s Forum Mexico, but she also committed ressources and a very efficient and dedicated team. Under Lourdes Berho leadership, we worked with Tere Medina, a former editor at Vanity Fair Mexico. Tere very successfully coordinated journalists, media pitch, follow up and sources. A special gratitude to all the members of Alchemia, including Selene Miranda, Paloma Gonzalez, and Priscila Alonso.
As in 2016, this partnership resulted in incomparable media coverage, thus creating another and necessary of long term impact.
Alchemia is a multi-platform agency specializing in the development of integrated communication strategies, based on sustainability as a principle of innovation for a better future. Focus is on travel and tourism, innovation and sustainability. Its areas of expertise include PR, sales, marketing and custom publishing.
Love Brand -aka LBN- is a Mexico and Sao Paulo based production and communication agency.
Led by Abelardo Marcondes, LBN strives for excellence and creativity.
We chose them because they took the time to fully understand and embrace the project, to become part of the team and of the discussion.
Especially grateful to Andrea Navarro, our production director and her colleagues at LBN.
Women’s Forum Mexico 2017 was once again a number one trending topic on social media in Mexico.
This is thanks to Nurun, a Publicis Group company, which delivered a very highly efficient social media content, using the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society platform.
We agree with their official statement: Nurun “creates interactive experiences. They do it with passion and quality. Their work is consistent, precise, intelligent and whole.”
Check out some of their work for Women’s Forum Mexico 2017: #WFMX17
One of the most essential aspect of an international conference is a vivid, engaged and accurate translation. This is exactly what Word Factor, under the leadership of its founder Joy Ost, has delivered both in 2017 and 2016.
The work of Word Factor brought the necessary added value to develop more than a conference, an interactive experience for all delegates, journalists and partners.
MEDIA COVERAGE
GALLERY
