William and Mary recently hosted its Second Annual Her Campus Intercollegiate Conference co-hosting with Virginia Commonwealth University. On a chilly, sunny Saturday, sixty students gathered in Millington Hall on William and Mary’s campus to hear speakers from fields that spanned from the national government to journalism as well as television and magazine publication. Each of these speakers held breakout sessions where they discussed their personal experiences in their current career field and gave some insight to the students.
The conference began with a keynote speech from Her Campus’ own founder, Windsor Hanger. She was accompanied by Her Campus Magazine staff member, Brittany Lewis. In her speech, Ms. Hanger provided a detailed narrative on Her Campus’ development through the years. She also provided her key tips for becoming a successful business leader in today’s society. Some of these tips included having a business plan, creating a trustworthy and well-organized team, using the resources that are available, being frugal, remaining patient, and exercising self-discipline. This discussion was both informative and inspiring and was a great tone setter for the conference.
Another highlight of the conference included a talk with the faces of MTV Insights, Allison Hillhouse and Jillian Curran. Hillhouse and Curran had much enthusiasm about their work, which involves researching trends within today’s youth. Their findings help to provide information that is used for shows on MTV hence the name MTV Insights. Some of your favorite shows including the MTV hit Awkward were impacted by their knowledge of current trends. The most important takeaway from the talk was their discussion for career preparation, which included doing personal research on companies and making networks that can help you in the future.
Simultaneously, Carrie Adams, Director of Communications for Congresswoman, Barbara Lee made her second appearance to the Her Campus Intercollegiate Conference. I talked with my friend and Her Campus William and Mary Fundraising Chair, Mariana Debbe about her experience listening to Carrie for a second time. She said that, “Carrie conducted a short experiment that showed how power poses could eliminate stress. These poses involved having your chin up, arms in the air, and smiling, which made us more confident. After these power poses, we re-introduced ourselves, which made a huge difference in how we spoke to the group.”
The first breakout session was followed by a networking lunch at the Williamsburg Cheese Shop with all of the Her Campus Conference attendees conversing about the morning’s events. This lunch served as the perfect ice breaker and preceded the second keynote speaker, Caroline Rothstein’s talk. Caroline Rothstein is a well-known writer and performer. Ms. Rothstein gave an impactful speech about her struggles with body image and her writing. Some big takeaways included being comfortable with yourself and pursuing your goals without any reservations. This speech gave all of us the perfect inspiration for the Her Campus Fashion Show.
The fashion show featured spring looks from the London Times and bathing suits from Vizcaya Swimwear. Lisa Opie, former Miss USA Samoa and co-founder of Vizcaya Swimwear was in attendance running the behind the scenes action while the models strutted their stuff in cute bikinis while Her Campus staff members, including Sidney Allen (James Madison University), Swetha Gav (Virginia Commonwealth University), Maggie Carter (Virginia Commonwealth University, I (College of William and Mary) ripped the runway in London Times classics under the assistance of Marianna Debbe and Abigail Clarke.
The second half of the conference was followed with another breakout session, which included USA Today College’s editor, Haley Blum. Haley gave a wealth of knowledge on her experiences as the editor-in-chief of USA Today College and provided the student staffers with a list of her Do’s and Don’ts for being a good journalist. Some of the Do’s she presented to us, involved good attitude, hard work ethic, and great communication. She also advised anyone looking into the field of journalism to build their multimedia skills if possible.
Overall, the conference was a major success and was a preview of all of the awesome things still to come for Her Campus William and Mary. Personally, I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet even more new people from other branches and hearing what real world female professionals had to offer in terms of their career fields.