I have been the worst blogger lately. My last post was over two months ago, eep! But I’m still here, alive and kicking, just significantly busier than I was in the beginning of the year.
So here’s what’s been going on: In January, I joined the board of directors of an absolutely amazing organization called IPWS – International Professional Women’s Society. IPWS is a non-profit organization for – yes, you guessed it – international professional women. We offer different platforms to connect, build networks, and foster personal and professional growth here in Shanghai. We organize 1-3 events every month, varying from content-driven workshops to networking events. Our community reaches more than 5000 professional women, and we’re growing every day!
Exactly one week ago, we had our biggest event of the year, our annual IPWS Leadership Summit. The Summit is an awesome, modern leadership conference for women and men on all professional levels, with high-profile speakers and engaging content revolving around a leadership theme, this year “Power”. The Summit also works as a platform to celebrate the annual Women Leadership Awards, which is the longest running international award for women leaders in Shanghai.
Preparations for the Summit turned out to be A LOT of work, so pretty much my every waking moment for the past weeks outside of school has gone into it. My main job has been to drive the marketing and comms, but also working with everything from graphic designers to event producers, finding sponsors to facilitating finalist interviews with the Women Leadership Awards jury. It’s been hectic to say the least, but with the hands-on team of superstars that makes the IPWS board of directors, it has also been one of the most memorable professional experiences I’ve had so far.
I’m still going strong with my Chinese studies at Jiaotong University (which btw still is my #1 thing), but after some years in the professional world, it’s not always easy going back to being “just a student”. But now being a part of IPWS, I feel my professional development is totally back on track: I get to do challenging things both within my area of expertise and way out of my comfort zone, I’m meeting tons of fascinating people and building a unique international network, and I get to make awesome things happen in the Shanghai community. IPWS has definitely elevated my Shanghai experience to a whole new level.
Leaving you with a few pictures from the Summit (photo cred to V.Photos!). Have a great weekend and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @shanghaistablog for more pics! X
Shanghaista 