I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
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AWPA Dinner
As a writer and communications consultant, I spend much of my working time at a computer and it’s not too glamorous, so it is nice occasionally to do something more interesting in the name of work!
Last night is a perfect example as I went to a function with a client (as their Communications Manager).
The Australian Women Pilots Association (AWPA) held their annual conference in Bendigo this year, so I went to their gala dinner and had a great night. In particular, it was great to see a male dominated industry have a strong female element supporting each other and encouraging young women to enter aviation.
Some of the highlights of the night were:
- a welcome from two Chinese dragons
- hearing an Air force Captain {I wish I had written down his name at the time!} announce that the air force expects to have 25% female members by the mid 2020s, with 25% of applicants in the last year or so being female
- sitting at the same table as the granddaughter of Nancy Bird-Walton, and hearing so much admiration for her and her peers
- meeting various women with fascinating stories about how they (and others) got into aviation and how they have interacted with other pilots (such as one couple having may pilots visit them in bad weather as they had a runway on their country property)
I would love the opportunity to interview many of those women and write their stories. As a collection, I think it would be interesting, inspiring and a historical reference and record.
Do you know any female aviators? Or been inspired by any of their stories?
Bringing IWD into your business
International Women’s Day on 8 March – what does it mean to you?
International Woman’s Day (IWD) is on Saturday 8th March. It is both a celebration of women and an acknowledgement that many women are living difficult lives.
In some countries, IWD is a public holiday (at least for women) and is similar in importance as Mothers Day.
While it is not a holiday in Australia, you can choose to make it important – or simply acknowledge that it is important to many of your customers.
Celebrating IWD
Some of my ideas for celebrating IWD as a business are:
- treat your staff to breakfast or morning tea – even if your staff consists of you and a pot plant!
- get the males to do something nice for the women they work with (obviously this requires the men to be willing to participate!) Maybe they bring in food for morning tea, make the tea/coffee all day or ‘man the office’ so the women have a longer lunch break
- offer specials or extras to female clients for the day/week/month
- encourage women to take an interest this month, especially if you industry is not seen as particularly female-friendly or of interest to women. For example, I’ve helped AvSuper prepare information about super for women; a mechanic could run a basic car maintenance course for women; local tradespeople could teach women to do minor repairs through a class or articles in the local paper
- put up a poster in the office/shop or add a banner to the website to acknowledge women – it could be generic or somehow relate to your business
- do some fund-raising during March with the proceeds going to a women-centric organisation
- donate x% of March profits to a women’s cause
- send an email or card to your female clients thanking them for what they do (and for being your client of course!)
- sponsor a local activity or group participating in IWD – schools and sporting groups in particular may appreciate this
What ideas have you considered for your business?
Have you been inspired by another business’ involvement in IWD? What did they do?
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