Join the new group’s first event during ACA’s 2020 Virtual Convention & Expo July 15-16.
6/24/2020 11:00
By Fran Fisher
Chair, Women in Collections Resource Council
If you haven’t heard yet, I want to tell you about the Women in Collections Resource Council (WICRC) and invite you to join us at our first event.
The WICRC Networking Happy Hour will be held live during ACA International’s 2020 Virtual Convention & Expo. The council and interested members will have an hour and a half, starting at 4:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, July 15, to meet, enjoy and learn from each other.
I’m pleased to announce that Connie Podesta, one of the scheduled keynote speakers, will join us for our opening toast with our signature cocktail. The recipe will follow soon, and you’re invited to mix a batch, or bring your own favorite drink when you join us.
We originally hoped, as I am sure many of you did, that this would be a live, in-person event and we could make those valuable connections that always happen at the annual convention. Since that is not possible, we encourage you to join us so that we can make the magic happen via the video conference. There will be an open forum, moderated just enough to ensure that everyone can be heard if they want to contribute, starting with personal stories about how some of us got to this point in our careers and where we’d like to go from here.
Almost everyone has started a career in the collection industry by accident and followed a circuitous path to reach their goals. Many, if not most, of us are a work in progress; I know that I am. Women, especially, may have had a tough time finding their way in a male-dominated industry and our individual experiences will resonate and hopefully generate some meaningful conversation about what we’ve done to overcome hardship, what may have been easy for some of us, or anything in between.
The goal of the WICRC is to connect women in the industry and provide the tools and resources so that we can maximize our abilities and knowledge and empower each other to reach our true potential to benefit ourselves, our companies, our industry and our communities.
Men tend to learn certain business rules and behaviors almost by osmosis because they’re included in regular informal conversations. Little boys are taught things as simple as how to properly shake hands while little girls are taught to be sweet and quiet. If I sound like I’m preaching— I probably am. This topic is very near and dear to me, and the rest of us that are nurturing the WICRC in its beginning stages. We have lots of big ideas and welcome your input through the WICRC community on The Hub and your participation in our events.
This is just the first gathering on our agenda. In the near future, you will be hearing about webinars, special speaker engagements and additional events, all geared toward providing you—the women in our industry—the information you need to help you reach your business and personal goals. So, look for upcoming news about the networking happy hour and other opportunities to learn and interact with your colleagues through the WICRC.
I hope you’ll join us.
Learn more about the WICRC here.