Welcome to the first edition of the Lost Files. These are articles, interviews and the like that have become “lost”. This article is from the first full day of the Long Beach Women’s Conference. Enjoy! Trina

I woke up at 5am to head out to the full day of the Women’s Conference (watch intro video here). Turns out that traffic and looking for parking would both affect my ability to be on time. It’s amazing how full a parking lot can get when 14,000 women are there for a conference. I spent 30 minutes trying to find a parking spot and then ran over to pick up my press pass. I walked over to the main arena for the opening ceremonies. Jennifer Lopez walked onto the stage to start her speech at the conference. Glancing around the arena, it was breathtaking to see how many women were there, ready to take in all the speeches from the day and to be inspired. Lopez’s talk covered her family and how her family has led her to start a foundation working with kids. She was the first to say what I heard often throughout the conference, “listen to what you want”. The small inner voice that many of us seem to quell because we are too busy, or too stressed. But that inner voice will let you know what you should be doing.

After her speech, I headed to Hall A for the first panel. With that many women in attendance, I knew the panels would be packed, so I wanted to get their early. Fortunately, the flat screens in Hall H continued to broadcast the opening speeches in the main arena.

Next up was Governor Arnold Swarzenegger and Warren Buffet. Chris Matthews was there to question both of these men on the economy and get their advice for women. The first question was about the stock market taking another dive and what people should do with their stocks. Buffet stated that one needs to stay in the market and maybe just move things around. Buffet believes that things will work itself out and stated, “the country works even if the economy get dumbed up from time to time.” The next topic was is capitalism works to which Buffet responded that it works extremely well. The average person in the US has improved their worth 7 to 1. Buffet’s advice for investing was to, “Invest in a business that is so good that even an idiot can run it because sooner or later an idiot will.” Extremely good advice since that really does seem to happen in the business world.

Arnold and Warren try to explain what happened to the economy. Buffet puts it this way, 300 million Americans believed that the value of homes was going to go up every year. People were willing to lend money to anyone because the theory of the home’s value always increasing. When the housing market dropped by 20%, no one wants to lend, but people need money to help pay those loans which is why the government has to step in. Arnold brings up that the majority of women run the finances in their home. There are almost a million women owned businesses in California and we’re one of them! Arnold feels this is great, but he wants to work harder to encourage women to go into public service, to lead corporations. For the question about politics and women, Arnold stated, ” Women have made tremendous strides forward but challenge is to break through the glass ceiling and really move forward.” Buffet believes that there have been major breakthroughs for women in politics and that America is ready to elect a women to be president.

Next up was CNN Chief International Correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. She has been working with CNN for 25 years and knew that she wanted to go into journalism to tell people’s stories. Christiane uses her career as a way to voice the truth and communicate atrocities to others. The last 20 years, Christiane worked on the road covering International issues. While sharing her passion for her craft, she lamented that there is a crisis going on in the world of Journalism right now. Anyone can be a journalist, and journalism itself is long on sensation and short on seriousness. We are seeing that within our own gaming communities where journalists may write sensationalist headlines or articles for the sake of getting hits. But can that really be called journalism? Christiane goes on to say how in her experience, women can be architects of change. There are more women holding positions in high office in other countries than here in the United States. Even so, we should not vote in a woman just because she is female, she needs to have the qualifications for the position as well. Real journalists need to hold their ground, “In the midst of idiocy of gifted amateur”. Christiane wraps up by reminding us to use our success to change the world.

First, I have to say that it was incredibly difficult to choose which breakout session to go to. They were all amazing and I’m certain you can get something from each of them. I chose to start the day with How to start your own business and enjoy it. Since I own and run GamingAngels.com, I hoped to take away some advice with what I can do to build our business. As the guests fill in, women start to go crazy taking pictures of the panel. Mostly because Heidi Klum from Project Runway and a million other things is taking part in this panel. The panel consists of Journalist, Willow Bay, Leslie CEO of Bare Essentials, Author Chici and Author Aurion. The panel starts by explaining their story and how they ended up doing what they love. Leslie knew she wanted to be in makeup her whole life but also wanted to make a product that was different. Aurion made a complete change in her life which inspired her to write a book about change. Heidi says she has a long list of things she wants to accomplish and sometimes you take that risk and fail, but that you get right back up and try something else. Chichi states that while there is no Spanish word for empowerment, Latino women are inspired by the American Dream and are very entrepreneurial. The panel was in agreement that women offer a very unique aspect to running a business. Women are great multi-taskers and Leslie says that you have to bring your personality out and don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Heidi states that we should learn every day and try out things that you may not have done before. The economy rears it’s ugly head again when the panel is asked if this is a good time to start your own business or not. Chichi states that it’s a perfect time and women should visit their local Small Business Association (SBA) to get started. Leslie feels that if you have excitement and innovation then it doesn’t matter what is going on with the economy. Many of us were in attendance to hear what the panelists had to say about running your own business and managing stress. Hiedi says you just do it, run the business and run everything at home. Aurion mentions how she started relying on other people more and to always take care of your health which means exercising and making sure you get enough sleep. Both are things I am horrible at. Of course, it wouldn’t be a women’s conference if we didn’t take the time to find out from Heidi about the future of Project Runway. She stated that they filmed season 6 and had many wonderful guest judges. But no word on when it will air.

Next, I headed back to the main arena for lunch and to see Maria Shriver speak as well as a conversation between Condoleeza Rice and Indra Nooyi. Maria has a background in journalism and she has an amazing way of telling a story. In her afternoon talk she addressed fear. Fear that she has had to face again and again both in her personal and business life. She describes how she confronted fear in various situations, and how each of us have to be able and willing to admit when we are afraid and think about how we can conquer our fear and achieve our dreams.

Condoleeza Rice and Indra start by discussing how the glass ceiling may not be a factor as much as it was. Rice states that women are starting to appear in more leadership roles, but her concern is thinking about young girls and if they will go into careers in the sciences. Indra states that she doesn’t believe the glass ceiling will go away until you have women helping other women within their industries. Something we’d like to see get started where with a mentorship program on GA.

The day came to a conclusion with the Minerva awards and a speech by Bono. The rock star came to speak to us not as a rock star but as someone that wants to see the world become a better place. Bono talks about Red which is the consumerist side of things and One which helps the poorest of the poor.

That brings one of the best events I have ever attended to an end. I recommend that every woman makes a pledge to attend the Women’s Conference. It’s inspiring, informative and will make you want to help in any way you can. I have decided to help out through the Step Up program starting next year, and of course bringing up challenging topics for us to discuss about women’s rights and challenging yourself.

Enjoy this video of Reggie Fils-Aimé at the Women’s Conference playing a skiing game on Wii
Fit.