About Us
Women in Standards is an enthusiastic network of standards professionals who provide support, resources, and mentoring to promote business and personal growth.
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WiStandards members,
This past week, on January 23, the Women in Standards members came together for our annual Women in Standards Dinner. The food was amazing, the setting relaxed, and discussion abuzz with talk of upcoming events, catching up, and meeting new friends.
Several members also attended an ISO TAG meeting in Washington, DC, a U.S National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (USNC) meeting in North Carolina, and the annual CES conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. More on that below!
This month we explore the variety of skills, activities, and contributors that go into organizing and presenting at events such as conference, workshops, and committee meetings. We hope you take away a few tips to take your meetings to the next level and encourage you to join us in the Women in Standards Facebook or LinkedIn members only groups to discuss what you’ve learned and would recommend to others.
Warm wishes,
Karin Athanas
Executive Officer
Women in Standards
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Planning an Event? Ensure you have the right event team.
When organizing a meeting of any size, individuals are needed to handle logistics, content and format, marketing, and implementation. Depending on the size of the event and skill set of your team, you may also need a project manager and a project management tool to track your work, a salesperson to sell sponsorship or vendor spots, and other staff for unique functions. [1]
A single individual can fill each of these roles – and many do when planning small events. When planning each new event, it’s important to explore each functional area and consider whether bringing in additional help will make your event more successful. Below are a few areas for you to consider but, remember that each event is different and may require less or more unique roles and people to assist.
The Event Manager
The Chair, Project Manager, Leader, they go by many names but, this person oversees all activities, maintains the list of to do items, and checks in often with the team to ensure tasks are being completed. A strong Event Manager can ensure you have a strong and effective team and quickly identify and resolve issues before they become disastrous. Look for someone with strong leadership and organizational skills.
Logistics
This person oversees selection of the location, room, food, identifies how guests will travel to/from the event, and that there will be reasonable accommodations for those with food and physical limitations. When sourcing venues its recommended that this person use a sourcing score card and have a high attention to detail. [2]
Operations or Implementation Lead
This person oversees the event on-site, ensures that each meeting area receives the tech, seats, tables, and other items it requires, communicates with the venue, and assists guests. Volunteers can be very helpful hear with a single person to oversee and offer advice. [3]
Content Generators
These individuals may include your education committee, creative lead, or a combination or both. They ensure that the presentations, workshops, and other content provided to attendees are consistent, relevant, and have a logical flow. Look for someone with strong analytical and evaluative skills that has a clear understanding of the goals and theme of the event. [4]
Whatever approach you take, ensure that you establish goals for the event and that all team members understand those goals and how their work contribute to the success of the event. Have a clear channel of communication with each team member, assign tasks to ensure accountability, and meet often to discuss, consider, and pivot when needed.
Consider the below links for additional examples of team roles and responsibilities.
[1] https://www.wildapricot.com/articles/how-to-plan-an-event#event-goal
[2] https://www.gevme.com/blog/organize-event-team/
[3] https://splashthat.com/resources/event-marketing-guide/event-team-roles-and-management
[4] https://www.eaglesflight.com/corporate-events/blog/the-key-players-you-need-for-a-successful-event-planning-team
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Event Planning.
Six guides to get your started
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Standards News:
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) announced last week a plan to build industry-driven telecommunications supply chain security standards and programs. The program falls under the umbrella of TIA’s QuEST Forum TL 9000 Quality Management System and will launch this week with a public and private sector discussion at the Mobile World Congress entitled "The need for supply chain security in a 5G connected world." More here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tia-launches-industry-driven-telecommunications-202900583.html
During the seventh annual meeting of India and Germany this January, the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure agreed to focused efforts on standards, technical regulation, certification and market surveillance. More here: http://www.smetimes.in/smetimes/news/top-stories/2020/Jan/20/india-german-cooperation50315.html
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USNC Management Meetings
The US National Committee to the IEC held its management meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina this month on January 14 – 16, 2020. The meetings, which were hosting by Corning, Inc., brought together experts who are involved in the development, promulgation, and use of globally-relevant standards for the electrotechnical industry. Women in Standards members were on hand to participate and provide their valuable input. Information on the USNC and its current initiatives is available in the USNC Current or visit ansi.org.
CES 2020
The annual CES tech event, wrapped on January 10th. This followed a week filled with over 20,000 product debuts, more than 4400 exhibiting companies, some 170,000 attendees, and more than 2.9 million net square feet of exhibit space. Women in Standards members and numerous standards developing organizations and conformity assessment bodies participated in the event. Key themes included artificial intelligence, 5G and mobile connectivity, Tech for Good, Diversity and Inclusion, Travel and Tourism, and Transportation and Vehicle Technology. CES will return to Las Vegas, January 6-9, 2021.
ISO/TC 272
The US members of the ISO Technical Committee 272 for Forensic Science met in Washington, DC this past January 17-19. Women in Standards members Karin Athanas, Karen Reczek, and others were on hand to provide guidance, input, and develop consensus ahead of the full meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark 27 April - 1 May 2020.
Women in Standards Annual Dinner
The 2020 Women in Standards Dinner was held on January 23, 2020 and was attended by members from government, industry, and standards development bodies. The event was held in Arlington, Virginia at the Ambar/Baba Bar and featured food from the Balkans and live music. Thanks are due to the amazing event planning committee and dates have been announced for happy hour events throughout 2020. More information on these and other events can be found on the Women in Standards website events page.
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Participate in an educational presentation and voice your thoughts on standards development.
Submit an article for publication in the WiS E-news.
Follow the Women in Standards on LinkedIn and Facebook and get up-to-date information on new standards activities - events, committees, and federal programs.
Participate in online chats on issues of standards and raising the voice and participation of women in standards.
Gain life-long friends, champions, and mentors within the standards community.
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Developing a Successful Presentation
Presentations are a great way to share your knowledge and experience with others and to identify yourself as a thought leader in the industry. As we’ve mentioned in previous articles, practice, practice, practice, is going to take your game from intro to superstar [1]. Ensuring your presentation also has crisp content and interesting visuals and flow can help support you as you’re learning and help your audience understand the message your sending.
When it comes to speaking points, being concise is key. Avoid filler words like “Honestly”, “You Know”, “Um” and others that you use when you’re not sure what to say next. If not sure if you use a word repetitively, record yourself giving your presentation and watch for things like repeating words, filler words, and sentences that seems contrived or difficult to understand. This is also a great time to check your posture and whether you move in a distracting way like pacing or large arm movements. [2]
The audience will struggle to stay focused if they can’t read your slides. This can happen if the font is too small, in a color that blends into the background, or there’s too many words on the slide. Consider using size 28 or higher text and in a font that’s easy to read. Fonts available on most PCs such as Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, and Garamond all work well for presentations. [3] [4]
Be considerate of time constraints. Speaking too quickly will make it difficult for the audience to follow you. Trying to cover too much material and either going over the time limit or leaving no time for questions or clarifications will frustrate attendees. If the topic is vast and complicated, limit your presentation to a small segment and refer the audience to additional materials where they can learn more. [5]
Finally, asking attendees afterwards what points they found most interesting will help you identify which portions of your presentation were most successful. Learning what your unique audience responds too and will find interesting and their unique needs for learning is also helpful. Do they like colorful or animated slides? Do they expect handouts or hands-on activities to learn the content? As you learn you can improve and perfect your presentation style to make it unique and all your own.
[1] Gaining Confidence Through Repetition, Women in Standards
[2] 6 Words to Eliminate from Your Professional Vocabulary, Forbes
[3] 10 Best Presentation Fonts, BrightCarbon
[4] https://buffalo7.co.uk/powerpoint-presentation-fonts/
[5] https://www.princeton.edu/~archss/webpdfs08/BaharMartonosi.pdf
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Looking for more articles and information? Check out the Women in Standards website, join for free as an individual member and enjoy all of our great content, downloads, events, and tips.
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Open Positions
The following opportunities have been added to the Women in Standards employment page here. Have an opening for a standardization or conformity assessment professional? Reach out to Women in Standards to add your listing to our employment page or join as an SDO member to add and manage your listings.
- Standards Manager, API
- Program Manager, International Relations, ASME
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