The Show Must Go On!: Ladies in Pink Volunteer Opportunity

Happy New Year Ladies! To kick off 2014, we have an amazing volunteer opportunity to share with you. Our "Ladies in Pink" are looking for volunteers to help at Project Limelight Society's upcoming performance of "Mirror Mirror" on January 11 (dress rehearsal) and January 12 (the big show!).

Here's what we're looking for - Wranglers / Backstage Support: Calm, organized people, who enjoy being around kids, to help backstage, mostly working with the young cast (ages 8-13) offering encouragement and support while keeping the performers focused, fed and prepared. Theatre experience is an asset.  MUST be available for the performances on January 12th for at least 4 hours between 12 pm and 8:30 pm. Also need to be available on January 11th for 3 hours, during dress rehearsal.

Costume Support: Organized and energetic people, who enjoy being around kids, and who have some experience with quick costume changes.  MUST be available for the performances on January 12th for at least 4 hours between 12 pm and 8:30 pm. Also need to be available on January 11th for 3 - 4 hours, during dress rehearsal.

Front of House: Friendly, reliable people with a positive attitude to help with ticket and DVD sales. (Must be available between 12:30 and 4:30 or 4:30 and 8:30. (Not required to be there on January 11th)

We also need help with load-in on Friday January 10th and load-out on Monday January 13th. Ideally, would like to find someone with a panel van or truck to transport sets and costumes, and 2 or 3 people who are available to help with the move. (Not required to be there on January 11th or 12th)

Tickets to the show can be provided!

Project Limelight Society is an amazing non-profit organization that provides Fine Arts classes (+nourishment) after school to kids in the DTES and Strathcona neighbourhoods. Cory Monteith was a huge supporter and often a guest teacher for their programs. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering for the rehearsal and show day, please contact Harveen@ywib.ca.

Move quickly on this, the show must go on! ;)

#HolidayWarmUp Was an Inspiring Night of Giving Back!

thank you to everyone for coming out to enjoy a festive drink at the st. regis last wednesday! it was so nice to spend an evening with you before 2013 comes to a close. an even bigger thank you is due for all your donations that night. we were so inspired with the overwhelming amount of clothing that you brought from your closets. although you only needed to bring one item, many of you brought as many knits and fleece as you could find. it really gave us the warm-and-fuzzies to see such generosity.

together, we collected three huge boxes filled to the brim with shoes, scarves, mittens, pants, sweaters, fleece, and jackets, socks, toques, shirts, and blankets! it's this kind of community-minded spirit and initiative that makes a ywib-er so important to her city, and we love you for it!

our guest, Mark Savard of the Covenant House, shed some light on life for youth on the street and the awful conditions that make these kids run out on their own. he explained how significant it is for them to receive a new, clean and warmer pair of clothes as part of the support and love that the Covenant House provides. we've sure had more than our usual share of blue skies, but the rest of winter is still ahead. you can know that your donations will be comforting someone out there.

watch out for us on january 6th when the ywib vancouver team delivers the donations to the covenant house!

we wish you all a very happy and safe holiday and a new year full of fun, challenges, and new experiences!

To applicant's of 2014's BP Team: Some useful advice from 2012's Chairs

Last year’s Beyond Pink brought together an amazing 150 delegates, 40 tradeshow exhibitors, 35 mentors, and 20 high profile speakers and business leaders for a phenomenal weekend. We were honoured to be part of the organizing process and took away many invaluable lessons. The importance of working with a fantastic team was definitely one of our leading achievements and a source of constant support. These were some of our other highlights: Vision.

One of the greatest benefits of co-chairing a conference is the chance to create the vision, from scratch to finish. You steer the direction, content and structure of a conference that you would want to attend, with speakers you’d want to hear from.

Your scribbled notebook ideas become a reality for 150 people. How amazing is that!

Hiring.

Not only do you get to work with some of the top business leaders in Vancouver, you also get to hand-pick your executive team. What skills are most important for your team? What personalities do you want in the room? How do you cover the gaps? You recruit, evaluate and bring everyone together!

Team dynamics.

After you handpick your awesome team of young professionals, you become responsible for leading everyone towards your united conference vision. You will learn how to work with different personalities and communication styles, how to provide clear directions on next steps while encouraging a level of creativity and independence, how to celebrate big victories and encourage the team after set-backs, and finally, how to guide the mood in the room.

You’ll learn how critical it is to maintain the right balance between excitement, ambition, anxiety and stress. And you’ll recognize that throughout all the shifting and changing details of the event, your team will be your steady backbone.

Negotiation (and creative spending).

Young Women in Business is a non-profit organization with a vision to make leadership opportunities available for all young women. This means working on a budget. A tight budget. You get to be creative to get what you want - anything from hotels, to sponsors, to food.

There’s no better opportunity to hone the skill of negotiation!

Mental toughness.

A conference of this scale might seem intimidating. It might seem too big, too complicated, or too time-consuming. But one of the biggest lessons we learned was our personal capacity to adapt and get the most out of our time. Even with full-time day jobs and other personal commitments, we always managed to find a couple of extra hours for the conference and our team. Through dedication and excitement, we even found Beyond Pink to be a source of energy - more fuel - to do just a bit more every day. And when set-backs happen, you develop a mental toughness, an unrivaled optimism, that will see you through to success.

Amazing women.

This isn’t a job. Neither you nor your team get paid yet you all invest your valuable time and skills to make something amazing happen. Who wouldn’t want to work with such talent and altruism?

You experiment, you learn, and you grow from start to finish.

Janelle+Iva BP 2012 co-chairs

Beyond Pink 2014... is on!!

Beyond Pink has been YWiB’s annual flagship conference since its launch in 2008. It is a high-impact conference connecting and empowering energetic young women in our community. The conference brings together 250 young women to participate in intimate workshops, interactive keynote presentations and inspirational mentorship conversations led by BC’s top leaders. The goal of this weekend is to ensure delegates depart from Beyond P!nk inspired with the knowledge, resolve and skill to pursue their passions and dreams. The conference impacts over 500 community members through its attendees, mentors, speakers, tradeshow exhibitors, and volunteer team and committee members. To find out more about past Beyond Pink years, please visit the website for:

-       Beyond Pink 2012

-       Beyond Pink 2010

-       Beyond Pink 2009

-       Beyond Pink 2008

YWiB is extremely excited for our dreams for Beyond P!nk 2014. Building off of our 4 years of success, we are looking to create an even more engaging and impactful conference in May 2014. We are looking for a stellar team of young women to create and lead the conference, with the support of the YWiB board & teams.

You would be a great fit to join the BP team if you are someone who:

• is passionate about personal & professional development
• believes in the magic that happens when a group of like-minded young women get together and engage in meaningful conversation
• is entrepreneurial & extremely reliable
• wants to be part of a supportive, energizing and strong team
• has relevant experience (or the ability & guts to learn quickly) in the position they are applying for
• cares about the Vancouver community and wants to create an impact in it
• wants to develop themselves as a leader, while making a few new friends & champions along the way.

Being part of the Beyond Pink is a special experience. Every team member gets the opportunity to learn one-on-one from a mentor, expands their leadership skills, becomes recognized in their community, creates an impact, and likely makes a few new best friends.

To see open positions & how to apply, follow here.

Join us at Downward Dog, Upward Thinking!

Happy Friday! join us for our upcoming workshop: Downward Dog, Upward Thinking: A Mind, Body + Career session with Matt Corker

a joint event between the YWiB UBC and YWiB Vancouver, YWiB invites you to join a master of motivation and inspiration, Matt Corker, International Operations Specialist at lululemon. Matt will not only help you tap into your strengths, you'll leave his workshop with the tools to carry yourself along the track to success. join us for a 45 minute yoga session followed by an intention- and goal-setting workshop on Tuesday, October 29th!

not big on yoga? don't let that stop you, this sessions is for any yoga-level (including us beginners) and will offer an opportunity to relax your mind and focus your sights on what you want most in your life!

limited space is available so please, register today!

when | tuesday, oct 29th 7:30-9:30pm where | yaletown roundhouse, room B (181 roundhouse mews) cost | $10 for YWiB Vancouver members + non-members* dress | yoga attire or relaxed casual bring | paper + pen, your yoga mat, a water bottle, your aspirations + a girlfriend *YWiB UBC members, please bring your membership card for free entry

Make University Count. Grow Your Network at YWiB!

YWiB’s university chapters have experienced tremendous growth over the last couple years. YWiB SFU has doubled in size, and with our two new chapters, the expansion is living proof that the connections, workshops, and opportunities that members get at YWiB have been truly valuable, on top of being tons of fun! If you're in university and are interested in making long-term connections, inspiring and being inspired by like-minded, passionate and driven women, join YWiB! As we all know (repeat after me!), "it's not what you know, it's who you know" -- well, YWiB wants to know you!

As of September 2013, we have six Chapters within BC: Vancouver, UBC, UVic, SFU, KPU, and UBCO.

Time to meet your new leaders at KPU and UBCO:

YWiB KPU (Kwantlen Polytechnic University) 

Navi Dhillon, President of YWiB KPU, is 21 and a student in BBA Accounting. Navi is a girl who knows what she wants: to become a partner at an accounting firm. She is recruiting the remaining few positions on the exec team, so if you think you're what Navi wants in a team member (a.k.a. you have vision, passion, and a big smile!), get in touch with her at navi@ywib.ca.

YWiB UBCO 

Our UBCO Chapter is being led by two co-Presidents: Priya Dhindsa, 21 and an Accounting major, and Jessyca Nielson. Like many of us Vancouverites, Priya is also an active yogi (and secretly wishes Hogwarts were real!). Jessyca is also in the Management program and loves Vancouver's beautiful summers outside!

The YWiB UBCO Membership Coordinator position is still available! If you believe that people achieve more when working together than apart and want to spread this philosophy and get others involved, please email either jessyca@ywib.ca or priya@ywib.ca.

Note: To comply with UBCO’s rules, this chapter is operating under the Management faculty. Unfortunately for now, this means membership and team positions are limited to students within the Management program; however, as with all YWiB chapters, anyone and everyone is welcome to attend events as a non-member!

Register to become a YWiB UBCO member here, and don't forget to spread the word about events and #ywiblove to your friends in other faculties!

We hope you're all easily settling into first semester :) Have a fantastic weekend!

Welcoming September with Big News!

While summer may be coming to a close, YWiB is ramping up for an exciting year ahead! We've enjoyed a relaxing summer, soaked up as much of Vancouver's gorgeous sunshine as we possibly could and are ready to get back into the swing of things! We're thrilled to share two exciting pieces of news with you! We've launched two brand new university chapters — YWiB KPU and YWiB UBCO!

If you know any YWiB mavens that are students at either of these schools, please direct them their way — they're recruiting now to fill their teams with ambitious young women!

Stay tuned — we'll have more #ywiblove to share very soon!