2008 Conference Summary

The 2008 America-China Women's Business Conference was held November 5-7 at the Hilton Washington D.C./Rockville Hotel and Executive Meeting Center. The fourth annual conference had over 250 attendees, including 25 women owned business leaders from China.

The first day of the conference included two simultaneous workshops lead by experts in their respective fields. One workshop entitled "Roadmap to Business Opportunities in China: U.S. Exporting and Importing," where experts addressed barriers that could occur while expanding a business to China and how to overcome those barriers. Topics ranged from cultural differences to how to obtain funding. The Chinese attendees went to a workshop explaining how to bring their business and families to the United States.

The second day opened with a keynote speech given by Janet Camosky, CEO of the China Business Network. Followed by the first workshop entitled, "Expressway to Partnerships: SMEs and WBEs in the U.S. and China," where experts gave advice on how to establish partnerships amongst small businesses across continents. The next workshop, "Fast Track to Quality," experts gave insight about how to protect businesses from quality issues. The award luncheon featured Pat Lynch, CEO and Founder of WomensRadio as the mistress of ceremonies. The luncheon panel included CEOs and General Managers of several women owned businesses who explained how they grew their own respective companies to the success they are today. During the luncheon the awards ceremony took place. Awards were given out to successful and inspiring business women from both the United States and China. The last workshop of the day entitled "Technologies to Grow Your Business" included experts from companies like Cisco who explained how technology can lead better efficiency in a company. This was followed by a networking reception that was accompanied by delightful music.

The last day of the conference started with the trade-show followed by simultaneous one-on-one matching making and 3 minute business roundtable. The first workshop of the day entitled "Multinational's Women Supper Programs: Expansion to China," included experts from Cisco, Pfizer, and Motorola. The luncheon included a keynote speech from Peter Levenda, author of "The Mao of Business" and a luncheon panel consisted of women who all own multi-million dollar companies who shared their tips for doing business successfully in China. The workshop of conference was entitled "Opportunities in China for U.S. Service Businesses," the expert panel, which included IBM discussed the expansion and growth of the service industry in China. The conference ended with a final networking and trade show opportunity.