We had an *amazing* time at Her Campus's third annual National Intercollegiette Conference in New York City this past weekend, meeting collegiettes from all over the world (we had attendees come from Canada and Puerto Rico, among others!) and getting mega-inspired by our fabulous speakers and keynotes. Couldn't make it to NYC for the conference (or just want to relive it? We sure do!)? Here's what went down at this year's #HerConference!
We kicked off Saturday (which was only open to Her Campus team members) with yummy breakfast from Chobani plus our totally decked-out goody bags for attendees to enjoy all day long and beyond! The goody bags were loaded with all the collegiette essentials (and indulgent non-essentials!) from our BFF brands, including Chipotle, Intel, LUNA, Amtrak, COVERGIRL, essie, Campbell's, popchips, SoulCycle, J.Crew, Milani Cosmetics, VS PINK, ThredUP, General Assembly and many more!
After breakfast, it was time for our fabulous morning keynote speaker, Carley Roney, co-founder and chief content officer of XO Group, Inc., which is the media company responsible for The Knot, The Nest, The Bump and more. Carley talked about what it was like to start her own media company from scratch (and with her husband as her co-founder!), take the company public and balance work and personal life while being a total #girlboss.
Next, it was time for our two morning panel sessions, where attendees could pick from panels like, "Does the Devil Really Wear Prada?: Life In An Entry-Level Editorial Position,""Let's Get TECHnical: Leading Ladies in TECH,""What Does 'I Work in PR' Really Mean?,""Climbing the Ladder: Journalism Jobs Later On" and more. Our incredible panel speakers this weekend hailed from Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Lucky, Women's Health, Food Network Magazine, The Huffington Post, Southern Living, OK!, Us Weekly, New York Daily News, Kickstarter, Tumblr, Glam Media, Ogilvy, Marina Maher Communications, DoSomething.org, Unilever, Random House, NBC, Levo League, The Muse and more.
Next it was time for lunch, and we were lucky to have Chipotle as a sponsor of this year's conference, which meant we had an absolutely delicious lunch for all of our attendees. In addition to catering lunch both days, Chipotle also contributed five catering gift certificates for our raffle on both days and hooked our attendees up with free burrito cards in their goody bags.
After enjoying our Chipotle lunch, it was time for our lunchtime keynote speaker, Jennifer Levene Bruno, publisher and chief revenue officer of Town & Country. Jennifer gave an empowering speech about her own career path, how she has brought Town & Country to the top and what she looks for when hiring new employees. Jennifer also brought her 10-year-old daughter to attend along with her, and we were so thrilled to have both of them there!
After the lunchtime keynote, it was time for our workshop block, where attendees could attend workshops on writing viral content, building chapter teams or hosting events on campus, or attend a session hosted by Lean In's Director of Partnerships about furthering the Lean In mission on campus.
Then, we surprised attendees with these adorable HC- and Intel-branded mini cupcakes from SPOTS NYC! Thank you, SPOTS NYC! Yum!
While scooping up mini cupcakes, attendees got to mix and mingle and enjoy activations from our conference sponsors Intel, LUNA, and Amtrak. Intel's device lounge featured the latest in “must-have” tech and helped collegiettes find a personal computing device that would be the perfect fit to manage their workloads and busy schedules (as well as have some fun and be entertained!). The device lounge featured a variety of Intel-based tablets, 2 in 1s (laptops that convert into tablets!) and portable all-in-one PCs (which have reinvented the desktop as you know it!). Intel also ran a giveaway throughout the conference, which gave attendees the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a brand new Intel-based tablet or 2 in 1 device! To enter to win, attendees took an “Intel Selfie” with one of the devices on display at the Intel product showcase and posted it on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram using the hashtag #IntelPowersHC (check out the Intel Selfie Station entries here!). Thanks to Intel for continuing to power and support events like this!
LUNA kept our attendees fueled throughout the conference with their delicious LUNA bars and LUNA snack bar. They also gave away a semester's worth of LUNA bars to an attendee each day in our raffle! Plus, Sarah Jane Bedwell, registered dietitian and media spokesperson, hosted a workshop titled "Feed Your Strength: Fueling up and Staying Healthy in College" with excellent tips for collegiettes.
Mega thanks to our sponsor Amtrak for being the official travel sponsor of our conference and for helping the HC national team and our interns get to NYC! We had such a smooth, stress-free trip on Amtrak! Our conference attendees had a great time at the Amtrak photo booth activation entering to win free Amtrak tickets. Check out #iamtraking to view everyone's dream getaway! Amtrak also contributed Amtrak drawstring gym bags to our goody bags. Thank you, Amtrak!
Throughout the day, attendees could visit our Social Currency Station to show us their conference-related social media posts in order to earn additional raffle tickets to enter to win our amazing prizes, including Intel-powered computing devices, Chipotle catering cards, a semester's worth of LUNA bars, round-trip Amtrak tickets, a VS Pink Bed Set, a Milani Cosmetics beauty bundle, a SoulCycle class pack and many more!
After closing remarks and revealing the winners of Saturday's raffle prizes, Saturday was a wrap!
Sunday attendees were also in store for an incredible day, with the same fab goody bags, tons of choices for panels and workshops, our fun sponsor activations, breakfast from Chobani and lunch from Chipotle.
The day kicked off with our morning keynote speaker, Susan Kaufman, editor-in-chief of one of our favorite magazines, People StyleWatch. Susan shared key lessons for career success and emphasized the fact that if you want to be successful, you have to work really, really hard (so true!).
Our lunchtime keynote speaker on Sunday was Inbar Barak, SVP of digital for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Her Campus co-founder, CPO and creative director Annie joined Inbar for a fireside chat about her career path, current role and what advice she has for those just starting out.
All in all, it was an *incredible* and all-around inspiring weekend! We LOVED meeting so many of you and can't wait to do it all again next year! HUGE thanks to our sponsors Intel, LUNA, Amtrak and Chipotle for making this all possible. See you next summer, collegiettes!
