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Her Conference 2018 Recap

Kennedy Castillo
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UTRGV chapter.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the 7th annual Her Conference hosted by Her Campus in New York. Attendees were Her Campus writers, interns, campus correspondents, members of the influenceher collective, high school ambassadors and trendsetters. The conference took place on Saturday and Sunday and was two days of inspiring speakers, workshops, panels and much more! 

Her Conference was sponsored by Ulta Beauty, Almay, Bliss, Jones New York, The New York Times, Bumble, Hunter, KiiPix, Moleskine, MZ Wallace New York, Living Proof, Swell, Cinnabon, Yotel, Knock Knock, Welch’s, Simbi, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Pop Chips, Cora and Printi. Thanks to the many sponsors conference attendees were given a ton of awesome freebies including; a bag of makeup from Ulta, lip gloss from Almay, Hair products from Living Proof and snacks from Pop Chips and Cinnabon. In addition to the freebies the sponsors also provided attendees with services such as makeup and hair by Ulta, manicures by Jones New York and a station where you could print Polaroid pictures from your phone courtesy of KiiPix. 

The theme of the conference was OMW (On my Way), which basically represented that all the women at the conference were on their way to great things. The conference’s keynote speakers were; The Lady Gang, Aisha Dee, Nico Tortorella, Samantha Barry, Dr. Jen Welter and Logan Browning. In addition to the keynote speakers Her Conference also hosted a ton of other successful women who led Q&A sessions, panels and workshops. 

One of my personal favorite keynote speakers was Samantha Barry the Editor in Chief at Glamour Magazine. She spoke to attendees about her experience in media, which began as a radio personality. She then spoke to us about her journey transitioning to EIC of Glamour Magazine and what that experience was like. 

 

Another one of the great keynote speakers of the weekend was Dr. Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach. She empowered attendees and is living proof that women can do anything men can.  She told attendees about her experience playing women football, men’s football and later becoming an NFL coach. She told us about a time when she wanted to be a professional tennis player and was told she was too weak to achieve that dream. She didn’t let that one failure stop her though and instead created history as the first female NFL coach. 

 

In addition to the keynote speakers there were a ton of great panels. One of my favorite panels was Blogging 101 where successful bloggers Caila Quinn, Krystal Back, Corey Golden and Noelle Downing gave us tips on how to grow a following and up engagement for our blogs. The ladies were very informative and gave great advice that I will definitely be using when it comes to my personal blog. 

Another one of the wonderful panels I was able to attend was How to Kill It as a Freelancer where freelance writers Elana Gross, Kaitlin Menza, Elyssa Goodman and Wendy Lu spoke about their personal experiences as freelance writers and gave advice to aspiring freelance writers. 

Aside from the keynote speakers and panelists there was also a block of workshops both days of the conference. On Saturday I attended Stilletos and Self Defense: Staying Strong, Safe & Sexy on Campus and Beyond! A workshop hosted by Jennifer Casetta. She showed us self-defense methods we could use in situations where we feel unsafe. The workshop was very interactive and Casetta even shared about her personal life and why she became interested in self defense. 

On Sunday the workshop I attended was The Many Ways You Can Work in Media: Exploring Difference Types of Roles Within an Organization. The workshop was hosted by Ashley Harding, Sharon Attia, Lindsey Underwood and Natalie Shutler. Each of the ladies works for The New York Times, but each one in a different department doing different things. The ladies talked about how they each began working in the media, how their jobs differ and the different roles within organizations like The New York Times. 

Another great perk of attending the conference was getting to meet the incredible ladies behind Her Campus and Her Conference. Her Campus co-founders Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, Windsor Hanger Western and Annie Wang were all in attendance and mingling with attendees. In addition to the co-founders other Her Campus staff members such as Megan Shuffleton the Her Campus community manager and many of the Her Campus interns were in attendance. 

Overall Her Conference was an incredible learning experience, networking opportunity and fun weekend!  Anyone interested in attending the conference next year can visit the website HerConference.com for more information. 

Kennedy Castillo is a student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley majoring in communications. She is the founder of her personal brand Kennedy C Media consisting of KennedyCBlog.com, The Simply Kennedy Podcast and Kennedy Castillo Youtube Channel. She previously worked with Riddle & Bloom as an Amazon Prime Student Ambassador. She is a freelance writer with published articles in Woman2Woman Magazine, Glue Magazine, Lune Magazine, Vinazine and Her Culture Magazine. She is the current Campus Correspondent and President of the UTRGV Her Campus Chapter and previously worked as a Her Campus Chapter Advisor, Her Campus Chapter Expansion Intern and Her Campus High School Ambassador Program Advisor.