Wild Kitties Take Her Conference 2014

On Sunday, July 13, we embarked on an unforgettable journey with collegiettes from across the country at Her Campus National Intercollegiette Conference 2014. After a day filled with goodies, sage advice and many HerCelfies, we surely will never be the same. Here are some of the highlights of our fun-filled day.

 

Elizabeth: The morning started off with a bang. After rolling out of bed to make the 6:40 train from Darien, CT, to Harlem, we were very excited to make it to Columbia University’s Faculty House, where we were greeted by the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Her Campus team. We checked in, got our goodie bags, and proceeded to gorge on Chobani and many other delicious breakfast treats.

 

 

After we satiated ourselves and grabbed some fab seats in the front, we made our way to the Social Currency Station to exchange our tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagrams for raffle tickets. From Chipotle catering, to Intel tablets, there were so many amazing prizes that we wanted to enter. Thus, we bugged our Twitter followers with excessive tweeting. 

 

 

After that, we returned to our seats for the morning keynote speech. People StyleWatch Editor-in-Chief Susan Kaufman had so much to teach us from her experience. When she advised us to “smile on the outside, cry on the inside,” and “never complain at work because no one cares,” I realized that this powerhouse doesn’t fool around. She’s beautiful, she’s stylish, and she is definitely successful. Susan also explained to us that at People StyleWatch, they go by the motto, “Fail to prepare; prepare to fail,” which really resonates with me as a fresh face in the publishing industry. Other takeaways from her speech include to always have a positive attitude, embrace change, and stay humble. With such an impactful start to the day, it was hard to believe we had more learning in store!

 

 

Following the morning keynote was our first set of panels. We had got to choose from four options, and I decided to attend “Does the Devil Really Wear Prada?: Life in an Entry-Level Editorial Position.” I am pursuing a career in publishing so it seemed like a great way to learn about what I may experience down the road. On the panel were four entry-level editors from various online and print publications. I soaked up a lot of great advice but some of the best were to make yourself the most important person on a team, engage in priority shifting, and not to close yourself off to opportunities.

 

Katharine: I was simply along for the ride as Elizabeth lovingly chauffeured my southern self through the streets of New York. I was similarly awed by Susan Kaufman, and chose afterward to attend “Marketing Mavens: Mapping Out a Career in Marketing.” I got great advice from marketing professionals at organizations such as Tumblr, Amtrak, and Southern Living. I would love to have a career in marketing, and the session was very reassuring that I am capable of doing so, despite Davidson not having a marketing or PR major. 

 

Now back to the main attraction: food. Lunch was more Chipotle than I thought possible to have in one room, and you got to build your own burrito bowl, which led to some unbelievable portions of guac, but an opportunity like this only comes around so often. The lunchtime keynote speaker was the fabulous Inbar Barak, Senior Vice President of Digital Programming at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (what a title!). We got insight about how to find your calling and how to juggle work and family.

 

 

The advice continued in our last session of the day: “How to Keep Your 20s in Your 20s,” a session about personal finance. This session taught us just how incredibly important it is to save money when you first strike out into the world, even if it’s just a few dollars a week. No matter how much you’re doing, getting into the habit is what’s important. I was blown away to learn that someone who saved money from ages 25 to 35 and then never saved again would have more money at age 65 than someone who started at 35 and continued to save until they were 65. A great way to stay of top of your spending and saving is budgeting apps, easy and free to use on your smartphone. 

 

The day ended with the raffle that we had been working to win all day at the social currency station. Although luck was not on my side, Elizabeth got some goodies, and shared like the great friend that she is!

 

Elizabeth with her winnings courtesy of Affinitas Intimates

Feet aching from a long day and weighed down by free goodies, we left the conference feeling like collegiettes ready to take on the world!

 

Us with all of our fellow collegiettes at the conference!