Friday, October 9th
Event Background: What started out as the Women in Business conference in 2005, the Smart Women Breakfast addresses issues facing women in the workplace. This morning conference also recognizes the achievements of leading businesswomen, inspiring male advocates and effective women’s programs through the Smart Women Awards program.
During a year when COVID-19 has changes lives and what it means to gather, an event that is typically done in-person as a large awards gala had to pivot to a virtual environment. After a lot of research and demos, we selected the virtual event platform, Remo, for this event. We worked closely with their development team to customize a floor-plan that would prominently display our sponsor organizations and would be easy to navigate. One of the biggest aspects of our events that we wanted to make sure we could translate virtually was face-to-face networking. This platform allowed us to set up various tables and lounges for attendees to intimately connect via video chat. We interspersed networking breaks throughout the awards presentation and pre-recorded content to reduce technical difficulties day-of. Built into the floor-plan were an SBN Concierge table and Remo Help Desk where attendees could go if they had any questions or technical questions. All attendees were emailed know-before-you-go information, the event link, and a link to a video help guide prior to the event day. A Smart Business team member was on stand-bye as the primary contact if anyone had any trouble accessing the event link.
2020 Class of Honorees
Progressive Entrepreneur
• Cristine Torek, CMT Consulting
• Diane Jarrett, Jarrett
• Teressa Doaty, Max & Alayna’s Paws Play, Ltd.
• Kristie Beck, Proformex
• Ariane Kirkpatrick, The AKA Team
• Mary Verdi-Fletcher, The Dancing Wheels Company & School
• Kym Sellers, The Kym Sellers Foundation
• April Thompson, Wild Thymez Personal Chef Service
Progressive Organization
• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• Hunter International
Progressive Woman
• Shelly Cayette, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Linda Lanier, Cuyahoga Community College
• Ann Frangos, Cuyahoga Community College
• Denise A. Carkhuff, Jones Day
• Fleur Veldhoven, Nestle
• Cecilia Render, Nordson Corporation Foundation
• Beth Tresch, Philpott Solutions Group
• Theresa Carter, Synthomer Foundation
• Cheryl Strom, The Riverside Company
• Micki Byrnes, WKYC TV
KATHERINE STUCKY 