AWIS Chicago Hosted a ‘People Management Workshop’ Presented by Dale Carnegie Training.
Sandra Larkin, a respected Dale Carnegie workshop leader, advised graduate students, post-docs and industry researchers about effectively managing others in a life sciences environment.  This 90-minute workshop was formulated specifically for our members by Dale Carnegie Training.  Men and women participated in the interactive presentation.  Topics covered included: people management (in industry and academia), how to get noticed for promotions and advance into management positions.  The group gave individualized examples of management style in their workplace and Sandra provided constructive criticism about how to better approach conflict situations in the laboratory.

For more information about Dale Carnegie Training, please visit their website.

AWIS National Winter Webinar Series: For New Job-Seekers.
AWIS members were invited to particpate in a free webinar series for new job seekers.  Topic covered:

• Interview Skills

AWIS Chicago presented “Negotiation in the Workplace” as part of the 2009 “Effective Negotiation” Career Development Series
Dr. Alice Stuhlmacher, associate professor in Organizational Psychology at DePaul University, presented a seminar entitled “Negotiation in the Workplace”.  Dr. Stuhlmacher’s interactive and informative presentation highlighted the gender differences seen with negotiation in work situations.

A synopsis of evening’s topic: Negotiation influences tangible work outcomes (such as pay) but is also critical in daily activities of distributing tasks, building networks, and claiming resources. Research suggests that men are more likely than women to negotiate at work, which directly impacts a woman’s success. Dr. Stuhlmacher discussed findings on gender differences in negotiation with particular attention to negotiation situations where women are most successful and explanations for gender differences.

AWIS National Fall Webinar Series: For New Job-Seekers.
AWIS members were invited to particpate in a free webinar series for new job seekers.  Topics covered included:

• Tips on writing an effective resume
• How to perform a meaningful job search

Fall 2009 Kickoff Event at Windy City Wine Festival.
We socialized with other Chicago area scientists at the Windy City Wine Festival on September 12th. We met at 4pm and enjoyed sampling over 250 wines, WINES bingo and Christine McCary, graduate student at Northwestern University, was the lucky winner of a $25 Binny’s gift card

Argonne Laboratories Open House
August 29th, 2009.  AWIS-CAC stopped by Argonne to let other women in science know about our organization.

3rd Annual AWIS-CAC Innovator Award Dinner May 19th 2009: Capturing Life at the Interface.
Dr. Tijana Rajh was honored as the 2009 AWIS Innovator Award winner.
Dr. Rajh is a chemist at Argonne National Laboraties. She gave a brief talk at the dinner about her career and experiences as a female scientist. *Support for Northwestern University students generously provided by the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Integrated Graduate Program.

AWIS National Spring Career Coaching Tele-seminar Series. Looking for a new job or a career change in this tough economy? AWIS Career Coaching can help. This tele-seminar series covered the following topics:

• Networking Now – When Everyone is Looking: How To Be More Effective in the Current “Crowded” Marketplace
• Effective Communication in a Four Generation Workplace
• Impression Management for Interviews
• How to Keep Your Job in a Tough Economic Climate

Motherhood and Success in Science Panel
Date: May 18, 2009
Time: 11:30am – 2:30pm at Northwestern University-Evanston campus, 4-6:30pm at the University of Chicago campus (Biological Science Learning Center, 924 E. 57th St, Rm 109)
Registration: Free
Motherhood and Success in Science featured a set of panel discussions about balancing a career in science and motherhood. Panelists included contributors from the book Motherhood: The Elephant in the Laboratory.

Spring Social Networking Event. On April 16, 2009 AWIS-CAC hosted a wine tasting event at Drinks Over Dearborn. The event was attended by approximately 20 female scientists, including the Chicago Chapter board members. Six wines and one liquor were sampled. It was a great opportunity to meet women from various scientific disciplines, several of whom had never been to an AWIS-CAC event before. Please join us for our next social event in summer 2009.

AWIS special award presented at the Chicago Public Schools Science Fair
Date: March 27, 8am-noon at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
This science fair features the best projects from all over Chicago and is the last stage before students advance to the international INTEL Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Reno, Nevada in May 2009. We were a part of this momentous occasion and volunteers served as a judge at this years Science Fair! AWIS-CAC  presented a Special Award to 4 young girls who showed the most promise in their science specialty.

iBIO CareerLinks and iBIO IndEX Conference
Date: March 18th, 2009 from 7am-7pm at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601
iBIO CareerLinks provides graduate students in various fields insight into careers and opportunities in the life sciences industries in the Chicago area. Two panels (science and business) will be held to provide an individual perspective on these industries from recent graduates as well as experienced professionals. Our own AWIS-CAC past president, Heather Behanna, will be moderating the science panel. The science panel will be held from 1:30-2:45pm, the business panel from 3:15-4:30pm. These panels overlap with iBIO IndEX programs and registrants for CareerLinks will have all-day access to the conference as well.

iBIO IndEX is “the premier life sciences event in the Midwest”. Local companies will be present and panels will discuss various life sciences topics. Included will be an Agricultural Panel, Nanotech Panel and Regenerative Panel. The keynote address will be given by Miles D. White, Chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories. This conference provides a great opportunity to meet and network with area professionals, researchers, executives and leaders in the life sciences industry.

Women on Boards
Date: March 9th, 2009 from 3-6pm at Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601
Join AWIS-CAC and Women on Boards for a panel discussion by experienced board members. Topics of discussion include:

• Being an effective board member
• What boards are looking for in board candidates
• How to position yourself to get on a board
• How to transition from serving on non-profit boards to for-profit boards

Negotiation Skills Workshop Part II: Negotiation for Women in Industry.
Date: February 27, 2009 from 12-1pm at Abbott Laboratories
Join AWIS-CAC and Diagnostics Women in Action (DWA) in learning how to negotiate in an industry job. A presentation will be given by Jamie Stacey, Director of Talent Acquisition and a 12yr Abbott employee. Ms. Stacey has 7yrs of experience in Talent Acquisition as well as a background in chemistry and cancer research. This will be a brown bag lunch event. *Advance pre-registration will be required for Non-Abbott employees for security purposes*
Transportation will not be provided, if you need or can offer a ride please include this information in your registration email.

AAAS and AWIS

AWIS National and the local chapter have a history of hosting a few events at the AAAS conference every year.  This year the National Fellows were honored, as was the service of other members.

Feb 15: AWIS Fellows reception. The 2009 AWIS fellows were announced and honored.  For a list of the 2009 AWIS Fellows, please visit the National AWIS website (www.awis.org).

Feb 16: AWIS Breakfast, Networking and Program event.
Topic: “Learn to Juggle without Joining the Circus: Strategies to Deal with Your Career and Work-Life Balance Challenges”
This interactive workshop provided practical strategies to help you:

• Assess your personal and professional responsibilities
• Prioritize the demands on your time
• Identify your sources of joy and happiness
• Increase your satisfaction with your life and work

Dr. Marlanda English, an executive coach and member of the professional AWIS Coaching Team, gave a lively session on juggling the demands of career, family, and hobbies and left attendees with a plan for recapturing that elusive work-life balance.  If you were unable to attend the event, Dr. English’s slides are available online here.

Science of the Small, Jan 17 2009, Northwestern, Science Saturday program
This event was run with the support of the Institute for Nanotechnology, Phi Lambda Upsilon and Northwestern University. The day was split in half – the morning was an intimate session (max of 50 students – we are targeting girls age 9-13) on demos and tours of Nanotechnology, and the afternoon featured a larger scale chemistry show. We are grateful for the AWIS-CAC members who volunteered to help out and keep this event running smoothly.

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