Jill at the Worldwide ERC Conference

I spent a very interesting day at the Worldwide ERC Conference taking place in Denver, Colorado. There are about 1500 professionals here from corporate relocation managers to destination service providers from real estate agents to relocation companies. The two-day conference is full of interesting sessions with speakers from all over the world. In fact there are people from over 60 different countries.

The day started with keynote speaker Marshall Goldsmith PhD, a well known executive coach. He told us to focus on changing only one thing about ourselves at a time and really make that happen. One area he said everyone can improve (even the CEOs he has coached) is sending negative messages. How many times do we say "No, that is a great idea!, "But I agree with you." Why do we use these negative words when we really mean to send a positive message? These are small "transactional flaws" performed by one person against the other, which can lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive or person back.

I spent the day going to interesting sessions such as "Next Best Practices in Global Mobility", "Managing Multi-national Teams in a Global World--Can we Get it Right?", and "Make a Wish--Blue Sky Service Delivery Models." I promise to tell you all I have learned in my write up for the December newsletter.

My goal at the conference is to meet as many corporate relocation managers as possible and spread the news about our website. Another goal is to learn what everyone views as the main issues from their expatriates (before, during and after assignments) so Andrea and I can address those issues in our articles and interviews to help women expatriates like you.

Tomorrow is the final day of the conference with many interesting sessions to listen to! I will write again Friday.