National Association Of Professional Women (NAPW) Hosted Third Annual Networking Conference, Spark. Ignite Your Network

NEW YORK, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) hosted its third annual National Networking Conference, Spark. Ignite Your Network, at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel on Friday, April 26, 2013. Over 1,200 NAPW members - powerful business women representing professionals, executives, small business owners and entrepreneurs - came together to experience a full day of inspiring speeches, networking sessions, panel discussions and motivational workshops.

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Spark. Ignite Your Network featured programming that provided attendees key insights and career advice from fellow high-profile female business women. NAPW National Spokeswoman Star Jones once again hosted the conference and provided opening remarks.

"We came together for the NAPW conference to SPARK debate, to start a dialogue, and to own a tremendous sense of strength as professional women in the year 2013," said Star Jones. "NAPW is at the epi-center of enabling women's personal and business agendas, as well as giving them the ability to network like never before."

Jones also conducted two one-on-one keynote conversations with Martha Stewart and Arianna Huffington, who each shared their own personal insights on overcoming challenges and achieving success as women in the workplace. 

Martha Stewart continues to be a role model for women entrepreneurs as she has built her own career – from a model, to stockbroker, to caterer, to the head of a global publicly traded multimedia corporation. She discussed how it was to transition her careers, as well as how a woman should be the driving force behind herself and her brand.

"You never hit rock bottom, it's just a bump in the road," said Martha Stewart. "You have to be strong, circumspect and believe in yourself and the people around you."

Having been immersed in the news and media industry for most of her professional life, Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, spoke about issues many business women face today: handling and managing stress, working on-the-go and/or from home, and common challenges they have to overcome.

"In addition to leaning in, we also need to lean back," said Arianna Huffington, in reference to the term used by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook. "When you lean back in, you are invigorated and that's when you have your best ideas."

In addition, the 2013 NAPW Spark. Ignite Your Network conference featured panels led by a variety of other successful business women, including Lesley Jane Seymour, Editor-in-Chief of MORE magazine; Desiree Rogers, CEO of Johnson Publishing Co.; Monique Nelson, CEO of UniWorld Group, Inc.; and Kim Garst, CEO of Boom! Social. This membership-only event, free to NAPW members, provided thought-provoking workshops, including The Transforming Leader, led by award winning entrepreneur and Forbes contributing writer Bonnie Marcus; Reinvention – The Journey is the Destination, led by Naked Branding creator Danielle Marcus; and Igniting Your Personal Brand, led by award-winning leadership consultant Sue Stanek, Ph.D., and Striking a Balance, led by Kathleen Barton, Your Life Balance Coach. 

Prior to the conference, NAPW surveyed its members to gain insight on their thoughts and experiences as professional business women. Findings include:

• Networking continues to remain an instrumental factor for women to achieve success and grow in the workplace, as 72% of those surveyed reported networking with their peers to be extremely valuable.
• Mentoring is a critical tool that women are incorporating into their lives, as 54% have, or have had, a mentor. Of this group, 86% feel having a mentor has been instrumental in their success professionally.

The 2013 NAPW National Networking Conference was supported by generous sponsors including: The Lincoln Motor Company and Lenovo.

For more information on the 2013 NAPW National Networking Conference, Spark. Ignite Your Network, please click here. Please find NAPW on Twitter @NAPWInc and Facebook at www.facebook.com/NAPWhq.

Quotable Quotes from the 2013 NAPW Conference:

Star Jones: "Focus on the future with reinvention."

Star Jones: "NAPW ignites you and your network, helps build your business, and guides you in the creation of the successes you're seeking."

Star Jones: "Women spend their day working, balancing, juggling, leading, following, managing and generally making it all happen."

Arianna Huffington: "It is our time not just to succeed in the man's world, but to change it."

Arianna Huffington: "Turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones."

Martha Stewart: "I don't do anything for distraction. I do things for inspiration."

Martha Stewart: "You should never retire. You should never even use that word, because retiring means going off into the sunset someplace.  That's no fun." 

Martha Stewart: "In my recent interview with Matt Lauer, he asked if I'm seeing someone special. I'm not actually seeing anybody special right now. I did try to join Match.com just for the fun of it to see if it would work. We must have had 50 to 100 matches, that's a lot, 20 percent success rate. But I had trouble, because how do you describe yourself? I wanted to use my name, Martha."

About National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)

National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) is the most secure network designed exclusively for professional women in the United States. It is an exclusive network where nearly 400,000 accomplished, professional women come together to interact, exchange ideas, and empower themselves. Through the wide reaching network of nearly 400 local NAPW chapters across the country, like-minded members meet in-person on a regular basis to share their professional endeavors, experiences, develop relationships, gain exposure and establish and advance their careers. In addition NAPW members have access to online networking and educational tools and resources, mentorship programs and other services, which help them achieve growth and development. http://www.napw.com/

Related Links:
National Association of Professional Women (NAPW): http://www.napw.com/  
NAPW National Networking Conference, Spark. Ignite Your Network: http://www.cvent.com/events/napw-national-networking-conference/event-summary-2815816c27b349e9b5cf7a6b25dff4ae.aspx?=3e3ea140

SOURCE NAPW