The best way to describe Ruslana Milikhiker’s multi-faceted role as Senior Manager, Events is to say she is the ‘Boss Babe’ of the WomenIFuture Conference as her work covers every stage of the event, from planning to execution and within this there is an agenda framework and speaker management, sponsorship sales and live-streaming for every session of the three -day virtual event.
Ruslana brings a wealth of experience
After graduating from university with a Bachelor’s in Marketing and Master’s in Business administration, Ruslana describes how they ‘rolled together’ to lead her into the Events industry in which she has been working for more than six years. She gained a huge amount of experience working for a company organizing 30 trade shows, summits, and conferences each year for a variety of industries including aerospace, rotorcraft, PR, and nuclear deterrence. Ruslana quickly adds that-
‘My passion is in events rather than the industries. You don’t have to know everything about the industry. I know very little about nuclear deterrence, but I am an expert in events’.
With more than six years of experience as an event planner for various industries, Ruslana joined the Stevie Awards and soon found herself helping to transition the awards ceremonies and Women|Future Conference from in-person events to virtual events. She plans in detail everything she can and creates a master calendar that helps her stay on track and follow through all deadlines.
She admits though that she must keep a versatile approach as there are constant changes and she says it is key to always be ‘adapting to these changes.
A challenging role
The biggest challenge is working with high level executives who are signed up well in advance as speakers for the November conference but as the event draws closer, its dates and their busy schedules don’t always work, and Ruslana and her colleagues find themselves quickly finding replacement speakers. There are eight international Stevie Awards programs, which are the world’s premier business awards. As well as the conference, Ruslana also organises the Stevie Award Galas. She explains that it is very important to keep up with industry changes so that she can stay ahead. She cites as an example, the start of the pandemic when both the Stevie Awards and the WomenIFuture Conference had to be quickly pivoted from in-person to virtual events.
The WomenIFuture Conference is developing
Ruslana is extremely enthusiastic about the WomenIFuture Conference as she has witnessed how it is helping women to progress and develop in both their professional and personal lives. She also feels strongly that because the conference is now virtual, it is making positive strides in connecting the international community and as a first generation American she finds this is very empowering.
This year, the conference is going to be a little different. In previous years there was an eclectic agenda, but this year it has been streamlined-
‘This year we have decided to hone in on seven main tracks which are Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Marketing, Technology, Diversity, the Future of Work, Equity & Inclusion and Personal Development’.
Importantly, this year as Ruslana explains, the conference is ideal for teams –
‘Entire teams can join the conference and sit in on the tracks that are important to them. You don’t have to attend all the sessions, but you can pick and choose to build your own agenda and make it tailored to you – yet still be in regular contact with your team’.
An added bonus is that as well as watching live sessions, each one is recorded so that they can be watched at a later date –
‘Because we are an international event, we are juggling many different time zones so we give everyone the option to watch either live or pre-recorded versions of each session. We record every session and they are available for up to one year afterwards. This is super helpful for the busy entrepreneur who cannot dedicate three whole days in November as they can watch sessions on their own time afterwards’.
Another important bonus is that the Stevie Awards and the WomenIFuture Conference are linked so that women participating in one can become involved in the other and vice versa.
Active participation is easy…
There are exciting changes made to the conference every year and one exciting new feature for 2022 is that attendees can interact very easily with speakers by joining the ‘virtual roundtable’ with audio and video and they can question the speakers ‘on the spot’.
…and fun…
A recent addition to the conference, that is proving very popular is the women-owned business pitch competition. This is modelled on the ‘Shark Tank’ American TV programme in which new business owners can pitch to win funding for their business. Last year’s winner ‘Lamik’ who produces natural make-up will be back this year as one of the judges.
Why is the WomenIFuture Conference so worthwhile?
On the conference website there are a number of testimonials from attendees at previous conferences that explain what they have found value the conference has had for them. Ruslana is delighted with the continuing success of the conference and explains –
‘The takeaway that women get from the conference goes way beyond the educational part of it. We are creating a community for forward-thinking professionals across all different industries who not only talk about change, they can BE the change. The platform we have created – even though it is virtual- gives attendees the opportunity to learn from the women who do it best and they can expose themselves to new opportunities. As per our tagline – it is the opportunity to cultivate your tomorrow.’
- The WomenIFuture Conference 2022 is taking place Tuesday 8 – Thursday 10 November. For more details and to join the conference, log onto- https://womenfutureconference.com/
