Past Athens WING events 2008    

Saturday February 9th

This event had a subject that many women are interested in: 
"Formal aspects of starting and running your own business".

Aris Kontoangelos, attorney at law, referred to the many aspects of the procedure you have to follow if you want this dream to come true. You will have to deal with many bureaucratically issues: what will be your legal entity, what licenses do you need, how to pay taxes, which social security you should choose etc etc. Our guest speaker gave us a lot of useful information. In the coffee break he was bombarded with questions.

During the second part of the meeting we listened to two stories of our membersJeanette Choisi, director of PR Connexion – Media Active and Maya Cornelissen, co-director of Greek language school Omilo. They both have started successful businesses and had a lot to tell about the challenges you find on your path. This didn’t stop us all from laughing a lot about the often hilarious situations they had been through. This time we were received in the European University Athens who even gave us a nice present.


Saturday March 15th

This was a very animated workshop about orientation on your job and managing your career. 

Celeste Neelen, consultant in human resources and president of Athens Wing, proposed many inspiring activities to find out what qualities and skills you already have and to find out what  your favorite working environment is. She also helped us to make our personal profile.

During this workshop there was a lot of opportunity to support each other and to network with dedicated women, active in the same area of interest.
The informal environment of the Irish Institute was the right place for this event.


Thursday May 15th

In a women’s network as Athens Wing it is always inspiring and encouraging to hear stories from other women who had to start a new life in Greece. So we invited Nicole Stellou, chief Editor of the Greek News Agenda. She came from Canada to live with her Greek parents here in Athens. She told us about her different careers in Athens and offered us a very interesting and amusing talk about seeking desperately for new jobs. She also gave us a lot of examples of cultural clashes which she told with a great deal of humor.

After a break with a glass of wine we spoke in groups about our fields of interests, which turned out to be an effective network activity.

The balcony of the Australian Archaeological Institute contributed a lot to this nice May evening at the foot of the Acropolis.


Thursday June 12th

If you want to live an active life you cannot avoid the Internet. Diana Carrasco, who studied Computer Science, and is now IT project manager for European Dynamics in Athens, told us about the ins and outs of Information Technology and how it can be useful. She also showed us useful websites for finding a job, starting some activity,  finding like minded people etc. 

After the break with a glass of wine in the nice garden of the Netherlands Institute Athens, a panel of different women told us about their experiences of using the internet to develop their work. There was a sprightly discussion and the panel had to answer many questions.


Saturday November 1st

It was nice to see everybody again after such a long time in the Spyropoulio Pneumatiko Kentro in Neo Psychiko. The sunny terrace of our venue was the adequate place to see old friends again and meet new people.

Celeste Neelen gave a encouraging introduction about Women and Leadership.
Which qualities are helpful in being a leader, how to keep your authenticity in a male-oriented environment and what is the current situation of women at the top in Europe. 

After the break we listened to a very lively speech by Yvette Jarvis. As a black American woman she came to Greece to join the basketball team in the early eighties. She did a lot of work for the African community in Athens and is currently adviser to the Mayor on the subject of immigration. She is also a successful singer! She is a living example of a female leader. She also had a lot to say about the inevitable cultural clashes and racism. We all were very impressed by her speech and thoroughly enjoyed the morning!


Saturday December 13th

For the first time we organized an Open Networking and Swap market.
Members could have a table to show their business and activities. The market was open to everybody, women and men. You could also swap your services with services from other people. For example I offer Greek lessons; you give me lessons in IT.

It was surprising and encouraging to see the great variety of activities that our members have developed: portrait photography, creative holiday centre, website development, selling special products of your country, special touristy activities etc. 
Many women had brought us cakes and sweets from their country, which generated a lot of talks about recipes.

The Ioniki Polistiki Stegi in Ilioupoli was so kind to host this event, offering us their large and hospitable space.