 Welcome back to JSA TV the newsroom for tech telecom and data center professionals Buffy Herakides, and we are back live from the Venetian in Fabulous Las Vegas for channel partners 2023 and joining me today is Ashley Cole She is with Fusion Connect and also the events chair with the Alliance of Channel women Ashley, welcome. Thank you. It's an honor being here. Thank you for having me. Yes It's such an honor to have you a fellow member of Alliance of Channel women ACW sisterhood. I've been a long time member Behind the scenes we have Ms. Allison Whelan who is also a member So we are so proud to support this wonderful organization. Yes, and for viewers that don't know about ACW Can you tell them a little bit more? Sure. So the Alliance of Channel women is a volunteer organization really just comprised of Women wanting to see other women do well We help promote growth in the channel We have mentorship options and programs. It's really just women helping women It's a it's a big sisterhood and it's not just for women, right? So we have male members We have male sponsors And those are just the males wanting to champion for women. So really just Just wanting to see each other do well and be each other's cheerleaders. Yeah, and that's important having the men Yes as a part of our organization Because allyship is everything. Yes, and very much. Yeah, we need them to be our cheerleaders and help champion Right, and it's grown so much because last night. I was telling my colleagues that this event was in a room that was probably about a Quarter of the size of what was last night. So the Alliance of Channel women has grown so Significantly, yes, and it took over an entire ballroom the keynote room the keynote. Yeah here at channel partners Yeah, and it was packed sold out. It was we hit record numbers last night. So we had Record net new sales. We had a record attendance. I mean it was It was phenomenal. We actually hit max capacity for registration Before actually the event last night. So we actually hit our full capacity number Probably about three four days before the event which is just outstanding It really speaks numbers to kind of what we're doing and and getting the word out in in channel with what we're doing Yeah Congratulations. Thank you. You know much to say about you and your role as the events chair. Yes for sure and last night We have to say everyone was sparkling. So the theme was sparkle. Yes. We had our sparkle dresses on you loved it so So actually the Alliance of Channel women's theme is be bold, right? So but then the channel partners overarching theme is elevate your time to shine So when you take shine and you take bold you just get sparkle Yeah, so and it's and it's not just myself. I do have to shout out the entire events committee We actually have the largest committee of all the 12 committees in the Alliance of Channel women and my co-chair summer with rapid scale She's absolutely phenomenal. I could not do it without her but really the entire Committee we're a family and it takes a village to execute an event of that proportion as volunteers So I'm just I'm so blessed to have to have that village to actually execute that event and be able to sit back and Just just look at what we're able to accomplish and I'm and I'm so proud of you guys Because as I was saying like years ago is a very small Organization and it's grown to be the biggest and most prominent one Yes, in our industry today So make sure you sign up Allison and I for next year because we want to be a part of that events committee Oh, I'm 100% so we're looking forward to that. I would love it You might want to so we also have communications committee. Hey, there's actually 12 different committee but there is a communications committee that does all of our like PR and our social media and I'm kind of seeing that you got it going on We'll have to talk committees. We will sign us up for that. We have Keely here. She's our media relations manager Seedle and all the media mavens at home. We would love to help and be a part of that. Oh, I would love that So JSA is committed to a CW and the channel a hundred percent Well aside from all the amazing networking events, I mean you did talk a little bit about What a CW does? Yes, but tell us if someone wanted to be a member What are some of the membership benefits? I know you talked mentorship and things like that, but I mean, it's very easy to sign up You know that it is so there's a couple of different ways to sign up The biggest way one is actually become a sponsor So with every sponsorship level, there's a certain amount of memberships that are given so depending on the different level But as far as just joining as a member, it's a hundred dollars a year. Oh actually 99 But I just gave myself a dollar apparently But it's 99 dollars just to join it does get the mentorship so you can not only be a mentor but a mentee We did just work out a relationship with channel wise Which is just another organization to help with mentoring and really just giving women tools to succeed and just Giving women tools to have that environment and that you know sisterhood around them for anything and everything Just you know, whether it be coaching or mentoring or just cheerleading or just having a sounding board. Yeah, honestly So there's mentoring. There's also local chapters, which is amazing I belong to the Atlanta local chapter, but we have local chapters nationwide if there isn't one in your area Talk to the local chapters committee and they can help you start one But the local chapters are great because it's our way of getting active in the community So I know in Atlanta alone We did a toy drive at the end of the year last year and then this year we're working with a domestic violence Organization and we're going to help support the women in in their programs And we're also looking towards doing like mentorship with underprivileged women and helping them build resumes and going through Interview processes to make sure they're really prepped for success So that's a great way to not only get involved in your local communities, but be involved in ACW as well And then of course we do we have many committees from Sponsorship and membership and communications and DE and I there's there's just so many so any Any avenue you want to kind of venture down? I tell people it's one of two things either you want to join one because it's your bread and butter And you want to give back with something, you know Or you want to get out of your comfort zone and try something new and what a great organization to really try something new with Because there's no judgment. We're all here wanting to see each other succeed. That's so true It's such an important organization, and I'm so proud to be talking to you about it today What's going on so they have a booth just for viewers that are tuning tuning in we are live elimination right at the entrance of the Expo floor and ACW has a booth right next to us and they're setting up all kinds of candy and sweet treats It's called a sweet and great right. It's a sweet meet and greet sweet meet and greet Can you tell us a little bit more sure so the number one question? I usually get when people see anything ACW on me is what is ACW? so we figured we would have and An experience for everyone to come by just find out more find out how to get involved find out how to sponsor and what other Way what other better way to entice a crowd besides candy? You know it's midday people need to pick me up need some sugar. They might have been out too late last night So it's just a way for them to come by engage with some members of ACW Hear more about it get questions answered share and experiences a lot of people are coming up to me talking about last night So it's really just a time for people to get engaged and either learn more hear more do more see more we just are trying to get just more people involved and Allow people to know What resources are out there through ACW because a lot of even existing members don't realize all the programs we have available So we just want to spread the word with candy There's no better way so if you are here at channel partners Yes, be sure to stop by their booth and get look for the wings yeah, and If you are tuning in from home and you want to learn more about the Alliance of channel women You can visit them at it's www.AllianceofChannelWomen.org There you go. Well Ashley is there anything else you want to add? No, I just really appreciate you guys wanting to spread the word about ACW It means the absolute world to us to have this opportunity to just get it out there to more of our channel community Yeah, for sure. It means the absolute world to us Everyone at JSA to be a part of the organization and to help you get the word out there We're always here to support you. So thank you again Ashley and Alliance of channel women Thank you all that you do for the women in the channel And thank you viewers for tuning in to another episode of JSA TV live from channel partners 2023 happy networking