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NEWARK, DE - PMA Foundation’s Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference is just days away and with the growing popularity of the conference, its no wonder that the 2015 stats reveal an increasingly popular event. Kicking off April 26th, the conference we previously reported on, will be held at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, California.

This year’s outstanding list of industry newcomers, veterans and everyone in between, is comprised of 53% newcomers and 47% of returning guests.

“I find that there are two ways that you can measure the success of an event – the percentage of newcomers and the event’s stickiness," Margi Prueitt laughs. “By stickiness, I mean the amount of people that return to the conference each year. In both aspects I would say that we are incredibly successful with a mix of old and new blood.”

Margi is the Executive Director of PMA Foundation for Industry Talent and SVP, Produce Marketing Association…and a driving force behind the event.

“We have a very intimate and diverse group of women from across all sectors of the industry. The attendees will be coming from all over the United States, with the most joining us from California, Arizona, Florida and Washington. We also have attendees from Canada, Mexico and South Africa,” Margi notes.

The roles in the group are also across the board… with guests describing themselves in a host of different areas.

Within these overlapping percentages, more than 10 retailers will be present.

“Some of the feedback we received last year was from the executive attendees, who mentioned that there wasn’t enough content geared to those in executive roles. They also wanted the opportunity to give back and share their expertise and experiences with the industry,” Marji tells me. “We listened and learned.”

This year, 2 sessions have been added to address the executive sweet spot - Overcoming Your Leadership Derailers – Tactics that Get Results and It’s Lonely at the Top – Building a Community of Support.  Both seek to address the opportunities and hurdles that women at the top are confronted with, as well as those issues that can be encountered along the way. Also in play is an industry mentoring initiative that will be designed during the conference with participating executives.

“Our goal is to cultivate women in the industry so that there will be more female leadership to promote,” Margi says. “This will be a mentoring pilot we will put in place in the coming year. It’s an exciting time.”

So ladies, get ready to sharpen your business acumen and develop your leadership potential. As a first-timer, I am looking forward to the opportunity and the experience. See you all there.