By Katie L. Pagenkopf

Passion, persistence and achievement were the buzzwords of this year’s New York Women in Communications Foundation’s Annual Student Career Conference. 

400 eager young women arrived at New York’s Grand Hyatt on Saturday, November 11, 2006, to spend a day getting the inside dish on the communications industry.

              “We owe it to ourselves to achieve our passions,” said Bonnie Fuller (right). 

Fuller started the conference with a keynote address and spoke candidly about being laid-off from Glamour magazine, “failure is not a permanent condition,” she said.  At Glamour, Fuller oversaw 12 magazines, now as Chief Editorial Director of American Media, Inc., she manages 52 publications.

              After purchasing an autographed copy of Fuller’s book, The Joys of Much Too Much, students made their way to the panel sessions.  Lauren Beene, a plucky senior from Cornell University, attended the broadcast journalism panel hoping it would ease her “job anxiety.”   With six months to go until graduation, Beene felt like she didn’t have the knowledge she needed to start an intelligent job search.  Once the panelists had finished their introductions, Beene leaned over and whispered, “I feel better already.”

              Before the advertising panel started, a group of ladies from Ohio University talked about their entire experience visiting New York City.  The bus left their school Wednesday evening arriving twelve-hours later in Harlem, at their hotel.  By the day of the conference they had seen the musical Rent, toured a public relations firm, visited the Food Network, ESPN, Matt Lauer and taken a three-hour Sex and the City bus tour.

              Both students and panelists were impressed with the conference.  Being around the students is “exciting and re-inspiring” said Amy Fox, a screenwriter who was part of the film panel.  “I needed to hear what Hoda was saying as much as the students did!”

              Hoda Kotb (left), Dateline NBC correspondent and host of “Your Total Health”, was the keynote address at lunch.  In the twenty minutes that she was speaking Kotb looked down at her notes twice, once to recount the many failures of Abe Lincoln and again to choke back tears.  After Kotb finished her prepared remarks the entire room stood to applaud.  Her best career advice: “even if it’s a small step, everyday you have to do one thing that brings you closer to your goal, everyday.”