The U.S. WIN Region II Conference hosted by Duke Energy was held in Charlotte, NC February 3rd and 4th. The conference had 190 attendees from over 20 different companies. All the tours and the special event were “sold out.”
Monday February 3rd had optional tours of McGuire Nuclear Station in Huntersville, NC and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) campus in Charlotte, NC. At the same time as the tours, a Professional Development session with Lou Solomon and Julie Haldane from interact, Authentic Communication on Leadership Presence was offered. Monday evening the welcome reception was held at the hotel of the conference and, of course, included dancing!
Tuesday February 4th started Preston Gillespie (Duke Energy CNO) welcoming everyone to Charlotte, NC and to the conference. That was followed by a presentation on Women in Leadership by Lou Solomon and a Female Leadership in the Nuclear Industry Panel with Kim Maza (Duke Energy Harris Site VP), Carol Barajas (TVA VP Nuclear Oversight), Jody Porter (Duke Energy Director of Nuclear Organizational and Leadership Development), Lisa Hilbert (Dominion North Anna Plant Manager), and Nicole Flippin (Duke Energy Robinson Plant Manager). The presentation and panel both provided great insights including good qualities leaders have such as positive attitude, a willingness to learn, empathy, patience, and integrity.
The first breakout session followed with three presentations including Develop Your Professional Brand, EnergySolutions & the Path to Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal, and How to Take Control of your Nuclear Career. All three breakout sessions were informative and interesting!
Following the breakout sessions, Preston Gillespie spoke about innovation and had great things to say about the necessity of nuclear for the future energy portfolio. He highlighted U.S. WIN’s role in helping move the industry forward.
To kick off the afternoon, Fred Miller (author of No Sweat Public Speaking! And No Sweat! Elevator Speech) gave a wonderful presentation on how to craft your own elevator speech and be a better public speaker. Fred recommended pausing instead of using filler words and talked about the importance of emphasizing your “Why?” in everything you do.
The second round of breakout sessions included presentations on what Duke Energy is doing with Innovation, a PD Series on Propelling Us into Our Bright Nuclear Futures, and TVA’s SMR Partnership with the DOE. Every session was well attended and had great feedback.
As the end of the day approached the winner of the Region II Leadership Award was announced. Congratulations to Julie Cramer of the Oak Ridge Chapter! Julie has done amazing work with the Oak Ridge Chapter including helping plan the Region II Conference in 2019!
Finally, Kim Maza closed out the day and inspired everyone in attendance to lead their organizations through their WIN chapters.