Last night over a 100 women came to the Fairfield Museum to be a part of Erica Green’s dream event–The Big Connect. Erica shared her idea with me a year ago over lunch at Bloodroot (my favorite vegetarian restaurant). What’s so great about her concept is that you get it immediately. The tag line is “100 women you want to know better.” Don’t you want to go?

I knew that I wanted not only to attend, but also to have a booth space. I dusted off my trade show set-up and arrived early to put everything in order.

TFI Envision helped me with my re-branding a few years ago and included these banners which are noticeable from across a large room. I met great women and got a sense of what’s going on in the community at large.

At about 9pm Erica gathered everyone in the main exhibition room to say a few words. She shared her vision, which I just loved.

“When I was in Mexico,” Erica told us, “I was taken with how the women would create their own marketplace by setting up their wares. I thought, ‘we can do that, too.’ And tonight my vision has come to be.”

She went on to thank everyone who had been instrumental in making the event happen (everyone there essentially, Erica said) and a special thank you to her daughters who also helped and attended. “Is Dad in the car?” Erica asked as she introduced her younger daughter who had come towards the end. We got the sense of how the family had supported Erica throughout her creating this vision.

“Instead of the Big Connect, they’ve called it the Slow Connect.” There was compassionate and knowing laughter throughout the hall.