An Aero-TV Overview: Women In Aviation 2008 Conference

The 19th Annual International Women in Aviation (WAI) Conference is now history but statistics showed it to be the organization’s biggest Conference ever, and both ANN and Aero-TV were there to cover it all. “By all accounts, this has been one heck of a successful Conference,” said WAI President Dr. Peggy Chabrian. We couldn’t agree more. Attendance reached a new high with 3320 women and men registered. More than 250 of the Conference-goers were from the military, also a new record. The Exhibit Hall was the biggest ever with 151 separate companies and organizations on display, representing all aspects of the aviation community. $710855 in scholarships was distributed to WAI members at every stage of life from university students to mature members seeking a mid-life career change to aviation. The WAI silent auction raised $28000 for wai’s Endowment Fund, also a new record, bringing the total in the Endowment Fund to $563000. The money in the Endowment Fund is used for scholarships. At the Conference, WAI and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) announced a partnership for EAA airventure 2008 called womenventure, a series of seminars, speakers and networking events all week long at airventure 2008, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to highlight both women’s historical and contemporary role in aviation. womenventure culminates on Friday, August 1, with wai’s Celebrity Breakfast at the Nature Center on-site, followed by the gathering of the largest number of women pilots in …