The Power of Women on the Web

Panel Discussion
6:30 – 8 pm
 
Women in Asia are rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with on the web, and are projected to account for 40 percent of web usage in Asia by 2001. In Japan, where women account for 37 percent of the online population, that number is expected to rise to 50 percent by 2003. Kumi Sato, Founder and President of WomenJapan.com, Rosemary Brisco, Founder and CEO of WomenAsia.com, and Lisa Gersh Hall, COO of Oxygen Media, discuss the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the dynamic market for women and the Internet. Come find out how women are shaping e-commerce and the online landscape in the United States, Japan and Asia, and what is driving the rapid growth of Asian women among the 68.9 million Asia/Pacific users now on the web.

Followed by a cocktail reception.

Panelists
Rosemary Brisco is Founder and CEO of WomenAsia.com, the first global business-to-business Internet network connecting women in Asia and North America. During her years in Asia, Ms. Brisco saw the need for businesswomen in Asia to connect with one another and with the North American market, and the power of the Web to fill that need. WomenAsia.com offers an extensive community of professionals and businesswomen interested in doing business in the international marketplace. Ms. Brisco recently won Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Business Women’s Network, the National Foundation for Women Legislators and the Small Business Association for her success and creativity in supporting women in business internationally.

Kumi Sato launched WomenJapan.com in 1999 as the first website designed exclusively by and for Japanese women as an online resource dedicated to the enrichment and empowerment of Japanese women. The site offers seamless, integrated content that actively promotes personal development and self-improvement. Ms. Sato is also President of Cosmo Public Relations Corporation, one of Japan’s largest independent public relations and marketing firms. Over the past 13 years, she has helped more than 500 foreign companies gain access, achieve visibility and develop key strategic relationships in the Japanese market.

Lisa Gersh Hall is Chief Operating Officer of Oxygen Media, an integrated media brand of cable television and online content that combines advocacy, technology and creativity for the purpose of serving women. Ms. Hall oversees the day-to-day operations at Oxygen, which was founded in 1998. Oxygen websites include Moms Online, the number one parenting site on the web, and Thrive Online, this year’s Webby winner for best health site. Before joining Oxygen, Ms. Hall was a Founding Partner at the New York law firm of Friedman Kaplan & Seiler LLP from 1986 to 1998.

Presider
Rachel Howe is Managing Partner of Cyberworks Japan, which tracks the development of Japan’s online marketplace. Ms. Howe has specialized in research and analysis of Japanese market access and regulatory issues while Managing Partner of DSA Analytics, Trade Specialist in the International Trade Group of Dewey Ballantine, and Information Officer in the East Asia Group at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Tickets: $10, Japan Society members $8.