Annual Women’s Conference offers ‘Healing and Humor’

Bradie Jill Jones, Herald Reporter
Posted 4/20/18

ERH holds annual women's conference

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Annual Women’s Conference offers ‘Healing and Humor’

Posted

EVANSTON — The roar of hearty laughter could be heard bursting out of the doors of the Evanston High School auditorium on Saturday, April 14, as many women — and a few men — from throughout the community gathered for a morning of self-reflection, socializing and self-development. 

With a background in family coaching, parenting and entertaining audiences, keynote speaker Dr. Matt Townsend brought lessons of healing through humor to the Evanston audience at the annual Evanston Regional Hospital Women’s Conference. 

Townsend opened his remarks by saying, “I don’t even smell gunpowder and fireworks — you all clean up very nice!” 

The audience had a chuckle at that and from there the laughs only continued to multiply. Townsend wove a message of living a life focused on happiness and gratitude through a series of humorous personal stories. 

Evanston resident Susan Gerrard, who has attended the Women’s Conference for several years, said this year’s speaker was her favorite so far.

“I thought he was educational and funny and I think he lives what he teaches,” Gerrard said of the keynote speaker. 

Evanston Regional Hospital CEO Jeremy Davis opened the morning with several big announcements.

The hospital is launching a new online system that allows appointments to be scheduled online even at the last minute at evanstonanytime.com. 

Davis also announced that the two hospital pediatricians will be make weekly visits to Mountain View, starting very soon. He rounded out his announcements by inviting the audience to the May 23, open house for the newly remodeled clinic. 

Women’s Conference Committee chair Maxine Clarke said the locally-run committee, “Starts working on the next year’s conference as soon as the event is over.” 

Townsend’s name has long been on the board’s list of possible speakers. This year’s event theme was determined by the keynote speaker’s topic, “Healing and Humor.” 

“From the hospital perspective, women are the primary healthcare decision makers, so we want to serve the women in our community and give them the resources and things that they need,” ERH marketing and business director Jessica Kendrick said. 

Following the keynote speaker, the rest of the morning was filled with breakout sessions on a variety of topics including sexual harassment, fitness classes, a panel presented by the hospital’s two pediatricians and other classes on laughter and it’s healing properties. 

“There’s something for everybody in every age group” Kendrick said. 

In the crowd were mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and friends. Of the crowd of about 300 women who had gathered, Kendrick said, “There’s something powerful about women coming together. The energy of supporting each other and growing together is what we try and create here.”

The conference went into the afterrnoon with vendors filling the high school gym as locals browsed the booths and attended breakout sessions.