IBO to honor women at NYC trade show

By Harry Keaney

It’s the year of the woman, at least when it comes to this year’s Irish Business Organization’s fourth annual trade show, to be held on May 19 at the 200 Fifth Avenue Club in the International Toy Center, in Manhattan.

More than 1,000 guests attended last year’s IBO trade show, which was opened by the president of Ireland, Mary McAleese.

During this year’s event, the IBO will honor the accomplishments of Irish women from the Famine to the present day. Centerpiece of this celebration will be a black-and-white-photo exhibition and a panel discussion by successful Irish and Irish-American businesswomen.

The exhibit, entitled "A Prayer for my Daughter," from the Yeats poem of the same title, will feature a time line of milestones in Irish women’s history. The exhibit will begin with portraits of women, young and old, who boarded the coffin ships to escape the Famine and endured a treacherous voyage across the Atlantic before starting life in a new land — if indeed they were among those lucky enough to survive.

"The exhibit will illustrate the courage and tenacity that enabled these women to survive their hardships and eventually assimilate into the New World," according to a statement from the IBO. "The exhibit will witness the transformation that brought Irish women from the scullery rooms of yesterday into the boardrooms of today."

The exhibition will feature the women who began working as nannies, secretaries and factory workers and moved on to begin the unions, get the vote and keep the U.S. economy humming during World War II. The exhibition will also show the daughters of these women entering male-dominated white-collar sectors such as law, and business, eventually becoming supreme court justices, CEOs in Fortune 500 companies and the founders of successful entrepreneurial ventures.

To personalize the exhibit, the IBO is currently searching for photographs of women in working environments from the 1800s to the 1970s. Readers who wish to make photos available for the exhibition may mail copies to: Christine O’Connor, c/o Simply Elegant, 210 West 90th St., New York, NY 10024. Photos should have owner’s name, phone number and a brief description of the date, place and person featured, as well as any other pertinent information.

If a photograph is chosen for the exhibit, the IBO will contact the owner to obtain the original.

Panel discussion

The trade show panel discussion, entitled "The Celtic Tigress," will profile a few remarkable Irish and Irish-American businesswomen. Members of the panel will outline their strategies for business success while discussing the influence their Irish heritage had on their lives. The panel will also highlight the burgeoning women’s market and provide insights on how to reach it. Women now account for more than 50 percent of the commercial and consumer goods purchased in the U.S.

"The Celtic Tigress" panel discussion, from 6:15- 7 p.m., will be moderated by Loretta Brennan Glucksman. The panel will include representatives from the media, publishing, consumer goods and entertainment.

The trade show will, of course, display the talents of IBO members, featuring more than 70 products and services. There will be exhibitors from a cross-section of industries, including advertising, finance, Irish gifts and jewelry, telecommunications, travel, tourism and others.

Admission to the trade show is free. Doors open at 4 p.m.

Details, (212) 750-8118 or log onto the IBO’s website at www.ibo-ny.com.