The What In Person

The Summit was even better than we imagined ...

Hello Wonderful. The Summit may be over but our work in connecting, engaging, and helping each other find purpose and well-being has just begun. There were so many highlights from the event but Debra Messing was a star in every sense of the word—from the way she showed up despite a breakneck east/west coast schedule to promote her movie and tape Will & Grace to the way she was so present at the Summit attending sessions and bonding with attendees. There were so many stars that day including our 51 panelists and presenters but most of all we owe a debt of gratitude to Allison Darrow, our Executive Producer; Lindsay Weiss, our Event Producer; and all the volunteers, friends, and families who helped animate and breathe love into our vision. A full Love List is at the bottom of this newsletter.    The What List  October 11, 2018 by Gina Pell + Amy Parker 100% Editorial picks. No pay for play. Ever. The Art.  Every week GP's college bestie, Annie Galvin, makes an illustration for The What as a gift for our readers. So, we put our heads together and came up with The What Collection + 3 Fish Studios with proceeds of each print distributed to organizations supporting women in the arts. Buy a print here. The Photos.  For everyone who attended the Summit, check out your complimentary headshots from Vanity Portrait Studio, the most stunning magazine-inspired event portrait photography where everyone looks like a million bucks. It's such a cool service with the nicest people running it. The Album.  Experience the Summit on Instagram photographed by our dear, sunshiny friend Shirin Aryanpour. The Cocktail.  Make summer last all year with a cocktail we call The Perennial, made with Pomp & Whimsy Gin, Amaro, Aperol, and Lemon Juice. See recipe here. The Survey.  And if you attended the Summit, please help us improve by taking a moment to fill out this survey.    _____ The Power of Friendship.   The Summit is over, which is a relief in many ways ... we can finally talk about something else. In the next few weeks we will be sharing video of all of the sessions so you can experience the Summit vicariously wherever you are. So much wisdom, learning, and good stuff all around. We were also completely blown away by the army of amazing women (and men) who generously swooped in to help us. Everybody chipped in because they knew we were only a four-person team with eleven event volunteers and zero budgets (and in the end, no profit). But, some things are just too important not to bring into the world and so many people understood this. Human connection, feeling seen, and having a sense of openness and expansiveness is priceless especially now, when many of us feel hopeless. We are humbled by the love and support we've received this past year. All we can do is pay it forward any way we can. Here's the video we showed to kick off the Summit about why we do what we do. WE GIVE THANKS TO OUR VILLAGE We apologize in advance and ask for forgiveness if we left anyone out. Thank you Allison Darrow and Lindsay Weiss, our left and right arms (and brains), who went so far above and beyond event production it brings tears to our eyes. Zem Joaquin for being a constant guiding light, sharing her Near Future Summit wisdom, and connecting us to so many key people before, during, and always. Keeley Locke for breaking it all down for us since Day 1. Sarah Shewey for stepping in to rewrite and redesign our Summit website and for being our Main Stage maven and savior. Annie Galvin for creating The What + 3 Fish Collection.  Tamir Karta, our design wizard over the past decade who willingly pulled all-nighters to design all things Summit-related. Junan Wang for tirelessly shooting and editing our video footage. Tory Ford for hustling to get our designs produced. Shirin Etessam for recording and safeguarding our Summit session videos. Shirin Aryanpour for spreading her magic and photographing the event from start to finish. Mikaela South for her makeup talents before and during the event. Nelaine Borges, Brittany Thomas, and the geniuses at Hector Estrada Salon for the hair love. In our Wellness Pavilion: Anna Lee and her team at Blink SF for brows and makeup. Gia DiMatteo and her team at Resonance Marin for acupuncture and healing. Monika Smith at Allora Skincare for the infrared facials.  Steffanie Lehr from Presidio Foods Catering who knocked it out of the park. Nabiel Musleh and Keenan Reeser at Immersive for coming to our rescue on AV/Lighting. Victoria Silverman at Cook Silverman for kicking off our Scholarship Fund. Our generous anonymous ladysponsor for buying four Founder's Circle tickets and donating them back to the pool. Dr. Leila Alpers for bringing her team from Private Medical. Our Board of Advisors for helping us envision this back in March: Nadya Direkova, Elisa Camahort Page, Lindsey Haswell, Caterina Fake, Margaret Johnson, Sarah Shewey, Lara Deam, Tara Trask, Lydia Mondavi, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Marissa Shipman, Amy Gershoni, Ali Pincus, Kitt Grant, Nilofer Merchant. Our selfless volunteers who moved furniture, (wo)manned booths, and did whatever it took to get the Summit running: Rosa Fariab, Angeli Fitch, Jen Hall, Melissa Marie, Liz Gebhart, Rosabel Tao, Annette Blum, Danee Chavez, Catherine Waggoner, Jacqueline Brenton, Christine Chen, Lisa Raja, Shari Spakes. Our amazing speakers and panelists: Lisa Stone, Emily Green, Allison Waddell, Ava Roy, Bee Shapiro, Bea Arthur, Brittany Thomas, Cari Borja, Caterina Fake, Camille Hampton, Heidi Julavits, Janna Turner, Jane Metcalfe, Kaja Perina, Dr. Karen Horton, Keira Kotler, Kimberly Ellis, Kiran Gaind, Laurie Segall, Leigh Weinraub, Dr. Leila Alpers, Leslie Carr, Nada Jones, Sally Thornton, Susan Griffin-Black, Tiffany Shlain, Tina Sharkey, Vendela Vida, Dr. Christy Guzman, Dr. Tammy Neuhause, Dr. Amanda Wulfstat, Dr. Danielle Lane, Dr. Jennifer Heiger, Celeste Hirschman, Danielle Harel, Jen Legaspi, Christine Mason, Erica Chidi Cohen, Meika Hollender, Jennifer Dulski, Lisa Mosconi, Patricia Ziegler, Jessica Johnson, Betsy Levy, Veronica Hernandez, Daria Rose Evkimidova, Sharon Briggs, Rimma Boshernitsan, Lily Kanter, and Margaret Johnson. And special thanks to Emily Foster, Kimberly Ellis, and Ava Roy and her team at We Players for the excellent performances. Thanks also to our angels: Shelline Vandermey, Jennifer Carolyn King, Nada Jones, Vivianne Lapointe, Shilpa Shah, Elisa Camahort Page, Randalyn Young, Nellie Draganic, Allison Day, Fran Hauser, Tatum Getty, Amy Rosenberg, Kara Kassuba, Kimberly Bakker, Kim Garner, Lisa Stone, Susan Griffin-Black, Natasha Ellis, Vanessa Getty, Tara Trask, Leslie Podell, Natasha Boas, Leslie Pritchett, Heidi Lindelof, Tiffanie DeBartolo, Pamela Cianci, Rashmi Maryav, Vendela Vida, Tiffany Shlain, Caterina Fake, Lily Kanter, Tina Sharkey, Dr. Karen Horton, Chloe Hennen, Annie Hoertkorn, Rebecca Weill, Tamsin Smith, Courtney Montgomery, Eric Rewitzer, James Philipp from Bizzabo. Alan Parker, Jason Darrow, and especially Dave Pell and NextDraft, the best news newsletter in the land. OUR PARTNERS SUPPORT US. 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