Annie's Blog: That's a Wrap!

Girls, thank you so much for making the 2011 Teen Conference such a great success! I hope everyone who attended enjoyed the day as much as I did, and maybe learned something cool along the way. A huge thank you goes out to all of our wonderful workshop leaders and performers, and to Olga Campos and the women at Texas Youth Word Collective for speaking at our event. I was really thrilled with all of the workshops I attended, but my favorite was definitely the UT Austin campus tour led by the UT Kappa Thetas. I will be attending UT next year, and the tour made me even more excited to start college! I can speak for all of those involved in the G.I.R.L.S. planning committee when I say this year’s conference was a smash hit! If you enjoyed it as much as we did and are interested in planning next year’s conference, along with other similar events, join the G.I.R.L.S. committee! We’d love to have you, and as some of us are graduating soon (me!), we need new members to continue the great work of the committee. Feel free to contact Avery Orendorf if you’re interested in pursuing this opportunity. We also welcome any comments you may have on the conference for next year! I’ve had so much fun reporting to you through the months as the Teen Conference was being planned, and I’ll continue to keep you updated as I work on new projects with the Girl Scouts.

-Annie L.

For photos of all the fun at this year's conference, visit our Flickr account.

Annie's Blog: The Big Day is Almost Here!

Hey ladies! The 2011 Teen Conference is almost here!! Please join us this Saturday starting at 9:30a.m. at the University of Texas Alumni Center in Austin for a fun day of interesting and helpful workshops ranging from college preparation to cooking, yoga, and dance classes! I’m so excited to see all of the G.I.R.L. planning committee’s hard work finally pay off, and I can’t wait for all of you to come experience it as well. If you still haven’t registered, you can do so online here or at the door. (GSCTX will be accepting all forms of payment at the door.) Tonight is the last G.I.R.L. committee meeting, and we will be putting together tons of great goodie bags!! Each attendee will receive a free goodie bag loaded with cool stuff. And don’t forget to bring the Teen Conference postcard you got in the mail (or print one out) to receive another gift at check-in. The day of the conference I’ll probably be sprinting around making sure everything is running smoothly, but I’m definitely going to take a break to catch one of the exclusive, all-access tours of the UT campus courtesy of the girls from the Kappa Delta sorority. I hear they are going to show us a sneak peak of a bunch of cool spots around campus. I can’t wait! See you Saturday!! :)


-Annie L.

Annie's Blog: FREE Giveaway!

Hey gals! It's Annie here with the latest updates on the Teen Conference. The date is fast approaching (Feb.19!!!) so the G.I.R.L. committee along with everyone at GSCTX headquarters have kicked into high gear to finalize the important details of the conference. We have booked some great lunchtime entertainment, including a Bollywood performance group and a fun martial arts team. I also just designed a postcard for the conference, which you can see below. If you received this postcard in the mail, be sure to bring it with you to the conference and you'll receive a free gift at check-in! If one wasn't sent to you, no worries! Just print out the image below and bring it along. We are down to the last few days so make sure you and all your friends are signed up to attend. You can register here on our website. It's sure to be a GREAT day! I can't wait to see you all at the 2011 Teen Conference. :)

-Annie L.

Annie's Blog: Keynote Speakers Confirmed for Conference!

Hey girls! I am so excited to announce that our 2011 Teen Conference keynote speakers will be Olga Campos and Kate Whitfield!  Austin’s own Olga Campos, KVUE news anchor and philanthropist, will open the conference with her inspirational stories of community leadership, volunteerism and building her career as a professional woman.  Kate Whitfield, 24 year old author, media personality and founder of Empowered Gal Inc., will speak to guests of the conference about her mission to empower young women.  Through her company Empowered Gal Inc. (which she started in high school!!), Kate motivates girls to transform their body image, self esteem, and the vision for their lives.  The whole G.I.R.L. committee is super excited about hosting both Olga and Kate at the Teen Conference, and we can’t wait for you all to join us in learning from these inspirational women!!

Registration is still open so gather your gal pals and register for the Teen Conference today!

-Annie L.

Annie's Blog: NEW Teen Conference PSA! Plz Share.

Hey guys! It’s Annie; here with an exciting update from the G.I.R.L. committee about the Teen Conference! Last week the G.I.R.L. committee got together at channelAustin studios to brainstorm and produce an awesome Public Service Announcement to help spread the word about the conference. Please take a minute to watch the final product and pass it along to all of your friends! We are really proud of it!! Fliers have also been printed and are on the move – you might see them posted at your school or around town. Registration is still open, so if you haven’t yet registered to attend the conference, do so ASAP! Less than a month ‘til the conference… I can’t wait!! Next month will be super busy for the G.I.R.L. committee as we prepare for the big day – don’t forget, February 19th - and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on all the craziness!

Annie's Blog: Teen Conference Workshops

Hi girls! It's Annie again; here with more updates regarding the Teen Conference! Over the holidays we secured some awesome workshops, including a college-prep seminar, a healthly cooking class and a workshop from the girls at MaD Miracles, who gave a really inspiring speech at last year's conference. One workshop that I am really looking for to is 'Expressions: The Hip-Hop Workshop.' Participants will learn a cool dance routine to the song "Swagg" by Teyona Taylor, while learning the possibilities of using the art of dance to express the "me that no one gets to see." This particular workshop was at the conference last year and everyone had a blast dancing together. I can't wait to go again this year!

We recently added the most updated list of workshops to our website. Go take a look and see what's in store for the 2011 conference. If you have any questions, feel free to email us! Registration is also now open so go register and tell your friends! We would love to see you there!

Up next on the list - creating flyers and confirming lunchtime entertainment.

-Annie L.

A Girl Scout's Perspective on Planning for the Teen Conference

Hey ladies and gents! I’m Annie and currently, I am both a senior in high school and a Girl Scout Ambassador. I’ve been with Girl Scouts since kindergarten (13 years!!) and being a part of this girl leadership organization has enabled me to have so many cool opportunities over the years. In 2008, I represented Texas at the National Girl Scout Leadership Convention in Indianapolis and got to meet girls from all over the world. I also went on a Girl Scout Destination trip that year to Costa Rica where I learned how to surf! Recently, I completed my Gold Award project and I have been interning with the GSCTX offices this past semester. But enough about me! Let me tell you about an exciting project that I and several other girls are a part of and have been working on for the past couple of weeks. We are currently planning the 2011 Teen Conference, which is open to ALL Texas high school girls and will take place Feb. 19, 2011 on the UT Austin campus. This conference is sure to be amazing with lots of great speakers and workshops focused on helping you plan for both college and career. I am thrilled that I get a chance to help create something that will benefit both myself and lots of other teen girls!

Yesterday, we visited the UT Alumni Center to scope out the location and figure out what to do with all the space. It’s a very nice place with plenty of room for all the attendees. I can’t wait for you to see it. I also just finished up the logo for the event and I would love to share it with you as well. With the guidance of the brilliant Girl Scout Visual Communications Coordinator, Larisa Chavarria, I was able to create this logo without any previous knowledge of graphic design!

I’ll be blogging with you periodically with updates on the conference, workshops, speakers, musical acts and free giveaways! If you are a Girl Scout Cadette, Senior or Ambassador interested in helping, we would love to have you! You can contact one of our adult coordinators, Avery Orendorf, here to find out more information on joining. I hope to see you at the conference!

-Annie L.