Putting women and their careers first will be the focus for top businesswoman Mary Schnack when she co-hosts a conference in Bermuda next month.

Ms Schnack, of Communication Bridges USA, who, along with Integrated Global Management Bermuda, will be holding the seminar entitled the 2008 Bermuda Business Women's Conference: Navigating Business Success 'The Complete Journey' at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on September 20, dropped in on the Island to promote the event last week fresh from two weeks at the Olympics in Beijing, China.

The one-day event will also see the presentation of the prestigious Bermuda International Athena Award, as well as a speech by Finance Minister Paula Cox, while keynote speaker Patricia Russell-McCloud from Atlanta will be giving an address called "Leadership: The Real Thing".

Aimed at celebrating the achievement of women, leadership exchange, progressive networking, business and professional development, the Athena Award is geared towards complementing the overall theme of helping attendees to achieve the right work/life balance.

Ms Schnack, who specialises in speaking at women's business conferences, first came to Bermuda for a women's spa retreat, where she met event organiser Keetha Lowe, and the pair decided to host an international women's conference on the Island "Basically, we have to give women in business a day for themselves out of the office, away from interruptions and to be able to focus on whatever they want to focus on, whether it is personal growth, their own business or new ideas.

"We will be giving information for doing business in Bermuda as well as doing business globally."

The format of the conference will be a welcome address by co-producers Ms Schnack and Ms Lowe, followed by the speech by Ms Cox and a series of panels looking everything from at the legal aspect of setting up and doing business to maintaining a competitive edge.

"We are going to focus on doing business here in Bermuda and what you need to do to have the proper structure to set up in business," said Ms. Schnack.

"It is important to make sure that you are doing what you are passionate about because you can get so bogged down in the details of the business that sometimes you can forget about where you are going in business and it is crucial to unlock the power of you and that passion.

"The morning is the overall nuts and bolts and then in the afternoon we get into some really exciting things."

The lunch break will kick-off with a round of speed coaching session, where delegates get to have five-minute one-to-one meetings with industry experts, including Ms Schnack and Ms Lowe on marketing and two other women on doing business in New York and the opportunities there.

Then the afternoon activities will comprise a variety of group discussions on the eight tenents of leadership at the World Cafe on Leadership run by Athena Awards founder Martha Mertz, focusing on styles of leadership and the skills required.

There will also be a number of exhibitors on show at the event, while there will also be guests from as far afield as places such as Iceland in attendance.

"My overall goal is to encourage people to let their voices be heard and usually my audience is women, but in Africa and China, it is both men and women," said Ms Schnack.

"Everybody is so unique and there are so many incredible stories in this world and we need to hear those stories and to advocate change and be involved in the community and government.

"From the few businesswomen that I have met in Bermuda, I think they are eager for more information and to network and to do so outside of the Island and I really look forward to working with them at the conference and I hope it will be an opportunity for Bermuda to showcase itself on the world stage."