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“力量之旅”:35000英尺高空上的精英女性大会

Networking at 35,000 Feet
“力量之旅”:35000英尺高空上的精英女性大会

The women gathered inside a roped-off area at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. United Airlines staffers, all of them women, handed out bag tags and boarding passes. When a man approached the counter and presented his ID to check in for a flight, he was politely turned away. “Sorry,” a United employee said. “This is a special event.”

女人们聚集在新泽西州纽瓦克自由国际机场一个用挂绳栏隔出的区域内。全部为女性的联合航空(United Airlines)工作人员发放了行李牌和登机牌。一个男人走向柜台并出示证件办理登机手续,遭到了礼貌的拒绝。“对不起,”一位联航员工说。“这是一个特殊活动。”

Marie Claire magazine’s Power Trip, now in its fourth year, is a business conference for women. It's also an endurance exercise. Over the course of 36 hours, maybe five of which are allotted for sleep, 200 entrepreneurs, executives and investors fly cross-country to meet, collaborate and throw money at each other’s ideas.

《嘉人》(Marie Claire)杂志的“力量之旅”(Power Trip)是专为女性举办的商务会议,已进入第四年。它也是一项耐力练习。在36个小时的过程中,可能只有5个小时用来睡觉,200位企业家、高管和投资者飞越美国,结识、合作并将资金投入于彼此的想法。
 

《嘉人》力量之旅是一个面向女性的36小时邀请制人脉会议,由纽瓦克到旧金山的航班开始。

This networking sprint is invitation-only and all expenses paid. There’s also, naturally, tons of free stuff from corporate sponsors. In October, about a week before takeoff, each attendee received a Tumi carry-on suitcase filled with stuff they might like to have but probably didn’t need, including a pair of rugged-soled boots, regenerative nighttime serum and dry shampoo.

这个快速短暂的人脉活动是邀请制的,并且费用全免。当然还有来自公司赞助商的大量免费赠品。在10月,大概起飞的前一周,每位与会者都收到了一个Tumi登机行李箱,里面装满她们可能喜欢但不见得需要的东西,包括一双沟纹底靴子、再生精华晚霜和干洗香波。

By most measures, the women invited to this event had already made it. They’d built and bolstered brands in technology, retail, food, finance, fashion and media. They had staffs to oversee, orders to fulfill, emails to send, calls to make, meetings to take, not to mention personal lives. And before they got to the airport, they didn’t know who would be joining them.

从大多数层面来讲,能被邀请到这个活动的女性已经功成名就了。她们在科技、零售、食品、金融、时尚和媒体领域建立和巩固了品牌。她们需要管理员工、完成订单、发电子邮件、打电话、开会,更不必说还有自己的生活。抵达机场之前,她们不知道会与谁同行。

So why go?

所以为什么要去?

Of Legacy and Leg Room

关于遗产和腿部空间


In its short lifetime, the Power Trip has developed an outsize reputation among businesswomen of a certain ilk. That’s because its disrupters-on-a-plane premise seems to actually work. After attending in 2016, Moj Mahdara, the CEO of Beautycon, gained a strategic investor and started working with Hillary Clinton. She described the Power Trip as a way for women to share in “the legacy of information” passed down through generations of men.

在其短暂的存在中,“力量之旅”在某种类型的商界女性中间有格外大的名声。这是因为它的这种“产业颠覆者们共乘一架飞机”的设计似乎真的起了作用。在参加了2016年的活动后,Beautycon的首席执行官莫耶·马达拉(Moj Mahdara)获得了一个战略投资者,并且开始和希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)合作。她形容“力量之旅”是一种让女性得以分享在男性中代代相传的“信息遗产”的方式。

“Unlike my father’s father’s father, who ran something, my grandmother didn’t run anything, my mom didn’t run anything,” Mahdara said in a phone interview. “Things like the Power Trip provide a space for us.”

“我父亲的父亲的父亲经营过什么东西,但是我的外祖母什么也没经营过,我的母亲什么也没经营过。”马达拉在接受电话采访时说。“像力量之旅这样的东西为我们提供了一个空间。”

That space is both figurative and literal. “For me, it’s about the networking opportunities, meeting more founders and courageous souls in business,” said Bertha González Nieves, the CEO of Casa Dragones, a tequila company. She was leaning against a table in the United Airlines lounge, where a preflight breakfast of pink bagels and egg-white frittata was being served.

这既是比喻意义上的空间,也是现实存在的空间。“对我来说,这是建立人脉的机会,是见到更多创业者和商界勇敢人物的机会,“龙舌兰酒公司Casa Dragones的首席执行官伯莎·冈萨雷斯·涅夫斯(Bertha Gonzalez Nieves)坐在联航休息室的桌边,吃着包括粉色贝果和意式蛋白饼的登机前早餐时说。

Last year, González Nieves went to a women’s empowerment conference hosted by another magazine which cost several thousand dollars to attend (one of her investors encouraged her to go and paid for her ticket). “It was a group of women that had been going for years. They all knew each other, and it was an older generation,” she said, adding: “This seems more energetic.”

去年,冈萨雷斯·涅夫斯参加了由另一家杂志主办的女性赋权大会,费用需数千美元(她的一位投资者鼓励她去,并为她的门票买单)。“那个会上是一群很多年一直都参加的女人。她们彼此认识,而且是老一代,”她说,“这个旅行好像更有活力。”

The women on this year’s Power Trip ranged in age from 28 to 53. In line at the espresso machine, they smiled politely and made small talk until the machine flashed an error message. Around 8 a.m., Marie Claire’s editor-in-chief, Anne Fulenwider, jumped on a chair to inform the group that she hates conferences and that this one would be different.

参加今年力量之旅的女性年龄在28岁到53岁之间。在意式咖啡机前排队的时候,她们礼貌地微笑、闲聊,直到机器显示了故障信息。8点左右。《Marie Claire》杂志主编安妮·弗兰格尔德(Anne Fulenwider)跳上椅子告诉大家,她讨厌这种大会,而这次的有所不同。

“For the next 36 hours,” she said, “you have no control.”

“接下来的36个小时,”她说,“是你们无法控制的。”

But First, Self-Care

但首先,自我护理


On the plane, first class had been turned into a makeshift spa: facials in Row 1, makeup touch-ups in Row 2, foot massages in Row 3. “Are you doing this?” asked Deon Hawkins, the social media manager of the cannabis company Cannaclusive, who’d just had a pair of sluglike hydration patches stuck under her eyes. “Because you should totally do this. I don’t know what it is, but it’s crazy.”

在飞机上,头等舱被临时打造成美容院:第一排做面部保养,第二排化妆,第三排足底按摩。“你要做这个吗?”大麻公司Cannaclusive的社交媒体经理迪恩·霍金斯(Deon Hawkins)说,她的眼睛下方贴了一对水滴形的补水眼膜,“你真的应该做这个。我不知道这是什么,但它很神奇。”

Apart from takeoff, landing and 10 minutes of mild turbulence, passengers got up, swapped seats, leaned over headrests and congregated in the aisles as the crew navigated around them, doling out Champagne, chicken and waffles and “superfood” oatmeal.

除了起飞、降落和10分钟轻微颠簸之外,乘客们起身、换座位、趴着椅背跟后排的人说话,聚集在过道上,空乘们从中间穿过,递上香槟、鸡肉、华夫饼和“超级食物”燕麦。

“The rules are relaxed because it’s not a regular commercial flight, and we want the ladies to feel relaxed,” said Jacqueline Briggs, a flight attendant who also worked last year’s Power Trip. “You don’t want to stop them from enjoying and interacting. It’s part of the experience.”

“机上规矩松弛了一些,因为这不是一个常规的商业航班,我们也想让女士们感到轻松,”去年也是“力量之旅”空乘的杰奎琳·布里格斯(Jacqueline Briggs)说,“你不想让她们的愉悦和互动停下来。这是体验的一部分。”

United began sponsoring the Power Trip two years ago. “It was a no-brainer,” said Jill Kaplan, the airline’s president of operations for New York and New Jersey. She declined to disclose financial details but said that the powers that be didn’t need to be convinced. “How do we not support an extraordinary group of women who are doing remarkable things?”

联航从两年前开始赞助力量之旅。“这是明智之举,”航空公司负责纽约和新泽西运营的总裁吉尔·卡普兰(Jill Kaplan)说,她拒绝公开财务详情,但表示这所带来的力量毋庸置疑。“对于一群做着杰出事业的非凡女性,我们怎么可能不支持?”

It also may have been a good PR move. In 2017, United’s image took a hit when an employee barred two teenage girls from boarding because they were wearing leggings and, just a few weeks later, another dragged a man off an overbooked flight. But everyone has their reasons for taking part.

这可能也是一个好的公关举动。2017年,一名员工因两名少女穿紧身裤而拒绝让她们登机,几周后,另一名员工将一男子从超售的航班上拖拽下来,致使联航的形象受损。但每个人都有参与的理由。
 

时刻不停的人脉经营。

The New Magazine Economy

新杂志经济


The Power Trip began as a way for Marie Claire — a publication I’ve written for twice — to “bring the pages of our magazine to life” for its readers, Fulenwider said, while respecting the schedules of modern working women.

弗伦威德尔说,力量之旅始于《嘉人》——我为该杂志撰写过两篇文章——为读者“将杂志页面变成现实”的初衷,同时尊重现代职业女性的日程安排。

“When we started this, I had a 5- and 7-year-old, and it was a big deal to us that we don’t waste anyone’s time,” Fulenwider continued. “A lot of conferences are fabulous, but they’re over three days, no one stays the whole time, there’s a more transient quality. We want a short, concentrated dose. Everyone’s involved. Nothing’s optional. Everyone has to do everything.”

“最早开始的时候,我的孩子一个5岁、一个7岁,对于我们来说,不浪费其他人的时间是非常重要的,”弗伦威德尔继续说。“很多大会很棒,但长度在三天以上,没人能从头到尾参加,有种瞬变的效果。我们想要一种短暂而高密度的摄入。每个人都参与。没有可去可不去。每个人必须做所有事。”

That’s more or less true. Seventy-five San Franciscans and four of the conference’s speakers — actresses Daisy Ridley, Busy Philipps, Awkwafina and Regina King — were absent for the first leg of the trip. (“They asked, ‘Do you want to fly to New York and then fly from New York to San Francisco?’” said Philipps, who lives in Los Angeles. “I was like, ‘Absolutely not, no. That’s never happening.’”)

事实差不多如此。75位旧金山参与者和4位大会讲者——演员黛西·蕾德莉(Daisy Ridley)、贝茜·菲利普斯(Busy Philipps)、奧卡菲娜(Awkwafina)和雷吉娜·金(Regina King)未参与第一站的飞行。(“他们问‘你想飞去纽约然后再从纽约飞回旧金山吗?’”住在洛杉矶的菲利普斯说。“我说‘不,绝 不。门都没有。’”)

Each year, the celebrity speakers are friends of the magazine — former cover stars and interview subjects — and are not paid for their participation. But they’re not the main event. “We keep the panels to a minimum,” Fulenwider said. “The model of listening to the great wise ones onstage is so old. We wanted to blow that up. We know the magic comes from the times in between.”

每年演讲的名人是杂志的好友——前封面明星和采访嘉宾——她们无偿参与。但她们并不是活动的重点。“我们要精简嘉宾小组,”弗伦威德尔说。“听取伟大智者在台上讲话的模式太老旧了。我们绝对不要那样。我们知道魔力存在于演讲的间隙。”

The trip also helps magazine advertisers connect with the demographics they’re trying to reach. Throughout the flight, the editor-in-chief and her associates got on the in-flight PA system to announce giveaways including a $5,000 Airbnb gift certificate, two first-class United tickets to anywhere and 200 hybrid laptop/tablets from Dell that retail for $1,500 apiece. (They were each encased in sleek black backpack and passed down the aisles like so many bags of pretzels.)

该旅行也帮助杂志广告商联结他们想要覆盖的受众。在整个飞行过程中,总编及其同事用飞机的广播系统宣布了赠品内容,包括一张价值5000美元的Airbnb礼品券,两张可飞任意目的地的联航头等舱机票以及200台零售价1500美元的戴尔平板笔记本电脑。(它们装在精致的黑色背包中,像机上零食一样沿着过道分发。)

Fashion designer Lela Rose gave away two tickets to her next New York Fashion Week show and $2,500 worth of Lela Rose merchandise that she’ll personally help the winner select. “It’s just a way to give back, because what a unique opportunity to get to be on a trip like this,” Rose said. “I’m not like, ‘Let’s get a whole new customer base.’” Two hours into the flight, she had already met a woman who made the endeavor worth her while.

时装设计师莱拉·罗斯(Lela Rose)赠送了两张下一次纽约时装周她的品牌秀的门票,以及价值2500美元的莱拉·罗斯商品,会由她亲自帮助优胜者挑选。“这是一种回报,能参加这样的旅行是一个如此难得的机会,”罗斯说。“而不是说‘让我们获取一个新的客户群。’”飞行了两小时,她已经结识了值得她做出这份努力的女性。

“Sarah from Blueland,” Rose said, referring to Sarah Paiji Yoo, the founder of a company that makes sustainable home cleaning products. “We’re trying to go more into sustainability, and even though her business has nothing to do with fashion, I think there’s a way to take what she’s learned, what she’s done R&D on, and apply it to our business.”

“Blueland的莎拉,”罗斯说,她指的是莎拉·佩吉·柳(Sarah Paiji Yoo),一家可持续家居清洁用品制造商的创始人。“我们正在努力进一步发展可持续性,尽管她的业务与时尚无关,我认为还是可以把她的经验教训、她研发的东西拿来,用于我们的业务。”

No Sleep Till Sisterhood

不眠不休的好姐妹


By the time the plane touched down at SFO, voices had gone hoarse and inboxes had filled. A bus ride from the tarmac to a hotel in downtown San Francisco offered the women a moment to check in with themselves before they convened with the Power Trip’s San Francisco contingent for two panel discussions, a cocktail hour, a dinner and a “sweet nightcap” that promised an “Insta-worthy cake cutting and sprinkle explosion.”

当飞机在旧金山国际机场降落时,大家的嗓子已经聊哑了,收件箱里全是未读邮件。从停机坪乘大巴前往旧金山市中心一家酒店的路上,大家有了片刻的自我忖量时间,接下来,她们将参加力量之旅旧金山站的两场小组讨论、一个小时的鸡尾酒时间、一顿晚宴,以及一个“温馨的睡前小酒”时刻,并承诺现场会有“值得发社交媒体的彩虹爆炸蛋糕和切蛋糕仪式”。

“If you had a group of men in business in different fields, it would be nothing like this,” Rose, the fashion designer, said. “They would not be sharing or connecting, you wouldn’t have this spirit, this fun. They would be sizing each other up.”

“如果你是跟一群在不同领域做生意的男性打交道,情况就会截然不同,”时尚设计师罗斯说。“他们不会分享、不会建立联系,你不会有这种态度和乐趣。他们只会互相打量评判。”

On a bus ride to the headquarters of Lucasfilm, where some of the panels would take place, conversation turned to boarding schools, splitting custody and biking in New York City.

在乘坐大巴前往卢卡斯影业(Lucasfilm)总部进行小组讨论的路上,大家的谈话转向了寄宿学校、监护权分割和在纽约骑自行车。

There was hushed silence for panels held in an auditorium, and more socializing once everyone adjourned for cocktails. One attendee excused herself citing period pain. Another claimed other obligations. (“Awkwafina left?” the founder of a skin care line said, dismayed. “I thought she was going to hang with us!”) Topics that some might call NSFW flowed: the pressure to procreate, dealing with jealous co-workers, Instagram interlopers and the isolation of going out on your own.

在一间礼堂举行的座谈会有一种肃静的气氛,休会喝鸡尾酒的时候大家再度交际起来。一名参加者以痛经为由先走了。另一个也以其他事情要做为由离场。(“奧卡菲娜走了吗?”一个护肤品牌的创始人沮丧地说道。“我以为她会和我们一起玩呢!”)大家聊起了有人会认为工作时间不适合聊的话题:生育压力、与心怀嫉妒的同事打交道、Instagram上爱管别人闲事的家伙,以及独自出门的孤独。

Six hours later, as the sun rose over San Francisco, some women cried while doing a mindfulness-tinged cardio dance workout in the middle of a baseball stadium. Smiles that had been polite the day before now seemed more sincere. There was a sober, morning-after taking stock of the fact that the person you’d spoken to openly about your goals and dreams was a stranger just 24 hours ago. Other panel discussions touched on data privacy, normalizing parenting at startups and the public’s unanimous love for Regina King. (“I’m sure there is someone out there that does not mirror that sentiment,” the actress said during her discussion with Philipps, “but I think that I create an energy that they won’t let me know.”)

6个小时后,太阳从旧金山升起,在一个棒球场做正念有氧舞蹈时,一些女性哭了起来。前一天还是客气的笑容,现在愈发真诚了。在宿醉清醒后,大家意识到自己公开聊及目标和梦想的人,就在24小时前还是一个陌生人。其他的小组讨论话题涉及数据隐私、创业公司育儿正常化,以及公众对雷吉娜·金的一致喜爱。(“我肯定有人并没有反映出这种情绪,”这位女演员在与菲利普斯讨论的时候说。“但我认为我创造了一种她们不让我知道的能量。”)

Some women half-listened while tapping out messages on their phones and laptops, but none were called out for taking care of business. Not once did I hear any of the well-meaning but infantilizing terms sometimes used to describe businesswomen: “girlboss,” “femtrepreneur,” “she-e-o.” Everyone in the room had an endgame, but they also seemed to be looking out for each other.

一些女性一边听,一边在手机和笔记本电脑上打字,但没有人被叫去打理生意。我完全没有听到那些有时用来形容女生意人的虽然并无恶意却不无幼稚的称呼:女孩老板、创业女、she-e-o(女首席执行官)。房间里的每个人都有自己的最终目标,但大家似乎也都在彼此关照着。

“Networking has such a negative connotation,” Philipps said offstage. “To me, networking is just like, balding white men who sell insurance in a bad hotel somewhere. But the truth is that a sense of community is vital to accelerating your goals. It is imperative that we talk to one another, that we compare notes, stories and dealings with people, so that we can make sure that everyone is getting paid what they’re worth. That is how you rise.”

“搞关系听起来太负面,”菲利普斯在台下说。“在我看来,那就像是一群秃顶白男在一间破酒店里卖保险。但事实上,群体意识对加速实现目标至关重要。我们必须互相交谈,交换意见,交流经验,与人打交道,这样我们才能确保每个人都能得到应得的回报。成功就是这样的。”

An hour later, they were back in the air.

一个小时后,她们又回到了空中。
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