Congratulations PSBJ Women of Influence 2011

Jan Hendrickson, Kelly Tweeddale, Janet True,
Cathi Hatch, Bobbe Bridge

Last night I invited my daughter, Katie Laramore, to join me to attend the Puget Sound Business Journal's 8th Annual Women of Influence award event.  The event was held at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency and appeared to be a sell out as it was last year too.  Monica Alquist of Puget Sound Business Journal along with the rest of the PSBJ team organized a great event.
I have had the honor of serving as a Women of Influence judge for the past few years. This year, along with Phyllis Campbell, Jeff Raikes, Constance Rice and Patti Payne and facilitated by PSBJ Assistant Managing Editor Becky Monk, we once again had the difficult task of choosing just a handful of women to recognize. Each year there are literally hundreds of nominations for these honors and I am amazed each time that there are so many dynamic and accomplished women that have not already been recognized that are so deserving of the award. Just look at the list below at the end of this blog post and you will see what I mean.

Simon Woods, Dale Chihuly, Evelyn Zabo, Katie Laramore

Katie and I arrived early to attend the VIP Honorees reception and once again I was so impressed with the women we had selected this year.  We had a chance to interact with the honorees and then PSBJ Publisher, Gordon Prouty raised a champagne toast to the 2011 Women of Influence.

Once we were seated in the ballroom and the dinner event began, Patti Payne and Gordie Prouty invited all the past honorees to come on stage for a photo op prior to announcing the current winners.  While we were on stage, Gordie surprised Patti completely by announcing that although she can't be recognized as a PSBJ "Woman of Influence" since she has been a judge from the onset of the Women of Influence program, that we all recognize her as one of the Women of Influence anyway.  She was asked to answer a question and share some of her thoughts with the audience and then presented with a big bouquet of flowers, applause and hugs all around.

In addition to the women being honored last evening, we saw and talked with so many friends that were there to help celebrate including Renee & Carl Behnke, Lorna Kneeland, Doug True, Sue Hovis, Patrice Auld, Glenna Olson, Andrea Baseler, Patty Barrier, Betty Tong, Angela Wu, Jessica Blixseth, JJ McKay, Barbara Cahill, Dale Chihuly, Evelyn Zabo, Simon Woods, Alta & Stan Barer, Nancy Pellegrino, Kim Richter, Deborah Jensen, David Wu, Jon Bridge, Karen & Chuck Lytle, Jill Ashton, Detra Segar, Norm Rice, and Angie Lepley.

Congratulations to Patti and all the 2011 PSBJ  Women of Influence!

Publisher Gordon Prouty toasts 2011 Women of Influence

The 2011 PSBJ Women of Influence honorees include:
Marla Beck, Founder and President, Andelcare
Bobbe Bridge, Founder and CEO, Center for Children and Youth Justice
Harriet Bullitt, President, Owner and Founder, Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort and Icicle Broadcasting Co.
Janet Denyer, CEO, Gene Juarez Salons and Spas
Sheila Edwards Lange, Vice President Minority Affairs/Vice Provost Diversity, University of Washington
Anne Farrell, President Emeritus, Seattle Foundation & Co-founder, City Club and Washington Women’s Foundation
Jan Hendrickson, Managing Partner, Denny Hill Capital
Leslie Jackson Chihuly, President, Chihuly Inc.
Lynette Johnson, Founder and Owner, Lynette Johnson Photography & Founder, Soulumination Photography
Sharelle Klaus, CEO & Founder, DRY Soda Co.
Jennifer Potter, President and CEO, Initiative for Global Development
Mary Snapp, Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Products & Services, Microsoft Corp.
Myra Tanita, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Janet True, Co-owner, Iron Springs Resort & Immediate Past President, PONCHO
Kelly Tweeddale, Executive Director, Seattle Opera