International Women’s Day has come a long way and is now gaining real traction. It’s great that companies like CMC Markets are participating and raising awareness in the financial services space… so why have you chosen this year to host a specific IWD event for your clients?
Camilla Boldracchi: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a shocking toll on lives and livelihoods over the last 12 months. Many businesses may have adapted well to the work from home mindset, but the absence of physical events means that women such as myself have lost those valuable opportunities to network with female industry leaders.
With this in mind, I felt that driving an event forward now would play a small part in helping fill that void, whilst also delivering an ideal opportunity to get those industry-wide conversations started once again.
A year of Zoom calls and virtual conferences has also given us a very clear idea of what we want to achieve – and avoid – at this event.
With that in mind, we’ve devised a format which relies on breakout rooms, giving participants the ability to break off into smaller groups, dig into specific themes for the event whilst also offering a forum for the exchange of thoughts and opinions.
Whilst we have previously hosted physical events for our female retail clients, following on from the launch of CMC Markets Connect, we wanted to build on our theme of institutional connectivity so this gave us the ideal opportunity to start building our own community of professional females in the industry.
Why pick this subject for your event?
Camilla Boldracchi: We wanted a topic which was timely as well as being relevant to the wider finance and technology communities, rather than something which was dictated by our own core product offering.
We have also noticed that there can be a tendency for conversations around Blockchain and the future of digital settlements to be side-tracked into narratives that focus on Bitcoin or other Cryptocurrencies .
We believe that the panellists selected, along with the moderator and the use of break-out rooms will keep the topic on track and help draw some meaningful conclusions.
Any reason for making a higher profile push in 2021?
Camilla Boldracchi: As I said earlier, the last 12 months have taken us all by surprise and that has made for a very different working environment. An area that risks being forgotten here is inter-company through sharing and professional development, so this is a contribution to the wider females in our community to help reinvigorate debate.
Also, we’re always looking for skilled employees and want to be drawing from the widest talent pool possible, so events like this help cement key messages about CMC Markets and its objectives.
As an inclusive employer who wants to maintain its position as an industry leader, this event really should deliver.
You’re investing a lot of time in this week’s events – what does success look like?
Camilla Boldracchi: We want to provide a cornerstone to our own female network – and one that will further debate about the blockchain and the future of digital settlements.
We also want to ensure that anyone who wants to get involved in this conversation has the opportunity to participate – in all reality, it’s not always the most accessible of spheres.
Ultimately this should serve as part of the ongoing campaign to impress on the market that we are a truly progressive and inclusive employer.
The CMC Markets Connect Virtual Round Table Event on ‘Blockchain and the Future of Digital Settlements’ will be taking place on Thursday 11th March at 12pm GMT, if you would like to attend the event, please register here.
