On Thursday Dec. 10, the Women’s Empowerment Event (WEE) committee, part of Promotional Product Professionals of Canada (PPPC), hosted a holiday cocktail hour reunion over Zoom.

The event, “Coats and Cocktails,” gave about 30 WEE attendees a chance to catch up and discuss their personal and professional experiences during the pandemic, while the committee encouraged everyone to continue donating garments for the those in need across Canada during its ongoing holiday coat drive.

Kate Plummer, vice president of sales and marketing at Scarborough, ON-based Clearmount (asi/45440) and a committee member, recognized suppliers Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) and Cutter & Buck Canada (asi/47967) for their generous contributions to the drive. Jen Plourde, an industry member and regular WEE attendee, demonstrated how to make a candy apple martini before the group was divided into smaller breakout rooms.

“Kate, Ann [Baiden] and I, along with Katrina [Derksen] at PPPC, planned this event a couple months ago,” said Carol DeVille, owner of The Branding Company in Brantford, ON, and a WEE committee member. “We wanted to bring our WEE ladies together on a social platform to say hi, see how everyone is doing and share about our recent experiences. It was great to see all the wonderful faces and hear some of their stories.”

According to DeVille, attendees joined from across Canada, from British Columbia to Montreal, as well as Pennsylvania and Maine.

“We organized the event really to keep our community together during these times when everyone is apart,” said Plummer. “I loved the energy and happiness and I’m so thankful to everyone who took the time out of their stressful Q4 schedules to catch up, as well as for the amount of donations we’ve received from Cutter & Buck and Redwood to help [homelessness services organization] Inn from the Cold.”

WEE committee member Ann Baiden, CEO and founder of Richmond Hill, ON-based Innovatex Solutions Inc. (asi/231194), said the annual WEE event has fostered rapport that’s become more important than ever during the pandemic.

“It’s amazing to see how those relationships have grown in the past year as our group continues to support each other through emails, social media and old-school phone calls,” she says. “Witnessing and experiencing a community that’s there to strengthen all of its members is so inspirational.”

In a special follow-up message on Facebook immediately after the event, DeVille wrote, “Thank you to all the best women of WEE and our industry who joined us tonight in person or in spirit. You rock! Lots of wonderful stories, great achievements (through these tough times) and active pursuits for 2021. … May you all be safe and well as we say goodbye to 2020 and HELLO 2021!”

The next WEE event is tentatively scheduled for May 28 and 29 at White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. According to Baiden, the speaker line-up will include Canadian Judy Croon, a comedian, motivational speaker, radio host, author and comedy coach. She’s worked with celebrities like John Cleese, Jon Stewart and Joan Rivers, and her specials have aired on NBC, CBS and CTV.

For more information, visit wee.pppc.ca.