The Launch of the Modern GUILD
On the evening of November 10, 2016, the GUILD took over the lounge at WeWork Mid-Market in San Francisco. The transformation from coworking space to festive venue with balloons, goodie bags stamped with a golden G, treats and champagne, was made complete with the arrival of GUILD members and supporters, all gathered to celebrate our upcoming launch.
We came together in a spirit of solidarity and positive energy after a week of post-election mourning, to celebrate the power of community and the debut of a promising startup that enables women to meet other women at one-on-one, face-to-face meetings to support them in building their own personal and professional networks.
Anne Cocquyt, Founder of the GUILD, took the floor while 150 guests raised mini bottles of Moët to toast her new venture as she recounted the unfolding of how her American dream became a reality when she moved to the US.
Through the GUILD, Anne invited us to ponder:
What if we could transform serendipitous encounters into powerful interactions, based on shared common interests?
What if we consciously applied algorithms and data science in a way that endorses diversity of thought and creates meaningful dialogue?
What if, instead of going home alone to a glass of wine after a long workday, we could share a drink and inspiring conversation with like-minded women in our communities?
What if we could bust out of our co-working spaces and take off our headphones and have lunch with each other to share business strategies?
What if we could program destiny?
The GUILD is the answer to these questions.
Here’s how it works: When you register at www.theguilded.org, you will be added to a waitlist. As the list of women in your geographical area grows, you’ll be moved off the waitlist and receive a link to fill out a profile. As you complete your profile, be aware that the more information and thought you put into this process, the more targeted your introductions will be. As soon as the GUILD finds a match you’ll receive your first introduction. This won’t take long but the GUILD depends on you to refer your friends. If you haven’t already registered, please do so now at www.theguilded.org.
As she addressed the partygoers, Anne demonstrated how she’s built her own powerful network, introducing us to the many “knots” tied together to support the GUILD. The team and their many connectors took to the stage and toasted to serendipity, to making connections, to building stronger networks and to “going far together.”
The event wouldn’t have been possible without the many helping hands who pitched in to help and the generosity of our sponsors. Thank you to Moët & Chandon, who sent champagne buckets and cute sippers, to Madison Reed, who provided their shampoos and conditioners in our goodie bags, to Marlo’s Bakeshop and their delicious biscotti, to Brown Pigeon, who chipped in with hand-made stamps, to Saako, who gifted us with their bracelets and a generous discount on products of their new “On the Go” campaign, to Warrior Baby, a woman-owned startup who donated water bottles for our VIP guests, and to Argent, a fantastic women’s fashion brand who had a pop-up store at the event and added another inspiring female entrepreneur, Sali Christeson, to the list of wonderful guests.
The audience was filled with inspiring businesswomen from across a wide spectrum of industries, including film, fashion, beauty, clean energy, non-profit, healthcare, data science, women’s networks, investment, and many more. But what everybody had in common was the passion and joy of communicating with each other, and sharing their powerful support to the GUILD in launching a new way of networking.
Thank you to all who attended and made our launch party a huge success. We’ll see you at the next GUILD event!
Photos by Gavin Farrington, an event photographer based in San Francisco. Gavin was named top wedding photographer for 2016 by SF Magazine. See more of his work at gavinfarrington.com
