Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC) has launched their Online Membership Community at www.oiwc.org.


The site is designed to provide OIWC members with enhanced networking opportunities with the group's 1,100 members, who work in the outdoor, cycle, snowsports, paddlesports, and adventure travel industries.

The OIWC online member community is a virtual resource where members can connect with, and learn from, other OIWC members. Similar to a Linked-In database, members have the ability to post a profile with as little or as much information as desired and select which information is visible to other members. Additionally, members can edit information, search the member directory, and create connections to other members at any time.
 
“OIWC’s membership base has grown significantly in the past few years. Since many of our members are unable to attend trade shows, it was important for us to develop an online community where members can network, meet mentors, discuss professional development topics, and more. This new online community – the only one of its’ kind in the outdoor industries – provides these opportunities and more,” says OIWC Executive Director, Sally Grimes.
 
Another asset of the online community is the ability to link up with other members regionally. Members are encouraged to join and participate in community groups, such as a specific region in the US or Canada, career interest, professional development topic discussion, etc. OIWC individual and corporate members are expected to utilize this online community as a way to post job openings and review resumes as well. OIWC members will have the ability to post their latest resume and, if desired, receive notification when new, related positions become available.
 
“Not only does the online community provide networking opportunities, it also opens the door to more fully engaging all of our members in our North American organization.  Every individual is now enabled to access professional development resources, participate in career development discussions, and explore mentoring avenues specific to their personal objectives,” states Kathy Murphy, President of the newly created OIWC Education Foundation. “The OIWC Education Foundation’s goals include offering quality professional development programming, forums, and training avenues to as many women as possible across all industries, and the online community is a big part of reaching this goal.”