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Interested Parties John Murray and Mary Anne Carter Woman Up! Pavilion September 4, 2012

The Woman Up! Pavilion was the first of a kind event at a national convention. And by all accounts, it was a huge success. The idea for the Pavilion began to form in late 2011. By January 2012, the YG Network was scouting locations in Tampa. An unused 14,000 square foot space, formerly the Tampa Chamber of Commerce office located one block from the Tampa Bay Times Forum, seemed the ideal spot. With a location selected, we got to work on creating a warm inviting atmosphere for weary convention goers to rest, relax or sit in on substantive policy discussions.
There was no war against women here. This is like heaven on women, said TIME writer Katy Steinmetz. (TIME Newsfeed) The real war on women is the economy, said YG policy director Mary Anne Carter. (New York Post)

The Pavilion became a practical meeting space for social, political and business networking. Notable women including Industry experts, Former White House Officials, Members of Congress and Members of the European Parliament made the Pavilion their spot for meetings, discussions and news interviews. The media area, panel hall, lounge and breakout rooms were routinely used for media interviews. Despite cancellation of the first day of the convention, hurricane warnings, security restrictions and transportation woes, the Pavilion still hosted more than 3000 people over the four days. The Pavilion had multiple areas for men and women to enjoy. It hosted a cafe, a lounge, a retail area, hair and make-up salon, social networking area sponsored by Facebook, flat screen televisions and a womens suffrage traveling museum. Bright House Networks provided free WiFi to all.
I passed the MSNBC stage, leaned to the right, and found myself at the Womens Pavilion. It is open to the public and is truly one of the coolest places to chill out during the conventioneven for guys! (Tampalanta Blog)

We had an impressive ensemble of women come through the Pavilion including U.S. Members of Congress Diane Black, Cathy McMorris Rogers, Michelle Bachmann. Also stopping by were Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll (FL) and Rebecca Kleefisch (WI) as well as Floridas Attorney General, Pam Bondi. We even caught casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, enjoying a coffee at the caf inside the Pavilion. Of course, men were welcome at the Pavilion as well and we appreciate Congressmen Tom Price, Phil Gingrey and Michael Burgess for stopping by.

Of particular note to the Pavilions success was the stature and depth of information of the panelists throughout the week. Each panel in its own right was valuable, effective and engaging. Combined, the Pavilion may have seen the most substantive discussions ever parlayed into a 4 day time span. The topic of each panel and a list of panelists are attached. You will see for yourself the collective depth and knowledge this group contributed to our overall effort.
Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll and Anita McBride discussing foreign policy.

The pavilion also hosts discussions on Supreme Court rulings, small-businesses opportunities for women and foreign policy. (New York Post)

In addition to the Pavilion, the YG Network Woman Up! initiative hosted a Salute to Elected Women Officials reception. The keynote speaker was our event co-host, the Lieutenant Governor of Florida, Jennifer Carroll. Majority Leader Eric Cantor and his wife Diana made an appearance at the reception then took the time to do a walk-thru of the Pavilion. Additionally, we had eight Members of Congress attend the Salute reception. With security obstacles and transportation problems, that turned out to be quite a feat and we are especially thankful to them for making the effort. Finally, our press coverage was extensive by the main stream media and quite good. However, we are convinced we still have a long way to go. While we understand this was a new venture and the press was curious about the overall Pavilion, the lack of substantive coverage on the discussion panels suggests more work is needed to educate the media that woman have deep knowledge and experience about the issues we face today and should be given the same due respect as a panel discussion of men. We will continue this fight.
the YG Network founded and run by former Eric Cantor advisers, is putting together a cool "Woman Up Pavilion" in the Channelside area near the Tampa Bay Times Forum YG has 14,000 square feet in a former Chamber of Commerce space will feature lectures and panel discussions, a coffee shop, vendors, and a women's suffrage museum. (Tampa Bay Times) "Most women are not thinking about contraception 24/7," Mary Ann Conway, executive director of Women Up!, the sister initiative of the YG Network, told Business Insider. "They are thinking about the issues of the day, like economy, healthcare, gas prices. Things that are affecting them every day." (Business Insider) Its dcor is welcoming. The pavilion has a one-room womens suffrage museum, and forums on topics like Advocacy Means Business: Building Your Organization and The Europeanization of the United States. We dont talk social issues, said Mary Ann Carter, policy director for the Young Guns Network, who manages the pavilion, as several young women from the convention milled about sipping coffee and shopping for souvenirs. We talk about the economy. We talk about health care. We talk about energy. (New York Times) the pavilion is a posh, super PAC-connected policy spa for GOP women, where they can listen to a female-led panel discussion on defense cutsor get eyelash extensions for $40. (Wall Street Journal)

Schedule of Events Womans Pavilion

Monday, August 27, 2012 Panel: The SCOTUS Ruling: What it means for women 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Diane Black, Member of Congress Dan Hannon, Member of European Parliament Merrill Matthews, Institute of Policy Innovation Kathryn Serkes, Co-author of Patient Power: The Paitents Handbook Grace Marie Turner, President of the Galen Institute

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Panel: Advocacy Means Business: Building Your Organization through Policy 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Cyndi Graves, President, Florida Federation of Republican Women Katie Harbath, Facebook, Associate Manager for Policy Anita MonClief, True the Vote and Editor-in-Chief of Emerging Corruption

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Panel: The Best Defense? U.S. Foreign Policy TodayWhat is it? What should it be? 10:00 am - 11:30 am

Jennifer Carroll, Lt. Governor of Florida Clare M. Lopez, former CIA Operations Officer Anita McBride, Former Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush and Executive in Residence, School of Public Affairs, American University KT McFarland, FOX News National Security Analyst

Schedule of Events Womans Pavilion

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Panel: Hey America! Dont take this road! The Europeanization of the United States 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

AECR Council Member Ragnheiur Eln rnadttir MP (Iceland) Beth Harwell, Speaker of the House, Tennessee House of Representatives Baroness Warsi, Sayeeda, Chairman of the British Conservative Party and Minister (UK)

Thursday, August 30, 2012 Panel: Yes. It is My Business! Growing and Expanding Women-Owned Businesses 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Member of Congress Diane Schook, Relational Constructs, LLC Carol Donovan, Owner, Smith and Donovan Confections, Inc. Kim Kimball, KBK Consulting Sharon Day, Co-Chair RNC

The wife of the party

By JENNIFER FERMINO Last Updated: 8:18 AM, August 28, 2012 Posted: 1:01 AM, August 28, 2012 TAMPA Republicans are brushing back Democratic-led charges of waging a war on women with shopping, parties, pink cocktails and Ann Romney (left). With Mitt Romney trailing President Obama among female voters, Republicans are making an allout push for the ladies vote with targeted events in Tampa and a roster of GOP women all-stars. A few blocks from the convention hall, the YG Network a conservative think tank affiliated with billionaire Sheldon Adelsons Super PAC is holding policy discussions alongside jewelry sales. Decorated in a black, white and pink color scheme, the Marion Adelson Woman Up! Pavilion named after the casino magnates wife also offers a hairdresser for last-minute style touch-ups, a chill-out room loaded with fashion mags, and a full bar of brightly colored cocktails. The pavilion also hosts discussions on Supreme Court rulings, smallbusinesses opportunities for women and foreign policy.

The real war on women is the economy, said YG policy director Mary Anne Carter. But the GOPs greatest weapon in helping convince women voters to pull the lever for Romney come November could be his wife, Ann. In a hint of how much shes valued by the campaign, the convention schedule was reshuffled at the last minute to guarantee that her speech would be shown on prime time TV tonight. The one thing I think she can do better than anyone else is show a warmer side to the governor, said Ron Christie, a onetime special assistant to George W Bush. She can be a very effective blunt to the charges of the so-called war on women.

R and R Away From Romney and Ryan Tampa, Fla. Amongst the police, politicians, delegates and media who have dropped in and descended upon downtown Tampa, there are some agents of serenity. Just a block or two away from the Tampa Bay Times Forum, a few oases have been created for those needing an escape from the fluorescent lights or tropical humidity. The YG network and Woman Up! are hosting a womens pavilion throughout the week thats designed to pamper. Its set up with soft lighting, leather couches, a Facebook photo booth and food bar. But the biggest draw might be the hair salon set up inside. In between the speeches and the parties, ladies can duck in and keep frizz under control with a $30 blow out or a $20 touch-up. In addition to the luxurious amenities, the pavilion is also hosting panels and forums on topics relevant to women during the week. For those constantly on the move with no time to stop by anywhere, there are Freewheelin carts. Freewheelin is a free, environmentally friendly service that provides rides around Tampa on a pedal bus. In addition to the rides, when you swing by a cart you can grab a free water bottle, a piece of fruit, and even have a health screening. Little more than a block away from the pavilion, Huffington Post, Off The Mat and Into The World have a set-up rivaling a four-star spa. Aptly named the Oasis, the space emanates calm. The dim lights and white dcor provide a clean and tranquil environment. Beyond the ambience, the Oasis provides entirely free massages, facials, makeup refreshes, yoga classes and healthy food options. The Oasis is catered by Lyfe Kitchens frozen food line and also serves up Greek yogurt popsicles. With no caffeine or alcohol allowed, the focus is on physical and mental relaxation. After eating, guests can take a nap in a specially-designed nap pod. The whole thing is about the well-being on every level, said Huffington Posts Agapi Stassinopoulos. You eat good food, you come to an environment that nurtures you, you do some yoga, you destress and you go back to your everyday things that you do and the stress of the conventions.

Republican Women Seek to Play Down Social Issues

By SUSAN SAULNY TAMPA, Fla. About a block from the Republican National Convention, in a strip mall next to a Hooters restaurant, is the Woman Up! Pavilion, sponsored by the Young Guns Network, . Its dcor is welcoming, with curved banquettes accented by hot-pink carnations and red roses. There is a hair salon offering blowouts, and a gift shop. Cocktails like the Lady Lemonade and Woman-Tini are sold for $6. The pavilion has a one-room womens suffrage museum, and forums on topics like Advocacy Means Business: Building Your Organization and The Europeanization of the United States. What is missing from the all-inclusive spot? Any discussion of the social issues abortion, same-sex marriage, insurance coverage for birth control that have at times engulfed the Republican nominating contest. We dont talk social issues, said Mary Ann Carter, policy director for the Young Guns Network, who manages the pavilion, as several young women from the convention milled about sipping coffee and shopping for souvenirs. We talk about the economy. We talk about health care. We talk about energy. This refrain is often heard in and around the convention. In dozens of interviews, women at the convention made clear that social issues are taking a back seat. Even those who passionately agree (or disagree) with the new party platform calling for traditional marriage, public display of the Ten Commandments and a sweeping ban on abortion were unwilling to discuss it. (An exception was Mitt Romneys sister Jane, who declared that a ban on abortion is never going to happen in a Romney administration.) Instead, women at the convention preferred to point to opening night on Tuesday, when a parade of Republican women took to the podium, including Ann Romney, who spoke about her family, and Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, who preached a gospel of economic empowerment, free of meddlesome government rules. Being visible was one way, the women said, to counter the Obama campaigns charge that their party is waging a war on women. Theyre doing the soft love approach, said Sandra Stroman, a convention participant from Chester, S.C. Theyre holding up our women in this party and putting those women in front of the cameras, saying, Here are our Republican women. Do they look like we have waged war against them? With the intention of appealing to voters beyond the partys base, many Republican women are simply avoiding the mention of abortion or gay rights because they are seen as too divisive in such a close, contentious race. Some acknowledge deliberately playing down their own views as a strategic move. Instead, they want to talk about the economy, just like the Romney campaign. Anything that gives women the idea that they cant find friends in the Republican Party is unhelpful, said Kristen Soltis, a pollster and an adviser to Crossroads Generation, a pro-Romney super PAC. I think what will be decisive in this election are those sort of kitchen-table economics: How am going to pay my bills? How am I going to make sure my kids get a good education? How am I going to make sure my parents are healthy? Ms. Soltis, 28, is personally in favor of same-sex marriage but is opposed to abortion. She says she tends not to focus the party platform, and hopes that one day it might shift to the center again, at least on social issues.

Republican Women Seek to Play Down Social Issues (contd)

By SUSAN SAULNY I think particularly as more young people come to the party, that may lead to the party having different positions on things as the years go on, she said, adding that in the meantime, I consider myself focused on fiscal issues. Mia Love, a mayor in Utah who is running for Congress, usually highlights her Mormon-inspired conservatism, but she, too, shied away from social issues in her speech at the convention on Tuesday, speaking instead about the lives of her parents, who were immigrants from Haiti. I havent focused on those social issues because the economic issues are important to my district, she said in an interview. Fiscal discipline, our debt and deficit. We need to focus on work. Ms. Loves friend Deidre Henderson, a candidate for the Utah State Senate who agrees with the party platform, described herself as very pro-life but added that social issues are a distraction. What we need to focus on is the economy. The distancing from social issues is all the more urgent, some conservative women acknowledged, in the aftermath of highly polarizing comments Representative Todd Akin of Missouri made two weeks ago, claiming that in cases of legitimate rape one need not consider abortion because the female reproductive system shuts itself down. Of course it was unhelpful, said Ms. Soltis saying that Democrats have seized the issue to support their contention that Republicans are hostile to women. I think that because unemployment is so high, Democrats think its much easier to win over women voters if they talk about these social issues. I think thats a risky gamble for them, because I so firmly believe that this will be an election about the economy. And on that subject, Republican women are intent on returning the incoming fire from the Democrats. Rae Lynne Chornenky, the president of the National Federation of Republican Women, addressed the convention on Monday, repeated the oft-discredited claim that 92 percent of all the jobs lost under Mr. Obama were those of women. If there is a war against women, she said, it is President Obama who waged it. Sarah Wheaton contributed reporting from Palm Harbor, Fla.

Business Insider
Republican Women Are Sick Of Talking About Contraception
Grace Wyler | Aug. 28, 2012, 11:39 AM | 1,066 | 16

TAMPA, FLA. Mention of the name Todd Akin here is typically met with eyerolls, sighs, and the occasional shake of the head. The Missouri Senate candidate's "legitimate rape" comments have made him one of the most reviled people in politics this month particularly among Republican women, many of whom told Business Insider they are sick of having to defend their party on issues of contraception and abortion. "I can't even talk about it," said one woman, who declined to be named talking negatively about the party at the national convention. "It's like, women don't want to be talking about their uterus so can men please stop talking about it too?" "Most women are not thinking about contraception 24/7," Mary Ann Conway, executive director of Women Up!, the sister initiative of the YG Network, told Business Insider. "They are thinking about the issues of the day, like economy, healthcare, gas prices. Things that are affecting them every day."

Getty Ann Romney and Janna Ryan, two Republican women

Conway added that Akin's gaffe is a good example of why conservative women need to start communicating more with other conservative women and to start teaching men to speak to women. That's why she came up with the idea for the Women's Pavilion, a femme-friendly lounge just outside of the RNC perimeter where women can go to unwind, get their hair and makeup done, have a cocktail, browse a women's suffrage exhibit, and listen to panels on issues that are decidedly not "women-centric," like healthcare and the Europeanization of America. "Conservatives don't always communicate with women effectively," Conway told Business Insider. "The men in the conservative movement tend to focus on facts and figures, and leave out any emotional component." She added that, through focus groups and polling, Women Up! is working on "developing language" to help conservatives reach out to women, and hopefully start to dispel some of the "War on Women" problems that have plagued the party. But Conway admits that comments like Akin's, and like Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith's similarly strange remarks about rape yesterday, are a setback. "The focus becomes the quote, which no one thinks is okay I mean, what is legitimate rape?" she said. "But then no one is thinking about the broader issues and no one talks about the policies. I think that's a problem." She sighs. "It's frustrating."