Preparing a two-day conference with 96 sessions and multiple service projects for more than 15,000 people is no small task.
Sandra Rogers, the chair of the 2012 BYU Women’s Conference, knows this first hand. Planning for this conference began nearly eight months in advance and volunteers have helped all along the way.
Rodgers said the key to the conference’s success is those very volunteers, from the committee members to the speakers themselves.
Lori Weekes, this year’s service chair, is one of these volunteers. Weekes, along with other committee members and volunteers, organized the multiple service projects taking place throughout the conference.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “Those volunteers are wonderful. Each does their part and it comes together in this huge event that changes peoples lives.”
Planning for the service projects starts in August, when the committee begins searching for ideas. Weekes said the formula for selecting projects can be tricky. Without stations for sewing machines, irons or other craft tools, all projects must be able to be done by hand and, often, in less than an hour.
This year, service projects benefit needs in the local Utah Valley area, particularly filling the need for cold weather gear.
“It all seemed to go back to the basics — everyone’s cold,” Weekes said. “We can’t help them if they’re cold.”
This year’s service projects will include crocheted mittens, fleece blankets, quilts and back-to-school packs.
For each project, participants will receive a packet containing all materials needed for the project — from the fabric, to the thread and needles. Finding, designing and accounting for each piece of the packet can be time consuming and hectic, but Weekes said somehow it works in the end.
“It’s just like the Lord’s work,” Weekes said. “It’s all organized … it all comes together.”
Presenters also have their work cut out for them in preparing the spiritual talks that define Women’s Conference.
Speakers receive invitations in January to speak at the conference four months away.
Janie Penfield, an associate athletic director at BYU, first spoke at the conference in 2009.
“It was overwhelming,” she said. “I felt very under-qualified. I had never attended Women’s Conference before. I wasn’t confident in my ability to relate, because I didn’t know them yet.”
Despite speaking at the conference previously, Penfield said she was shocked to receive another letter this year to speak on trusting in the Lord’s timetable.
Speakers spend the four months given them searching for insights to their topic. In scripture study and in General and Stake Conference, Penfield said she searched for more insights into her topic that she could share at Women’s Conference.
“I don’t want to give my message, I want to give God’s message,” Penfield said. “The people there are so hungry. The majority of them are looking for inspiration to overcome challenges.”
Both Penfield and Weekes said their involvement at Women’s Conference has become a priority in their lives.
Previous to her invitation to speak in 2009, Penfield had never attended the conference before.
“I always just thought I was busy,” she said. “Now, it’s become more of a priority in my life.”
For Weekes, the conference has become a source of friendship.
“The best part about all of it is the women,” Weekes said. “The projects are wonderful, but it’s about the individual women.”
