Welcome to the first edition of our semi-annual Women in Communications and Energy (WICE) newsletter. We plan to publish in the summer and winter to help us keep in touch between our spring and fall events.

One of WICE's main objectives is to encourage dialogue between women at all levels within the energy services and communications industries. We think this newsletter will help us maintain a consistent level of communications with each other. The newsletter's theme is "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow." Each edition will highlight recent events and future plans, as well as some historical perspectives.

In the interest of maintaining a dynamic publication, we encourage your comments and invite you to let us know about what is going on in your life and work. We also welcome feedback about the newsletter and WICE events. If you have any WICE artifacts, you can send those along as well.
So, without further ado – enjoy our inaugural issue.

Nancy Plotkin nancy_plotkin@dps.state.ny.us and
Janet Deixler jandeix@nycap.rr.com

Editors

WICE began 14 years ago as The New York Utility Women's Coalition, with the goal of creating "an awareness and respect for diversity in the workplace" and encouraging women at all levels who worked for utilities and governmental agencies to enter a dialogue intended to "promote self-development and professional advancement." The organization also recruited women to work in all phases of the industries.

Early WICE members give much of the credit for the concept of a networking organization for women working in the utility arena to Eileen Mahoney, then working for AT&T and later for the cellular telephone industry. "As I met individuals in government-legislative and regulatory and colleagues from other companies at comparable levels to mine, many of them were women," Eileen recalls.

WICE evolved from conversations among Eileen, Maureen Helmer, at that time on the Senate staff, a former PSC Chairman and now a partner at CouchWhite, LLP, and Lisa Rosenblum, former Commissioner for the PSC, now Senior Vice President at Cablevision. "For the first time in all utility-related branches of government, you had women involved in key positions," Maureen noted. "All of them were involved in the first WICE meetings, in addition to the private sector women." The founding government women also included: Paula Van Meter from the Governor's Office and Ellen Blackler from the Assembly.

Joan Freilich, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., recalls attending the second-ever WICE meeting. "Some women from the PSC, NIMO and the legislature had decided to get together. We talked over dinner about women-related concerns and activities at our organizations. It seemed to me that an organization of 'utility women' would be useful for a number of reasons: networking, an exchange of ideas on how to support women in our organizations, and highlighting women role models in our industry." Judy Lee from the PSC remembers the group's first major event. "It was a huge success and very well attended," she said. Speakers included Chief Judge Judith Kaye and Ann Mead, a former Commissioner for the PSC, and Lenore Puleo from Brooklyn Union, now KeySpan.

Today, many of the early members are still part of the group, although most are playing different roles. The 14 years which have elapsed since those early meetings have seen transformation in the utility industry, but WICE's goals remain largely unchanged: to offer women working in the energy and communications arenas the opportunity to network, to exchange ideas and to provide role models for women beginning and considering careers in those fields.

Carol Monti Barris, current President of WICE, is Vice President of Services at Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., where she is responsible for Liaison Services with Con Edison, Facilities and Services, Financial Services, Payment Processing, Security, Transportation, Stores, Forestry, the Conference Center and Project/Subsidiary Operations. Carol started her career with Con Edison in its management intern program and held positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of Customer and Commercial Operations, especially focusing on Westchester. She eventually rose to General Manager, Energy Services in Manhattan. When Con Edison and Orange & Rockland merged in 1999, Carol assumed her current position. She has an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Iona College.

And the Survey Says –

To learn about the demographics of WICE members and the types of events they are interested in attending, a member survey was sent in March to about 400 members and generated an 18% response.

Women on the Move

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Consolidated Edison, Inc. Joan Freilich has been named the new Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for The College of New Rochelle. Joan has been a board member for the College since 2000.

Anne Smith, a member of our Board of Directors, and formerly Director of Energy Delivery Communications at Niagara Mohawk, has recently assumed the position of Vice President and member of the Corporate Business Development Team at Robson Woese, Inc., an engineering consulting firm.

WICE's fall event will be held in New York City on Oct. 29, 2004. It will be a day-long conference. Presentations on Ethics in the Workplace and Security are the topics being planned for the day. For attorneys who are considering attending the event, it may be of interest that we are planning to apply New York State Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits for the Ethics panel; the panel is anticipated to be held in the morning. Carol Monti Barris, Judy Lee and Sandi Manilla are working hard on the plans, so watch your inbox for more information!

Other Items of Interest –

Interested in joining WICE? Contact Krys Romas at kromas@oru.com for more information regarding membership. And, if you know of anyone who would be interested in taking a look at the newsletter, pass it on!

Do you have an item, suggestion or Women on the Move update for the newsletter? Please contact Janet Deixler jandeix@nycap.rr.com.

*Name that Newsletter! This is your opportunity to make history. E-mail your suggested name for our electronic newsletter to Janet Deixler jandeix@nycap.rr.com no later than October 15. Nominated names will be announced and the winner selected at our Fall Event on October 29, 2004.