Pamplin's France Bélanger, Donna Wertalik present at 2023 Virginia Women’s Conference
France Bélanger, University Distinguished Professor in the Pamplin College of Business' Department of Accounting and Information Systems, and Donna Wertalik, professor of practice in the Department of Marketing, took their show, "Voices of Privacy," on the road as they presented at Sen. Mark Warner’s 2023 Virginia Women’s Conference.
The conference, hosted Sept. 30 at Old Dominion University, featured keynote speaker Capt. Janet Days, commanding officer of Naval Station Norfolk, remarks from Warner, and a variety of workshops, including one titled “Empowering You to Navigate the Online World: Protecting Your Information Privacy,” hosted by Bélanger and Wertalik.
The workshop, like the Voices of Privacy initiative, explored the topics of whether information privacy is dead and, if not, what can people do to protect themselves and their loved ones? Bélanger and Wertalik included a segment on protecting the privacy of children and offered a resource table where, with the help of PRISM students, they talked with conference attendees.
“It was amazing to see everyone so engaged in both informal discussions at the resource table and throughout the very interactive presentation we did,” Bélanger said. “We were happy to share our knowledge, but we also learned a lot from the attendees.”
A first-of-its-kind initiative, Voices of Privacy combines video episodes on the web — or webisodes — with a range of resources available on its website, including expert interviews, news articles, and how-to videos, to highlight current issues about information privacy and solutions for those seeking to enhance their knowledge.
Wertalik describes the venture as “a cross between a TED talk and a master class.”
Each webisode features Bélanger and Wertalik discussing information privacy topics, including steps people can take to protect their information on the web, smartphones, and other platforms.
“I appreciate the personal commitment you made to travel to Norfolk in order to share your expertise with our attendees,” Warner wrote in a message. “Your session on cybersecurity and internet privacy was very popular. It’s a pressing issue and foremost in my thoughts.”
The Virginia Women’s Conference is dedicated to providing a venue for Virginia women of all ages to meet, network, hear from experts on a variety of important topics, and gather resources from federal, state, and local agencies, according to the event website.
Images from the event are available in an online photo gallery.
Voices of Privacy can be found at voicesofprivacy.com and seen on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. New content is published every Wednesday along with daily interactions on Facebook and LinkedIn.
