Photo Credit: EAA/Erin Brueggen

Now in its ninth successful year, WomenVenture activities during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh were expanded to cover the entire week. Wednesday, July 27, was declared Women’s Day, providing women a way to connect during the annual fly-in convention while having Oshkosh-style fun at the same time.

WomenVenture Wednesday began at the EAA Nature Center with a sold-out Women in Aviation International Connect breakfast, sponsored by Avemco, and attended by more than 400 enthusiastic showgoers. Sherry Carbary, vice president of Boeing Flight Services, and Jackie Nesselroad, Boeing director of production operations for the Space Launch System New Orleans facility, were the guest speakers.

Later that morning, an Alaska Airlines B-737 900ER arrived with an all-female crew and more than 100 Alaska Airlines employees. The aircraft served as the backdrop for the annual WomenVenture photo on Boeing Centennial Plaza, featuring nearly 1,000 attendees in this year's green WomenVenture T-shirts.

The day's activities capped off with the WomenVenture Power Lunch at Theater in the Woods featuring speakers Lt. Cmdr. Meagan Flannigan, a former Navy F-14 pilot, and Navy combat veteran Vanessa Christie.

"WomenVenture has transformed the experience of women attending AirVenture," said Dr. Peggy Chabrian, WAI president. "Since its beginning, WomenVenture has motivated and inspired thousands of women. We are grateful to EAA for encouraging women to participate not only in AirVenture but in the hundreds of other sights and sounds of Oshkosh."