The following is a personal assessment of the women's conference by Royal Gazette business reporter Becky Ausenda

Bermuda's first conference for women took place on Friday and Saturday at the Elbow Beach Hotel. It was extremely well received by more than 100 delegates of different ages, religions and races.

It was not just a conference for career women, but it had significant support from local and international businesses and it is impressive that the likes of Bank of Bermuda, XL and Appleby Spurling & Kempe took part because the concept of a women's seminar is one which might have been greeted with cynicism.

Do career women really need to assess where they are on their "journey" or is that what some might call "new age" nonsense?

Is there a need for consultants who specialise in women's wealth management or is that a bit of a gimmick?

The feedback from the delegates was one of resounding approval and the implications for Bermuda's business community are two fold:

Firstly, from a human resources point of view, it is clear that businesses need to embrace a more holistic approach to managing employees. By looking after staff's general well-being, businesses can expect greater performance and also participate in a revitalisation of the community.

Secondly, if you are a retail service provider, stop patronising and sidelining your female clients. Ignore this advice at your peril: those firms which were involved in this conference, in particular Bank of Bermuda's Private Client and Financial Services department, are leading the charge in communicating with and focusing on women. After all, they make up 50 percent of their customers and occupy major decision-making positions in Bermuda's society.

"As service providers, we must actively listen to women to hear how to serve them best and how to address and meet their specific needs."

Enlightened male, Wayne Chapman, head of Bank of Bermuda's Private Client Services.