Included in this series are tape-recorded sessions of “Strengthening the Services for Women in the 80s,” a conference held February 23-24, 1981, at the Wingspread Center, Racine, Wisconsin. Proposed by Marlene Cummings, Advisor to he Governor for Women and Family Initiatives, the conference was co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Women's Network, Women's Educational Resources of the University of Wisconsin, and the Governor's task forces and advisory group for Women and Family Initiatives. Composed of plenary sessions and workshops, the conference stressed the problem areas of domestic abuse, family planning, chemical dependency, displaced homemakers, and sexual assault.
An opening plenary session included remarks by Marlene Cummings and by Marion Swoboda, chair of the Governor's Advisory Council for Women and Family Initiatives; a speech by Ken Lindner, secretary of the state Department of Administration, on the state budgetary process and financial situation, followed by a question period; and a motivational speech by Gene Boyer, founder of the Wisconsin Women's Network.
The workshops met in two series. In the first series on February 23, each workshop focussed on one of the problem areas noted above. Participants were assigned to a workshop on the basis of their backgrounds, and discussions centered on what was currently being done in the area of concern, what goals should be set, and what barriers existed to achieving those goals. The workshops' conclusions were summarized in written form overnight.
Participants then were reassigned more randomly for the second workshop series on February 24. On this day, each group worked from the written summaries and each attempted to devise strategies to overcome the barriers identified in all five areas on the previous day. At various points in both day's sessions, participants split into smaller discussion groups, thereby generating large portions of undifferentiated “noise” on the tapes.
A closing plenary session included a 5-minute presentation by each workshop coordinator summarizing their second group's conclusions on strategies for overcoming barriers. A final speech by Sarah Harder, co-chair of the Continuing Committee of the National Women's Conference at Houston, concluded the conference.
