When the Victorian Government's Empowering Women Summit needed group activities for 1,300+ attendees, they chose PowerProv. The result: an 85% post-event satisfaction rate and a session that participants called the highlight of the day. For conference organisers looking for activities that do more than break the ice — here's what that looks like in practice.
- PowerProv ran improv-based leadership workshops for 1,300+ attendees at the Victorian Government's Empowering Women Summit
- Post-event survey recorded 85% satisfaction specifically for the PowerProv session
- Improv training is built on psychological safety — no one is put on the spot, every voice is actively welcomed
- The 'we not me' ensemble mindset creates the conditions for every participant to contribute with confidence
- Formats scale from intimate team workshops to full-conference auditorium settings
What PowerProv Delivered at the Empowering Women Summit
The Victorian Government's Empowering Women Summit brought together more than 1,300 women in business, government, and community leadership. PowerProv was invited to run improv-based leadership workshops as part of the program — sessions built around the skills that matter most in professional settings: active listening, confident contribution, "yes and" collaboration, and thinking on your feet.
Empowering Women Summit, Victorian Government
“Thank you so much for your contribution to the Empowering Women Summit. We received awesome feedback from your session attendees and our post-event survey had an 85% satisfaction rate for PowerProv which is a great number!”— Sheyda Kazemi, Victorian Department of Premier & Cabinet
The skills PowerProv teaches are the same regardless of the audience — but the Empowering Women Summit was a reminder of how much it matters to be in a room where everyone is genuinely working to make each other look good.
Why Conference Activities Need to Do More Than Break the Ice
Most conference group activities follow a familiar pattern. They're fun for an hour. Participants enjoy them in the moment. By the following Friday, they've faded.
That's not a criticism of fun — it's a question about what conference organisers are actually trying to achieve. If the goal is energy in the room, an icebreaker delivers that. If the goal is something participants carry back into their work — a habit, a skill, a shift in how they show up in meetings — the bar is higher.
The benchmark for a worthwhile conference activity is the same as any other professional development investment: did participants leave with something they'll actually use?
PowerProv's workshops are designed to meet that benchmark. The session at the Empowering Women Summit wasn't entertainment with a professional development label on it. Participants practised real skills — under mild pressure, in a low-stakes environment — and left with habits that had already started forming.
Why Improv Works Particularly Well for Women's Events
Improv training is built on psychological safety: the guaranteed belief that no one will be ridiculed or judged for speaking up. That's the foundation of every PowerProv session, and it's part of why the methodology resonates so strongly at women's professional events.
The skills are also directly relevant. "Yes And" — the foundational rule of improv — teaches assertive collaboration: contributing your perspective fully while keeping others genuinely engaged. It's not agreement and it's not confrontation. It's a third path that professional women use constantly — or wish they had the tool for.
The ensemble mindset takes this further. In an ensemble, everyone's job is to make everyone else look good. The focus shifts from how do I come across? to how do I help this person's idea land? When a room of 50 — or 1,300 — operates from that orientation, something changes. Ideas surface more freely. Voices that would have stayed quiet don't. The energy is different.
Participants leave more willing to take up space in a room, more confident in their contribution, and with a shared experience that creates genuine connection — not just exchanged business cards.
Format Options for Women's Events of Any Size
PowerProv works across a range of event formats, so the structure of your conference doesn't limit what's possible.
Half-Day Workshop — A dedicated 3–4 hour session for groups of 12 to 80. The full PowerProv framework: active listening, "yes and" collaboration, thinking on your feet, and confidence under pressure. The most popular format for women's leadership programs, team off-sites, and International Women's Day events.
Breakout Station — Rotating groups move through a series of activities across the day, with PowerProv running one station continuously. Total headcount is unlimited — the station keeps going. This is the format PowerProv used at the Optus away day for 400 participants, and the same approach scales to events of any size.
Full-Group Format — One PowerProv facilitator in front of the entire conference. Whole-room exercises, call-and-response dynamics, and group participation structures that keep everyone active — even in a room that seats hundreds. The right format for all-hands events, leadership summits, and conference keynote slots.
Online — Available for distributed women's networks, remote leadership programs, and hybrid conference formats.
If you're planning a women's event and want to know which format fits — book a discovery call.
Or watch how it works first.
Frequently asked questions
What group activities work well at a women's conference?
The best group activities for women's conferences combine genuine engagement with real skill transfer — so participants leave with something useful, not just a good memory. PowerProv's improv-based workshops are built on psychological safety: no one is put on the spot, every voice is welcomed, and the skills — active listening, confident contribution, thinking on your feet — are directly relevant to professional life. The Victorian Government chose PowerProv for 1,300+ attendees at the Empowering Women Summit, and the session rated the highlight of the day.
Can PowerProv run workshops at International Women's Day events?
Yes. PowerProv regularly runs workshops at International Women's Day events, women's leadership summits, Women in Finance/Tech/Law conferences, and similar professional gatherings across Australia. The format can be tailored to your event structure — a dedicated half-day session, a breakout station for rotating groups, or a single facilitator working with the full conference room at once.
What format does PowerProv use for large women's events?
PowerProv has two main formats for large groups. The breakout station model runs concurrent sessions with groups rotating through — total headcount is unlimited because the session keeps running. The full-group format puts one skilled facilitator in front of the entire room, using whole-group exercises that work at any scale. Both deliver the same outcomes: active listening, confident contribution, yes-and collaboration, and the ability to take up space in a room.
How does improv training benefit women in leadership specifically?
Improv builds the skills that matter most in professional settings where women are often expected to contribute confidently, navigate disagreement without confrontation, and lead with presence. The 'Yes And' framework teaches assertive collaboration — contributing your perspective while keeping others engaged. The ensemble mindset trains the room to actively support each other's contributions. These aren't abstract concepts: participants practise them in real time and leave with habits that show up in meetings, presentations, and negotiations.
Is PowerProv suitable for women's networking events and summits?
Yes — and it works particularly well for events where organisers want to go beyond keynotes and panel discussions. PowerProv's sessions create genuine connection between participants, not just the surface-level networking that fades by the following week. Participants work together, build on each other's ideas, and leave with shared experience and real skills. It's the kind of session people reference when they talk about what made an event memorable.
