"The 2009 Friedman Symposium, a collaborative effort of Robert Friedman and Baruch’s History Department, features five speakers on ""How Blogging Empowers Women in Business, Politics and Media."" Julie Des Jardins, a feminist historian and professor at Baruch, jump-started the social gathering by introducing the panel of media specialists who shared their contributions to social media, as well as their blogging knowledge. Jory Des Jardins, the co-founder of blogher.com, a website dedicated to women bloggers, spoke to the audience about the influences of the blogging world toward women. Liza Sabater, a feminist cultural critic and the founder of Culture Kitchen and The Daily Gotham, found a desire for blogging after becoming a mother. She used her skill set to compare experiences with other mothers. Sabater later moved on to politics and broke political boundaries with a personal blog about war casualties. Lena West, social media consultant and CEO of xynoMedia Technology moved the student-dominated audience with her testimony of getting kicked out of college and making her way to success by the influence of technology and social networking. Jennifer Pozner, founder and executive director of Women and Media in News, journalist and media critic, discussed women in media outlets, expressing concern for female voices to be heard through prominent social forums through a journalist’s viewpoint. The women concluded the program by answering last minute questions and providing feedback to those seeking a foot in the door to social media. The event takes place on March12, 2009, at the Newman Conference Center, Room 750. [Part I -- 49 min.] Features Julie Des Jardins, Jory Des Jardins, and Liza Sabater [Part II -- 49 min.] Features Lena West, Jennifer Pozner and Q & A session"