Shelley Zalis, 53, became a pioneer in the field of online research in 2000 when she created Online Testing Exchange (OTX) and quickly grew it into one of the largest research companies in the world. “I was the only female C.E.O. in the top 25 in market research my whole career. I never had women that were role models of mine to help me figure out how to raise a family and be a better C.E.O. So my passion is helping women be the best they can be,” Zalis says.
Her most recent endeavor to achieve that goal is the Ipsos Girls’ Lounge, a multipurpose meeting, networking, and relaxation lounge that Zalis creates at marketing, media, advertising, research, and tech conferences around the world. The lounge debuted, somewhat by accident, in 2013 at International C.E.S. when Zalis invited a few friends to join her in her hotel room and told them to invite friends, too. “We had 50 women on day one and it became a slumber party in my room,” she says.
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The buzz about that lounge prompted Zalis to turn it into an established destination at events. Zalis asked Ipsos, the company that had acquired OTX, to be the sole sponsor of the lounge so that, as she explains, “I didn’t have to get brands to put money in because then it becomes inauthentic.” The concept has been a hit. To date more than 3,500 women have experienced the lounge’s appealing combination of professional support and spa services at events such as C.E.S., South by Southwest, Cannes Lions, and during Oprah’s 2014 “Life You Want” tour. The lounge is traditionally located in a large suite at an event’s host hotel, but now Zalis has a portable option created by Hadley Media from a shipping container. The lounges are open to any women at the event, and the environment is focused on relationship building, not sales.
“We are building a place of trust. We share everything in here, and it’s a conversation that is unplugged and authentic,” Zalis says. “There are no materials about Ipsos in here. And I don’t share the list of the women that come in here with anyone, including Ipsos.” This summer Zalis is working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to bring the pop-up lounge to three destinations as part of the V.A.’s “Innovation Creation Series” to highlight the development of prosthetic and assistive technology for and by women.
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