W Hotels' What She Said series to debut in the Middle East

What She Said, a global speaker and networking series presented by W Hotels of women inspiring women, is set to make its Middle East debut.

The aim is that the speakers come from industries reflective of the 'passion points' of the W: music, fashion, design and fuel. Most events are free and open to the public on a first-come first-served basis, a moderated discussion followed by a Q&A session with the audience, after which guests are encouraged to network. The discussion is recorded and turned into a podcast, available on The Angle, which is the W brand's dedicated lifestyle micro-site.

W Hotels will be bringing the series to the Middle East as a four-part series taking place across multiple W properties in the region, starting at W Dubai Al Habtoor City in March, followed by W Amman, and the W Dubai – The Palm throughout the course of 2018. In an interview with Hotelier Middle East in 2016, W Hotels Worldwide global brand leader Anthony Ingham said: "I’m very keen to do What She Said here. It’s a new platform for us to allow very influential thought-leading women — generally from the worlds of fashion, design and music, aligned with the passions of the brand — to share their experience of being a successful woman in today’s world. Our plan is to have What She Said programming in different parts of the world — and I think it’s very relevant in the Middle East."

The Middle Eastern series will debut at the Wet Deck of the W Dubai Al Habtoor City on March 7, 2018 in celebration of International Women’s Day. It will focus on the W passion point of 'fuel' and will be moderated by Ritu Upadhyay, the Middle East correspondent for Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). The panel will be made up of: Raha Moharrak; the youngest Arab and first Saudi woman to conquer Everest; Engy El Shazly, the first Arab Hijabi ballerina; and Somaiah Al Dabbagh, a Pro Bikini competitor and personal trainer.

Following the hour-long panel starting at 7:30pm, guests will then be invited to take part in a high intensity sweat session, in collaboration with GuavaPass.

Spaces will be available to book free of charge through www.whatshesaidmea.com.