Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475048
She Rocks Awards The Women's International Music Network presented the 10th Annual "She Rocks" Awards at The Ranch in Anaheim during NAMM. Dionne Warwick was the main recipient, getting the "Legend Award." Leslie Gaston-Bird CAS received the "Champion Award." Leslie wrote the book Women in Audio, which has become the go-to book on the subject. "[It] was a very transformational experience for me. What I thought would be a glorified research paper has turned out to give me purpose in ways I had never considered," she said. Leslie gave an enthralling speech. "I love talking about the women who developed new software and hardware, who fought for their patents, who mastered platinum albums, produced records, invented programming languages, co-authored studies on women in the music industry, women who scored major motion pictures and television theme songs, founded music institutes for women, who teach in our recording arts programs, who mic up the talent, who do sound for triple-A video games, who get the sound to the transmitter, who do acoustic measurements for cars … women in audio are EVERYWHERE! Let's lift up and make these women visible. Let's create role models for our young girls. Let's network and mentor and keep changing this industry so that we can thrive and so that we can succeed. We all have the right to make a living doing what we love, and my biggest hope is that one day we won't have to fight for that privilege."