The MPW Summit: The editors' picks

The women behind Fortune's annual power women powwow offer their
suggestions on what to watch.

By Nina Easton, Stephanie N. Mehta and Patricia Sellers

Nina (in green) and Pattie (in pink) with Arianna Huffington, Mary Fallin, Gloria Steinem, and Chelsea Handler at the 2011 MPW Summit. Photo: Asa Mathat

FORTUNE -- As the co-chairs of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, which takes place Oct. 1-3 in Laguna Niguel, Calif., we are unabashedly biased: We helped develop the program, and we think everything -- every interview, panel and roundtable -- will be thought-provoking, enlightening and entertaining. We encourage everyone to tune into the proceedings via our "Virtual Summit," an online tool that lets anyone view the sessions in real-time or at your convenience, for free, simply by registering here.

The program is amazingly diverse. You'll hear from Fortune 500 CEOs such as DuPont's (DD) Ellen Kullman and Kraft's (KFT) Irene Rosenfeld, who are in the middle of major business transformations. You'll also glean leadership lessons from Laura Richardson, deputy commanding general in the U.S. Army, and Edna Adan, founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Somaliland, whose story is featured in the documentary Half the Sky.

Here are some the sessions we recommend:

Nina

Never heard of "financial diplomacy?" You will now as you go behind the scenes of the financial crisis in Europe, America's competition with China, and the workings of the G-20 with Undersecretary of the Treasury Lael Brainard. She's at the center of delicate discussions on how to keep the global economy not only afloat, but moving forward. October 2, 11:50 am PT

At MPW, we famously don't like to let our entertainers get off the hook after a night of song. So don't miss Suzanne Vega's insights into her life and her eclectic brand of folk singing on Tuesday afternoon. October 2, 3:05 pm PT

Our Wednesday morning closer this year is especially exciting: Prominent PIMCO CEO Mohamed A. El-Erian will take us on a tour of what's around the corner for financial markets, what are the realistic prospects are for global growth, and what he means by living with the "New Normal." October 3, 11:10 am PT

Stephanie

I can't wait to see Sam's Club (WMT) CEO Rosalind Brewer and Michelle Gass, EMEA president at Starbucks (SBUX) interviewed by Fortune's Jennifer Reingold. Brewer and Gass are retail all-stars. They'll talk about--among other things--operating stand-alone businesses within a big corporation. (Sam's Club is owned by Wal-Mart; Gass used to run Seattle's Best for Starbucks.) October 2, 2:45 pm PT

Stephanie smiles with PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi at the 2011 MPW Summit. Photo: Asa Mathat

Ginni Rometty is making her first public appearance as IBM's (IBM) newly appointed Chairman at the MPW Summit, and she'll be interviewed by senior writer Jessi Hempel. Rometty,  No. 1 on this year's Fortune MPW list, has a real passion for IBM's technology, and I hope she'll explain to us how a Jeopardy-playing supercomputer can improve health care, education and more. October 2, 9:15 am PT

Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO series Girls, will be at the Summit, and I look forward to hearing her thoughts on women, power and Hollywood. October 2, 12:35 pm PT

Pattie

The world hasn't heard from Carol Bartz since the Yahoo (YHOO) board booted her from the CEO post last year. (Well, she spoke once, to Fortune, the night after her firing.) Having gained perspective since then Bartz -- who is also lead director at Cisco (CSCO) -- will take the Summit stage to share "Lessons from the Boardroom". October 2, 11:40 am PT

I can hardly wait for my Summit conversation with former Sara Lee (HSH) CEO Brenda Barnes and her daughter, Erin Barnes. Barnes had a career-ending stroke in 2010—but she recovered and rediscovered a better life. She shares her story in Fortune's MPW issue and talks with me on stage on Tuesday. October 2, 2:20 pm PT

Striving to build a mega-presence in social media? There is no bigger consumer good brand on Facebook (FB) than Coke (CCE). The woman who oversees Coca-Cola's social media strategy, SVP Wendy Clark, will deliver brand-building tips. October 2, 3:25 pm PT

For more updates on the Fortune Most Powerful Women community, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Posted in: Coca-Cola, fortune mpw, IBM, Most Powerful Women, Most Powerful Women Summit, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Yahoo

• Mellody Hobson: Inside the boardroom

  Mellody Hobson has worked at Ariel Investments ever since she started as a college intern in 1997. Maybe that's why she roams far and wide to hone her leadership skills and collect big ideas.

  Besides overseeing operations at Chicago-based Ariel, the mutual fund company where she became president at 31, Hobson is on a bunch of big boards: DreamWorks Animation (DWA), Estée Lauder (EL), Groupon (GRPN), and Starbucks (SBUX).

  Last week at MORE

  Colleen Leahey, Reporter - May 30, 2012 12:19 PM ET
  Posted in: dreamworks, Estee Lauder, Groupon, Mellody Hobson, Starbucks

• Starbucks' ex-CEO leads a new team

  It's a rare case when a Fortune 500 CEO gets ousted, and then the guy wearing the boot divvies out praise. But this is what happened after Howard Schultz fired Jim Donald as CEO of Starbucks (SBUX) and replaced him with himself. "You cannot meet a kinder human being," says Schultz about Donald in his book, Onward, about Starbucks' turnaround. "A natural talent for building relationships at every level of MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Feb 28, 2012 12:31 PM ET
  Posted in: Howard Schultz, Jim Donald, Starbucks

• Social media success Rx: "Be a little crazy"

  Clara Shih is an early achiever. At age five, she arrived in the U.S., from Hong Kong, with her parents. With no access to bilingual education, she was initially placed in special classes for kids with speech impediments and advanced so rapidly that she scored a 1420 on her SATs -- in eighth grade. She started her company, Hearsay Social, at age 27, made Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Jan 11, 2012 10:22 AM ET
  Posted in: Clara Shih, Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, Starbucks

• The 29-year-old newcomer to Starbucks' board

  This past summer, when Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg emailed me about Clara Shih, we at Fortune knew to keep a lookout.

  "I think she is awesome," Sandberg wrote in her email.

  Sure enough, Starbucks (SBUX) yesterday named 29-year-old Shih, a social-media entrepreneur, to replace Sandberg on its board of directors.

  A 29-year-old on the Starbucks board?!

  Starbucks is bulking up on social-media expertise at a time when boards of most Fortune 500 companies desperately MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Dec 15, 2011 1:20 PM ET
  Posted in: Clara Shih, Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, Starbucks

• Lululemon CEO Day tops Google's Larry Page

  Since she arrived from Starbucks (SBUX) in 2008, Christine Day has done a remarkable job building Lululemon (LULU). Once just a retailer for yoga enthusiasts, Lululemon is now a fast-growing lifestyle brand. The stock has more than tripled in three years.

  Day has never put herself in the spotlight, but Fortune's online readers clearly recognize how effective she is. The results of our just-released Businessperson of the Year poll show that MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Nov 17, 2011 3:59 PM ET
  Posted in: CEOs, Christine Day, consumer goods, Howard Schultz, Lululemon, Most Powerful Women, Postcards, Starbucks

• The personal touch? Starbucks dishes on social engagement

  The social web used to be about accumulating fans. Now it's about building engagement.

  OK, but how do you do this most effectively?

  By constantly experiment, advised Susan Lyne, who chairs one of the fastest-growing online retailers, Gilt Groupe. "If you do a lot of little things, you'll find the big things that scale," she said on a panel called "The New Consumer Conversation" this morning at Fortune Brainstorm Tech.

  While experimentation tends MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Jul 20, 2011 2:59 PM ET
  Posted in: Brainstorm Conference, Brainstorm Tech, fortune tech, Gilt, keep fans engaged, marketing, media, Postcards, social engagement, Starbucks, technology, volkswagen

• Starbucks Via: What's the secret?

  Hey, Starbucks lovers--and critics too! Have you taken the Starbucks Via Taste Challenge? The drip vs. instant coffee faceoff began this morning in Starbucks (SBUX) stores across North America.

  If you want to know the science (it involves micro-grinding) behind Starbucks' new instant, check out this story today by my Fortune tech-writer colleague Michael Copeland. He talked with Andrew Linnemann, Starbucks' director of green coffee quality and operations, whose mission MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Oct 2, 2009 1:23 PM ET
  Posted in: Brands, consumer goods, Howard Schultz, Postcards, restaurants, retail, Starbucks

• Starbucks CEO stakes out new grounds

  Addendum: The Starbucks Via Taste Challenge kicks off Friday and runs through Monday in Starbucks stores across the U.S. and Canada. But I got a head start Tuesday morning, as I noted in the post below: I disagree with CEO Howard Schultz's "guarantee" that you won't be able to tell the difference between Starbucks' drip and its new instant (or "ready brew," as he calls it). Starbucks Bold drip handily MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Sep 29, 2009 6:34 PM ET
  Posted in: CEOs, consumer goods, Howard Schultz, Jim Donald, management, Postcards, Power Point, Power Shift, Starbucks

• Advice for Starbucks, from readers

  Tuesday's Guest Post by Starbucks barista Sun Min Kimes jolted Postcards readers like a pot of extra bold Joe. We got over 50 comments--the most comments, as well as the most traffic, of any Guest Post we've run except for "The Great Depression, as I remember" by Walt Stoiber.

  She struck a chord. As one reader, Oliver in Chicago, said, "Move this person to the Executive suite ASAP!"

  Thank you for the MORE

  Patricia Sellers - Aug 6, 2009 3:55 PM ET
  Posted in: Brands, CEOs, consumer goods, Howard Schultz, management, Postcards, restaurants, retail, Starbucks