Soft Skills Set the Stage Ablaze: Dr. Virginia McGowan Electrifies bLU Talks with Her Vision for a Civil@Work Revolution.

Edmonton, Alberta | July 18, 2025 — It was a standing ovation moment as award-winning author, anthropologist, and workplace visionary Dr. Virginia (Ginny) McGowan delivered one of the most compelling bLU Talks of the year at the University of Alberta’s Lister Conference Centre. Her talk, “The Winning Ways of Civil@Work: 5 Steps to Personal and Professional Success,” offered a rallying cry for a workplace renaissance built on respect, inclusion, and human connection.

McGowan—whose newly released book, Civil@Work: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Soft Skills for Business Success, has already sparked a national conversation—shared her five-step framework for cultivating civility, productivity, and personal fulfillment in the modern workplace. Her core message is that in an AI-driven future, our most significant business advantage will come from what makes us most human—our soft skills.

Her passionate presentation painted a hopeful and practical vision of a new world of work: one where empathy, collaboration, and emotional intelligence drive engagement, innovation, and sustainable growth. McGowan argued that the solution to workplace toxicity is not more policy, but more humanity.

The event, part of the prestigious bLU Talks series founded by Corey Poirier, drew a packed and diverse audience of professionals, students, and changemakers. Her on-stage interview and talk were filmed and will be broadcast on major platforms, including Binge TV, Roku, Amazon, Google Play, Apple, Spotify, and more, reaching an estimated audience of over two million.

Up next for McGowan? The October 2025 release of her second book in the Civil@Work series, The Human Advantage, will be followed by The Courage to Change Your Lane in 2026.

Dr. Ginny McGowan didn’t just speak about civility—she ignited a movement.