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Networking Made
Easy
From Nowy Dziennik
August 31 —
September 2
By Marcin Szczepanski
About 60 young Polish businessmen, computer specialists, bankers,
brokers, engineers, graphic designers and students from New York and
New Jersey gathered on Thursday evening at Telephone Bar in East
Village to help each other in advancing their careers.
All the people who showed up at the bar are members of Central
European Business Association (CEBA), an organization that unites
ambitious Polish graduates of both American and Polish universities.
The main goal of the organization is to promote young professionals
living in the United States and establish relations between Polish
and American companies.
People like Ewa Lisik, who works at the BMW branch in New York
came to the bar on Thursday to meet other accomplished Poles. Marek
Drywa, a recent college graduate who just moved to New York from
Michigan, showed up hoping to make some contacts and get information
on how he could find an internship or a job.
The members of CEBA meet every last Thursday of the month and
hold "networking events," where more experienced Poles share their
knowledge and offer advice to those who want to advance their
careers.
Next weekend CEBA is sponsoring a canoe trip over the Delaware
River and some outdoor activities. "We do what Deutsche Bank does,"
says Kasia Mlekodaj, vice-president of CEBA. "We want to create a
group of people who would join their efforts in developing this
organization."
CEBA is also planning a meeting with some American specialists in
the fall.
About 300 people belong to CEBA. Most of them are employed at
such companies as Chase Manhattan, Pricewarter Coopers, Deutsche
Bank, Johnson&Johnson, Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street Journal
and IBM. In the last two months about 30 new people became members
of the Association.
Kamila Kopij, an architect, came to the meeting not to seek
advice, but to socialize.
Her secretary, she says, talks only about shopping and
restaurants. Here Kopij can "talk to people about her home town
Krakow and things other than her career."
Translated From Polish by Joanna Sufin
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