Inga Bekbudova, George Foty, Toronto.
On February 12, 2015, The Ukrainian Students’ Club at Ryerson University, University of Toronto Ukrainian Students’ Club, York University Ukrainian Students’ Club, in partnership with SUSK (Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union) and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional Business Association (UCPBA) held the fourth Ukrainian Speed Networking Night hosted by St. Vladimir Institute. This time, as word has spread about previous events, the evening was attended to capacity, with many late registrants finding the event closed to sign up several days prior to the event.
This evening was part of a series of networking events that the UCPBA and SUSK began organizing two years ago. The idea is to help recent graduates and students find connections and seek advice in their field of interests, by leveraging their Ukrainian heritage; that is – sourcing our experienced community members. The professionals that are invited to attend are asked to lend the youth their insights and thoughts based on their life experiences bringing them to where they are today.
The Networking evening kicked off at 6:30PM. Refreshments and snacks were provided in the hall and the main theatre space where the event was taking place. The USO’s executive teams did an awesome job helping to prepare the cold table, staffing the bar, and to helping in venue organization.
At 7:00PM, the event began with an introduction by Taras Hetmanczuk, president of the UCPBA, welcoming the attendees to St Vlad’s and explaining the rules for the evening. Dr. Natalia Lischyna, who left the audience with inspiring and insightful advice as well as words of encouragement, gave the keynote address in a skillful and often humorous power point presentation. Prior to the speed networking session, the guests received an overview of the professionals in attendance.
As the speed networking session began, the theatre was abuzz with students and graduates walking up to a professional(s) seated at a table, introducing themselves and posing questions. Many professionals had a group of students around them listening to their stories, advice and making connections. Each session would last approximately 20 minutes, then the students/graduates were encouraged to rotate to a different professional that they would like to speak to. At the end of three of these sessions, MPP Yvan Baker gave a closing speech, in which he included his top ten tips for guests in how to excel in going forward. At the end, Taras Hetmanczuk declared the evening closed. However, the networkers and professionals were invited to stay on and continue networking for the rest of the evening.
Both the professional networkers and attendees assessed the evening as a huge success, as it gave them a chance to network in a friendly and energetically charged atmosphere, in an iconic Ukrainian community institution.
Just about all attendees were looking forward to the next event, which should take place in the fall. The timing and venue will be announced in advance. The Student Clubs would like to remind youth to register early next time, to avoid disappointment. However, all involved are committed to solving this issue, so that all interested may attend future functions.
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