Speed Networking Event A Great Success

February 13, 2009

More than 100 students and 14 alumni participated in the Tobin College of Business Alumni Association (TCBAA) Student Speed Networking event, held on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 on the Queens campus.  This annual event is designed to provide students with an opportunity to acquire valuable resources for success in their future careers through interactions with successful St. John’s University alumni.

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Alumni participants, many from Fortune 500 companies shared their experiences and personal knowledge of the business world while emphasizing the importance of networking as a necessary skill for success.  The fast-paced format allowed alumni to move from table to table at 7 minute intervals, ensuring that all students would be able to spend time with each alumnus, absorbing the unique information that each participant had to offer.

Alumni participants were vocal in their praise for the event and the students who took the time and initiative to come together.  “It is my pleasure to give back to the University and our students in this capacity,” noted Stephen Yesko ’96MBA, Senior Sales Associate for Lowers & Associates.  “The students were prepared and they can take the knowledge they received and parlay it into their professional development.”  TCBAA Board Member George Maggiore ’81MBA, Adjunct Professor of Marketing at St. John’s and Director of Customer and Marketing Research at National Grid was genuinely pleased with the level of student participation, which he described as “outstanding”.

Student response was equally positive.  “I learned a great deal from each of the alumni participants,” said Thomas D’Auria ’09TCB.  “It was good to hear their experiences from many different industries, such as finance, accounting and management.”