Newsletter

Annual General Meeting on September 14, 2009

The 2009-2010 year of PWA had a fantastic start! Members gathered at the elegant Kempinksi Hotel Corvinus on September 14th for the annual general meeting. The night started with a little social networking and then proceeded to start the general meeting. This year’s PWA president, Melinda Katona, opened with a welcome speech and outlined the goals and plans the organization had in store for this year. Specifically, the group plans on meeting once a month for either networking events or a mini-MBA seminar. The networking events are planned to facilitate members getting to know each other better and build the cohesiveness within PWA. The mini-MBA series will be focused on hot topics in the world of professional women and will include topics such as negotiations, gender in the workplace and personal finance.

Next, the proposed members of the 2009-2010 PWA Steering Committee were introduced. Each member spoke a few words about their background and desired position before the members went to the ballots to voice their opinions. Now, without further ado, here are the results from the election:

In addition to the elected positions, the additional members to each team are as follows: ...

The last thing on the agenda for the night was dinner. The first dinner of the year was just as elegant as it was delicious. The room was filled with chatter as new members met with veteran members and veteran members reconnected with others after the summer break. PWA looks forward to a bright and successful year!

"A professional woman is someone who knows what she wants but always looks for new opportunities"

Our first PWA member to be featured in the “Spotlight On” section is our very own Marianne Drain! Marianne comes to us all the way from the state of Washington in the United States. This is her first year as a member of PWA because she is still somewhat of a freshman to the city, having only arrived in June of this year. I later found out it was her job with the U.S. Department of Commerce that brought her to Budapest and had previously sent her to places such as India and Brazil. Professionally, Marianne facilitates the export and import relationship between the United States and Hungary.

Marianne is excited about the 2009-2010 PWA year and hopes to meet multi-cultural women living in Budapest. She is looking to gain exposure to new ideas, methods to improve or enhance her work performance and the chance to try new things. With the great line-up of events and activities the PWA has scheduled for this year, she’s definitely found the right organization for her!

A Few Questions:

What is one “girly” activity you can’t live without?

I would never miss a spa opportunity!

What is your favorite store in Budapest?

My favorite store in Budapest is design collective Magma (V. Petõfi Sándor utca 11) - which stocks avant garde Hungarian textiles, jewelry, and glass. Always something fun there! I am also addicted to the monthly WAMP design market.

What was your worst job?

My worst job ever - an office job - didn't start out that way until our boss left. In an effort to show she was in charge, our new boss changed EVERYTHING, and micro-managed us to the point where we had to call three different people if we were going to be more than 5-10 minutes late - and we only had an office of 12! We also had to sign out for lunch, and only three people could be gone at a time. Lesson learned - if I am ever the boss I will never do that to people!

What do you consider to be a professional woman?

A professional woman is someone who knows what she wants but always looks for new opportunities. It is a woman who is open-minded and never closed off from learning. Usually she has the ability to see potential where others don’t.

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