Speed Mentoring with UW students

While many students choose to party and go clubbing last Friday, Feb. 25, a dozen undergrads gathered at Mary Gates Hall, University of Washington, to look for career guidance. They came in hopes of finding a mentor.

NAAAP-Seattle and the UW Asian Student Commission created the speed mentoring event to give students the opportunity to connect with professionals of all different fields and backgrounds. These professionals included a Seattle Times journalist, an Amazon program manager, State Farm HR representative, Microsoft senior consultant, HiSoft Technology International manager, chiropractor, MBA graduate student/entrepreneur, and two UW Medical School graduates.

Marian Liu, a master networker and NAAAP-Seattle's VP of External Affairs, gave the participants many useful tips and advice on networking. The students then networked with the professionals.

At the end of the event, NAAAP-Seattle surveyed the students and the feedback came back positive. All of them said that they would recommend this event to their friends. All the students also positively expressed (89% yes; 11% maybe) interest in attending other NAAAP event.

Photo: Marian Liu gives students networking tips.

The (Original) Social Network - Speed Networking

Over forty people huddled in the Seattle Times auditorium on November 9 to listen to Seattle Times reporter Sharon Chan and King 5 reporter Owen Lei divulge their networking secrets. Then the attendees poured into the lobby to apply what they learned in a speed networking session.

Chan is the national president of Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and Lei is the Vice-President of the Seattle Chapter of AAJA. NAAAP-Seattle also partnered with Executive Development Institute (EDI), National Society of Hispanic MBAs, and TAPS.

This was the first NAAAP-Seattle event for both Chan and Lei, who said they appreciated the energy and enthusiam of the crowd, most of whom were NAAAP-Seattle members.

New NAAAP-Seattle member John Tran said at the end of the speed networking session, "I talked so much, my throat hurts now!"

The event was catered by NAAAP-Seattle celebrity chef Tanantha Couilliard of I Just Love My Apron.

Photos by Julie Pham/NAAAP-Seattle.