Facetime: Working the room

Sara Glassman, Star Tribune

Networking event for the Twin Cities chapter of the National Black MBA Association at Solera. Chelsea Jennings and Marlon Hubbard

By Story and photos by sara glassman, Star Tribune

Last update: September 20, 2009 - 1:17 PM

A good networking party is a little bit social and a little bit business. There was a lot of both going on at a recent event for the Twin Cities chapter of the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) at Solera in Minneapolis.

It's a formula that really works for a crowd with post-grad degrees. "Most companies around Minnesota recruit MBAs and Ph.D.s from across the country, luring folks to Minnesota," said Robert Ngwu, president of the National Black MBA Association's Twin Cities chapter. "We get people together to network with each other and help them to love Minnesota."

The event was a sort of pre-party for the annual conference that will be taking place this week in New Orleans. It was at last year's conference that Chelsea Jennings was lured to Minneapolis from New York by Target. "[With the NBMBAA], there's networking from a personal and a professional aspect," she said. "And there are lots of resources."

If the conversations buzzing around the room were any indication, connections were being made and utilized.

Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177

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