On March 22, 2011, the German Professional Women’s Association held a business networking fair at the Marriott Southfield.  Although an ice storm was looming that evening, the turnout was fantastic along with the synergy and enthusiasm amongst our exhibitors and countless guests.

Once you entered the transformed ballroom into a large showroom at the Marriott, you were able to visit over 30 exhibitor displays and discover their products and services.  Many exhibitors had the opportunity to network with each other. Some of our members also discovered what their fellow club members do for a living.

After taking a tour of the showroom, everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner buffet with dessert in an adjoining banquet room of the hotel.  You could hear the interesting table conversations about the networking fair and their personal connections to the GPWA organization and to Germany as you enjoyed the delicious food.

 

After dinner, we all returned back to the showroom.  Each exhibitor had the opportunity to introduce their company or organization at the podium.  All exhibitors were asked to donate a prize for a drawing.  Before each company introduction, business cards were drawn for the prizes.  We would like to thank our exhibitors, Lufthansa and Warsteiner for their generous drawing donations.  Almost everyone was able to take home a prize and gain a great understanding of the exhibitor’s products and services.

 

It was a wonderful evening for meeting fellow Germans, German-Americans, and Americans.  The networking fair provided us with a fantastic network opportunity.  Many exhibitors and guests approached our board asking about “next year’s” networking fair. We will continue to keep the German-American community posted on our plans.

Here is a list of our exhibitors that participated in our networking event:  Alliance Française French Institute of Michigan, Anchorville Travel, Aspen Search Group, Atlas Cut Stone, Inc., Birmingham Bloomfield Credit Union, CDS International Inc. / University of Michigan, CLOUD Language and Education Services, COWA Inc. Relocation and Partners, Deutsche Schule Metro Detroit, Deutsche Sprachschule Bloomfield, Inc., Ellis Porter PLC—The Immigration Lawyers, First Michigan Bank, GA Kids, German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest Michigan Chapter, German American Cultural Center, Gerda Massage, German Professional Women’s Association, German Specialty Imports, Germans in Michigan, Geyerwally Dot Com,  Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany—Fred Hoffmann, Michigan Travels, LLC,  Nordamerikanische Wochen-Post, Right on Track K9 Training LLC, Rita Mueller-Bilingual Therapist (German and English), Sylvia Becker-Hill, Dipl. Verw., MA Phil, PCC, The Austrian Society, The Austrian Ski Club, The International School, Truly a Treasure, and Waterhouse Photography.

We would also like to thank our networking fair committee for organizing this event:  Christina Griesser, Rica Lade and Beate Turner.  Also a thank you to our volunteers for their support and assistance:  Angela Barths, Anke Moellenhoff, Stephanie Nehls and Edith Tockook.

GMPA’s next meeting will take place at the Marriott Southfield on Friday, May 22, 2011.  Our guest speaker will be Danielle Workman of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber and her topic will be:  “Keys to Becoming a Woman of Influence”.

If you would like to find out more information about any of our exhibitors and our organization, please browse our website and click here.

Photos by Andreas Griesser