Nassau Networking Event Flies High

Nassau Networking Event Flies High

In the midst of vintage planes, the Nassau Chapter’s Post-Traumatic Busy Season Networking Event may have been mistaken for taking place near a busy transportation hub. Instead, the May 12 event served to provide CPAs with opportunities to make contacts and exchange ideas.

The event was sponsored by Independence Community Bank and held at the 56th Fighter Group restaurant in Farmingdale, N.Y.

The 56th Fighter Group has a World War II theme, with “a lot of planes on premises—the whole decor’s done up like an airport hangar type,” said Rob Pickus, coordinator of the event.

Approximately 22 CPAs attended the event, some of them new to networking events.

“There were a couple of junior accountants that were there getting a feel for the whole networking thing, and they seemed to feel pretty comfortable,” Pickus said. “It was a getting-to-know-you type of thing.”

CPAs, bankers and their friends and associates all mingled at the affair, which lasted about two hours. Pickus said there were many walk-ups at the door, which he said are “always welcomed.”

“Everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves,” said Marie Umbach, member of the Nassau Young CPAs Committee. “It seemed like a success for people who were there, and it was a well-attended event.”

Independence Community Bank sponsored the event and Abacus Group LLC; Raiche Ende Malter Lerner & Co.; Weiser LLP; Schwartz & Company; Medical Action Industries; MSC Industrial Direct; OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Marcum & Kliegman LLP; M&T Bank; New York Business Development Corporation; and Skyline Management Corp. all sent participants to the event. Future networking events are in the planning stages.

“There was a lot of networking with the bankers who sponsored the event, and we had a good time,” Pickus said.