Annual Hispanic Career Conference Attracts Thousands of Attendees, Many Leaving With New Careers and New Opportunities
IRVING, Texas, Nov. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Undergrad students, MBA students, entrepreneurs, job seekers and over 200 Fortune 500 companies descended upon Anaheim Convention Center to network, learn, and enhance their careers. The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) 22nd Annual Conference and Career Expo attracted over 5,300 students and professionals; 49% were Hispanic. Many came from the local Orange and Los Angeles counties, but some came from as far away as Puerto Rico.
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Lead sponsors for this year's event included Sara Lee and United Technologies Corporation. The University of California System was this year's educational partner, attracting a 50% student attendance coming from top 50 Universities - 34% registering as MBA students.
Amidst a declining job market, job-seeking hopefuls were positive and eager to participate in the various professional development sessions, and benefited from career management center services including resume development and interview best practices.
Pre-conference events began on Wednesday with the NSHMBA CEO reception featuring international business executive, Sol Trujillo. Thursday featured professional development day (PDD), seminars, workshops, and networking events. PDD began with Glenn Llopis speaking during the opening general session on 'The Immigrant Perspective on Business Leadership' and was followed by such notable companies as Target, McDonald's, Vanguard, Northwestern Mutual, Pitney Bowes, Sears Holdings and Coca-Cola, each hosting breakout sessions on topics of career development, diversity, finance, global management, leadership, marketing and strategy.
The official ribbon cutting ceremony occurred on Friday, where NSHMBA CEO Manny Gonzalez and University of California System President Mark Yudof officially welcomed attendees before opening the expo hall floor.
Gonzalez noted that despite a challenging economy, turnout exceeded expectations especially with the caliber and quality of the attendees – sentiments echoed by many of the sponsors and exhibitors on the career expo floor.
"It's been a challenging year for everyone, no question about it, but our sponsors, attendees and supporters understand the value of NSHMBA and how valuable our conference is each year," said Gonzalez. "Honestly, everyone should be here, because the things people need – the job, the career, the opportunity – we have them day after day, year after year – that's our business."
Friday's speakers and sessions featured motivational speaker and author Marcus Buckingham, who spoke during the corporate salute luncheon followed by a book signing.
Other notable events included the Entrepreneurial Success Program sponsored by Nationwide, and the Scholarship Luncheon, sponsored by Target, where recipients of this year's NSHMBA Scholarship Program were recognized. The NSHMBA Women Leadership Network, NSHMBA's tribute to both past and present female leaders, convened for its second year to address initiatives for the future.
Closing out this year's conference was the annual Brillante Awards for Excellence Ceremony, where recipients are recognized for their dedication and steadfastness to the Hispanic community. This year's winners included:
- Brillante Award for Excellence: Founder's Circle, Sol Trujillo
- Brillante Award for Corporate Excellence: Sara Lee Corporation
- Brillante Award for Educational Excellence: Jones Graduate School of Business
- Brillante Award for Member Excellence: Manny Martinez
- Brillante Award for Community Service Excellence: David Lizarraga
As with years past, the event included some of the best in hosts and entertainment. Emcee Shayla Rivera, comedienne and former shuttle and space station program engineer for NASA, and Tenor Diego Silva were the night's featured entertainment. The evening concluded with the official announcement and invitation to join NSHMBA during the 2012 Conference & Career Expo in Orlando, October 4-6.
Find out more about this year's conference at www.nshmba.org/2011_conference/attendee.
About NSHMBA
The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) was created in 1988 as a non-profit organization. Widely known as the "Premier Hispanic Organization," NSHMBA serves 36 chapters and over 12,000* members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It exists to increase the number of Hispanics graduating from MBA schools through scholarships, awareness programs and mentorship; enhance career management opportunities for Hispanic MBAs from school to leadership positions, through job placement and world class professional development; to be the partner of choice for organizations seeking to hire and develop Hispanic talent; and recruit and retain as life-long members a majority of Hispanic MBAs. For more information visit www.nshmba.org
*as of October, 2011 membership data
National Society of Hispanic MBAs
450 E John Carpenter Fwy., Suite 200
Irving, Texas 75062
SOURCE The National Society of Hispanic MBAs
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