Garden City Networking Group’s Unique Hook

Business networking groups are so ubiquitous these days it is hard to separate yourself from the pack. Right? Well, not really, if you are Tracey Segarra, director of marketing at Garden City-based Margolin, Winer & Evens LLP, an accounting firm. Segarra decided to think outside the norm and come up with a unique differentiator.

Sushi. Yes, Sushi.

Al Materazo, a partner with the accounting firm, once worked as a waiter in a Sushi restaurant and loves raw fish. Yet he was not convinced. "I thought it was interesting but I will admit to being skeptical," he said. "However, people who love Sushi really like it a lot."

The firm's partners – Materazo, Thomas Rosenthal and Lance Christensen – all profess love for Sushi. Therefore, they decided to try it and hold a networking gathering at a Sushi restaurant. The inaugural dinner July 27 was at Nisen Sushi in Woodbury.

"Basically, we just decided that instead of sending our professionals to outside networking groups for business development, we'd create our own based around a joint love of Sushi," Segarra said. "We invited a group of C-level professionals to our first event, and the group has snowballed since then."

The partners invited attorneys, bankers, business owners and technology professionals to Nisen Sushi. Fifteen attended the event, which Margolin, Winer & Evens paid for. The second Sushi networking event was held last month at Jin East in Garden City. The firm reserved the entire restaurant for that engagement, which drew around 30 business professionals.

"The ideal number is 25 to 30. After that it becomes unwieldy," Materazo said.

The partners scope out prospective restaurants first. The Sushi must first pass muster with the discerning palates of the partners, but that is not the only criteria. The restaurant must have the right space to allow networkers to easily move around and mingle. "It's a moveable feast," Materazo said.

Plans for the third Sushi networking event are underway. Margolin, Winer & Evens has received commitments from two sponsors to help underwrite the event, a sign of the growing success of the concept.

They plan to have one Sushi networking meeting a quarter. The partners say that you do not have to love sushi the way they do to attend these networking meetings, but it does help. So far, the casual atmosphere and the great food has been conducive to effective networking that goes beyond merely trading business cards.

While Margolin, Winer & Evens certainly want to increase business for its own sake through these Sushi networking affairs, they hope other business professionals can forge their own relationships. "The networking events are an opportunity to share a common interest," Materazo said. "Sushi is the catalyst."

Added Christensen, "It's not just your average networking event, it's something to get excited for."

Whether it is coincidence with the sushi events or not, business conditions have picked up for the Garden City CPA firm lately. "There is some optimism out there," Christensen said.

And some great Sushi to boot.