Raised in a small town 23 miles from Milan, BAIA (Business Association Italy America) member Veronica Rosso received her Master's at the University of Milan and moved to California in 2007. Her work with social media and PR agencies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley translated to great success with the promotion of BAIA. Today, we take a look at her role and future hopes for the respected organization.
How did you get started with BAIA?
While I was still doing my Master's and working on my final thesis, I spent a summer in California doing some research and starting to look for jobs. I found BAIA while running a search for "Italian businesses in the USA" and attended one of their events. I then stayed in touch with them and attended more events. In 2007, I moved here and I decided I wanted to be more actively involved. I started by assisting with the building of their online community (BAIA Link, which has now 1,500+ members) and helping out with events. Now I am a member of the Board of Directors and I help manage BAIA's social media presence and organize monthly business networking events (i.e. BAIA Aperitivo).
How would you describe a BAIA event to someone who's never been to one?
Some events are content-rich and feature speakers of exceptional caliber such as Bill Draper and Federico Faggin, while others are more casual networking events. BAIA is an open business network, and every event is first and foremost an opportunity to meet someone interesting, exchange knowledge, and build relationships. I have lots of great memories, but I will never forget the first event I organized in San Jose back in 2008. I had never organized an event in my life and BAIA was still relatively unknown in the South Bay. And yet somehow the event was a success!
And how can new members utilize BAIA membership effectively?
An Individual Supporter Membership will guarantee you free access to all BAIA events, plus a number of other benefits like discounted monthly rent at The Hatchery, a coworking space in SoMA. We'll be announcing more benefits for our members in the next few weeks... We also offer various levels of membership for corporate supporters.
What differences do you sense in the dynamics between Italian events in America and Italian events in Italy?
I have never been to a BAIA event in Italy but I can tell, from my conversations with friends and acquaintances, that people in Italy are generally less used to the idea of mingling and networking. I should also mention that our events in America have a much more diverse audience; especially over the past 2 years, we've been able to reach a broad audience that includes not only Italians and Italian Americans, but also Europeans, Americans, and everyone else who likes what we do and what we stand for. And they're certainly very welcome.
What do you see in store for BAIA's future?
BAIA has grown enormously in the past five years (I should also mention that we've just celebrated BAIA's 5th anniversary!) and I expect it to grow even stronger in the future. Our vision is to become the go-to organization for professionals and entrepreneurs operating between Italy and the US. Judging by the response from our community and the energy of our team, we're living up to our goal!
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