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Who we are…
Founded in Washington DC, the Polish Happy Hour brings together those
who hold an interest in Poland or speaking Polish. While geared towards
"young professionals," anyone and everyone including native Polish
language speakers, non-native Polish speakers, and those who think
Polish is such a notoriously difficult language that they would rather
speak English are welcome.
Polish Happy Hour is currently held in Washington DC, Philadelphia, New
York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Canada. We are
always on the lookout for a fun city in which to add a PHH chapter. Let
us know!
History…
During the summer of 1997, in the backwoods of Connecticut, a guy named
Grzes began packing his bags for hot, sticky Washington, D.C. Having
been raised speaking Polish, he soon realized that the nation’s capital
offered few opportunities to speak in his native tongue. The first place Grzes looked for fellow Poles, was, ironically, the Polish Embassy.
While fancy, scrumptiously delicious affairs, Grzes found himself in the
midst of guests almost three times his age. Although he had the
opportunity to speak to luminaries such as Jan Karski, former
Ambassadors, and various Washingtonian movers and shakers, he wondered
where Washington’s Polish young professionals were hiding. There had
to be a few.
And then there
was Polish Happy Hour…
After an epic search, Grzes found a few Washington, D.C. transplants who
were interested in gathering each month for a happy hour. Upon calling
the Brickskeller (the only place in town to serve Polish beer),
management asked, “What’s the name of your happy hour?” Not realizing
that the group needed a name, Grzes thought for a moment, but could
think of nothing more original than, “Well, I guess you can call us the
Polish Happy Hour.” The name stuck and the first Polish Happy Hour took
place on
Wednesday, August 23, 2000. Then Grzes met Marcin, who knows almost
everyone and everything Polish in Washington. With Marcin’s assistance
of a list serve, the group expanded exponentially. Given its smashing
success in Washington, Grzes thought that young Polish professionals in
other cities would want to join the global Polish Happy Hour phenomenon. He was
right. PHH expanded to Chicago in early 2001 and then to New York City
in late 2002. Early and mid-2003, PHH convinced its neighbors to
the north, eh, in Toronto, Canada that they, too, needed the Polish Happy Hour. Soon, young Polish professionals
on the West coast became upset at the East coast getting all the
attention and Los Angeles joined in January 2004.
And now... you know... the
rest of the story.
Polish Happy
Hour Washington, D.C.
PHH DC is held on the third Friday of every month at a different venue
each month. The PHH also hosts the PHH Networking Wednesdays for those busy working professionals who are always out
of town on Fridays but love exchanging business cards. The Wednesday Networking PHH attracts some 50 people
and is a more quiet, subdued affair. Please send questions and comments
to
dc @ polishhappyhour.com
Polish Happy
Hour Chicago
PHH Chicago is held on the last Friday of every month. Before meeting details are
announced, PHH Chicago members submit their venue recommendations. List moderators
then compile these suggestions into a voting poll enabling everyone to
vote for their preferred place. The PHH Chicago maintains
"professionalism" by hosting the PHHs in low key, non-nightclub, free of
live and loud music atmospheres, conducive to the PHH purpose - talking
and socializing. Please send questions and comments to
chicago @
polishhappyhour.com
Polish Happy
Hour New York City
PHH NYC is held on the second Friday of every month at a different venue
each month. Currently, more than 200 people attend the Friday events. Please send questions and comments to
nyc
@ polishhappyhour.com
Polish
Happy Hour Toronto, Onatrio (Canada)h
PHH Toronto first took
place on September 19, 2003. If you're
interested in joining the group please send questions and comments
toronto @
polishhappyhour.com or click
here
for more info.
Polish
Happy Hour Los Angeles
PHH Los Angeles joined the
global PHH network on January 22, 2004 with a PHH in the world famous
zip code of 90210 in Beverly Hills. If you're
interested in helping organize the group, please send questions and comments
to la
@polishhappyhour.com
Coming
Polish Happy Hour
Philadelphia
PHH Philadelphia joined the
global PHH network on April 2004. If you're
interested helping organize the group, please send an email to
philly
@ polishhappyhour.com
Coming Soon ......
Polish Happy Hour
Boston
Polish Happy
Hour in the News…
The Polish Happy Hour was featured in
on February 13, 2003 in an article about foreign language happy hours.
To read the article
click here.
The Polish Happy Hour was
featured in the
on April 8, 2004. The PDF is here.
The Polish Happy Hour was
featured in RMF
FM a popular
radio station in Krakow, Poland.
The Polish Happy Hour was featured in
Nowy
Dziennik
- The Polish Daily News
ExpatPol.com visited the PHH NYC. The PDF is
here.
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