On Wednesday, 7 January, the Atrium Club of Ljubljana’s Mons Hotel hosted a special evening, organised by CEED Slovenia: the mentors of the new generation of the Top Class Programme first met with their mentorees for 2009.

The mentorship meeting started with an opening address by Ms Barbara Bregar Mrzlikar, Director of CEED Slovenia, followed by a speech by the Mayor of Ljubljana, Mr Zoran Janković, who is also a mentor under the programme. “Us mentors are your mirror,” were his words addressed to the new Top Class generation. Alenka Zavašnik, Coordinator of the Top Class Programme, then presented this year’s schedule. Also, participants from previous Top Class generations shared their impressions of the CEED experience.

The atmosphere of evening meeting was calm and relaxed. The mentors, all of whom are successful businessmen actively involved in the shaping of the Slovenian economic environment, have accepted their role in the mentorship programme with a great deal of enthusiasm and responsibility, while the young entrepreneurs, keen to learn new things, were more than happy to seize the opportunity offered by CEED in Slovenia and obtain, during the course of the evening, a fair amount of useful information. This was without any doubt a meeting that has ‘cast a net’ on all participants and has opened up the door to new acquaintances and opportunities that might, during the course of the year, turn into new success stories.