Viera Zemanovičová, 30, was appointed the new marketing manger for the multinational computer company Hewlett-Packard on May 2. Before her marketing career took off, Zemanovičová was a student at the Economics University in Bratislava, graduating from there in 1985.
In 1993, Zemanovičová left the cultural scene for the computer field, taking a job in the marketing department with S & T Slovakia, which as fate would have it, was and still is the distributor and service center for Hewlett-Packard in Slovakia. Zemanovičová worked in S&T's marketing department for four years before her promotion.
But she said that though the position is new, her familiarity with the parent company is not, noting that she has worked with Hewlett-Packard's products and dealt with the firm's philosophy while at S&T. Zemanovičová likes to watch TV, walk around her hometown of Trenčín, or take a stroll in the woods with her dog.
Zemanovičová said she usually does not like to set goals, but humbly added that she will try do her best to work with her team and satisfy Hewlett-Packard's business partners and customers. Zemanovičová said she finds her new work "interesting," in part because "it is never boring." She speaks English and Russian.
Jan Beluška, 30, has become the new leasee of the high-class Maria Terezia restaurant in Bratislava. Beluška, appointed in the beginning of April, has been on a meteoric rise.
After graduating from the Stredná Odborná Škola Spoločenského Stravovania (a vocational school in food and restaurant services) in 1985, Beluška started working for the Hotel Forum as a waiter, staying at that job for three years.
In 1992, Beluška switched to Maria Terezia, where he was a waiter for two years. Then he became the manager of a restaurant called Ľudovií XIII in Bratislava, where he stayed until this past April. Beluška decided to go back to work for Maria Terezia as a leasee, mainly because "the people I had worked with in Maria Terezia invited me to come back," he said.
But there's ambition underneath that innocuous statement, because Beluška believes that Maria Terezia is going to be a different restaurant than any other. Beluška said the restaurant concentrates on what he called "healthy food" which is heated to 90 degrees. Each dish also comes laden with vegetables, he added. Beluška speaks three languages: German, English and Italian. When he is outside the restaurant and not memorizing words to expand his vocabulary, Beluška said he loves to play "nohyball" (soccer on a tennis court) every Sunday with his friends.
Another aficionado of restaurants, Peter Mucska, 29, has become the director of the new Hotel Bellevue in the eastern Slovak city of Bardejov.
After graduating from the Stredná Hotelová Škola (a vocational school in restaurant and hotel services) in Piešťany in 1988, Mucska ended up as a waiter also at the Hotel Forum, where he worked for two years.
Shortly after the fall of communism, Mucska took off abroad, working as a waiter for the Austrian firm DCA, on one of their boats named the "MS Wachau." Mucska also found time to work for several hotels in Austria, such as the Hotels Bock and Wienerwald near Vienna, as well as the Fernsteinsee Hotel, which is a castle changed into a hotel in the Austrian Alps.
Thanks to his working experience in Austria, Mucska speaks German and Hungarian as well. In 1995, Mucska returned to Slovakia, and started working as a service manager at Parlamentka, a restaurant right next to the Slovak National Parliament. It as at Parlamentka that Mucska was offered the opportunity to be the manager of Hotel Bellevue.
"I did not take this offer very seriously, mainly due to the distance of Bardejov from Bratislava," Mucska confessed, "so I put it out of consideration." But then Mucska's wanderlust got the better of him. Due to his desire to explore and experience unknown jobs and places, he said, he decided to check out the Hotel Bellevue. After seeing it and talking to the owner, he decided to take the job. Mucska's mission with the Hotel Bellevue is to prove, that even in eastern Slovakia "they are able to offer the same kind of service as in all parts of western Europe," he said. "What that means is luxurious service and top-quality accommodation, fine cuisine and friendly service."
Being a manager has taken up a lot of time, Mucska said, adding that "I don't have much time to relax." But when he can find the time, Mucska likes to swim or take peaceful walks in the country.
Chutes and Ladders appears monthly. Please send entries (with photo) to The Slovak Spectator's editorial office, Attention: Chutes and Ladders. Entries can be sent by mail, fax or e-mail. Please see our masthead on page 15 for contact information.
