2013, Las Vegas – Conference Report

The inaugural conference of the Institute of Eastern European and Central Asia (IEECA) was held in Las Vegas, NV on November 21 and 22, 2013. Webster University was a sponsor of this conference and continues to support the research initiatives of IEECA Institute  and JEECAR Journal. The goal of this business conference was two-fold: first, to provide a forum for leading academicians to present their research projects; and second, to bring researchers and business professional together to discuss the most intriguing and pressing issues in Eastern European and Central Asian regions.

The best research papers, among those accepted for presentation, were considered for possible publication in the Journal of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (JEECAR).

Thursday session started with opening remarks given by Dr. Nikolay Megits, JEECAR Executive Editor, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN. Additionally,  Dr. Debbie Psihountas, MBA Director, Webster University, St. Louis, Mo., spoke about the special partnership between IEECA/JEECAR and Webster University. Dr. Psihountas announced that Webster University would sponsor the second IEECA conference in Vienna, Austria, in October 2014.

Thursday afternoon was devoted to presentations of selected research papers. The papers were presented by authors who came from the United States, Poland, Georgia, Uzbekistan and the Czech Republic. Authors who presented were as follows:  Kimberly Miler, Phoenix, AZ; Anna Matysek-Jedrych, Poland; Tatiana Skerlikova, Czech Republic; George Griffin, USA and Republic of Georgia; Hanna Trojanowska, Poland; Nazar Mustapha, New Orleans, La; Sharon Kendrick and Mark Kendrick, Fayetteville, NC.

Friday afternoon was the International Videoconferencing Day. Experts from several countries including: Estonia, Poland,Republic of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and USA, answered intriguing questions concerning their regions. The questions created lively debates with excellent discussions about world economics and political influences. Panels were led by international experts: Nadya Reingand, USA; Khayrullah Umarov, Uzbekistan; Guinoza Saidazimova, USA; Andriy Kovalyuk, Ukraine; Larisa Pataraia and her colleagues, Republic of Georgia; Marek Dabrowski, Poland; Alla Rosca, USA;  and Viktor Trasberg, Estonia.

This was truly an international business conference with experts from the US, Eastern Europe and Central Asia spending time discussing current issues concerning global initiatives.

We look forward to the next annual JEECAR conference scheduled for October 23-23, 2014 at the Webster University campus in Vienna, Austria. More information will follow soon.