Here is tomorrow’s final agenda. We have a single track of topics from a great set of speakers. We want to thank all of your speakers for volunteering. LaidOffCamp Tucson could not happen without them.
A huge thank you to Theo Kipnis, Jacki Kuder, Susan Baier, Boyd Burkhardt, & Darren Douglas for helping out with the final preparations today.
We want to welcome all of our attendees to LaidOffCamp Tucson November 2011! It is our first time holding the event, we think you’ll find it unlike any event you’ve ever attended. If you’re an alumnus from the Phoenix or Southwest Valley LaidOffCamp, thanks for making the drive! It’s painfully obvious how desperately people are still seeking help, even as the pundits tell us this recession is beginning to ease. We’re working hard to make sure we offer you value for the day you’ll spend with us.
We wanted to offer a few suggestions as you prepare for this Saturday (November 12th):
1) This is me. I stuck my picture in here not because I’m anything to look at, but so you’ll know me when you see me. Please make sure to say hi, and let me know if there’s anything that I can do for you.
2) LaidOffCamp Tucson is not your typical suit-and-tie event, and it’s not a job fair, and nobody will be judging you based on what you’re wearing. I encourage you to dress casually — most of the speakers will be dressed casually too. If you feel more comfortable in a suit or tie, please feel free — just don’t get dressed up if you don’t want to. If you’re planning on getting an avatar photograph, feel free to bring a jacket or nice shirt to wear for the picture, and then change out of for the rest of the day. Above all, be comfortable.
3) Wifi coverage inside the Gangplank Tucson is strong, if you wish to bring your laptop or other devices.
4) You don’t need to print your ticket. Save a tree — we know who you you are.
5) We will be serving a light breakfast (coffee & tea, juice, yogurt, muffins/bagels, etc.) and lunch (pizza) thanks to our wonderful sponsors Tapsquare and Bookmans Entertainment Exchange. If you’re really picky or have particular needs, you might want to pack your own lunch. We encourage attendees to stay on-site for lunch (which is why we serve one) because it’s a great opportunity to chat with speakers, volunteers and other attendees (and be aware that the food choices near Gangplank Tucson are quite limited, so grabbing a bite nearby is either McDonalds & Arby’s). Trust me — you never know who is going to connect you to that next opportunity, and it might be the person sitting next to you at lunch!
6) Please do your best to arrive in time for the start of our 8AM opening session. We’ll be covering general information about how to make the most of the day and sharing other important information, so I’d hate for you to miss it.
7) Gangplank Tucson is located in the Bookmans Event Center right (formerly the Beaudry Expo Center & VF Factory Outlet). The building is a teal and purple color. Look for the white signs with skulls leading to the back of the building. The door to the Gangplank Tucson space is marked as “Suite 148.” For visual-thinkers, here is an aerial photograph with an annotation path. Parking is free.
The Address is: 5120 South Julian Drive, Tucson, AZ 85706 (please note the red marker on this map is the mailing address and not the location of Gangplank Tucson within the Bookmans Event Center complex – see this image for reference to where the door is within the complex/building)
If you’re marking the drive down from Phoenix, Casa Grande, or all points north/northwest of Irvington & I-10 – you may find this map helpful (use Exit 264A and following the blue path to your destination).
8) Avatar photographs we will have a “first come first served” waiting list, signup at the registration desk for your slot. If getting an avatar photo is very important to you, I’d suggest arriving early.
9) Stay afterwards! We have a mixer following the event for volunteers, speakers, and attendees to chat and get to know each other (consider it a nearly-immediate chance to test out networking skills). Thanks to 42Six Solutions, will have beer from Nimbus Brewery. Any and all are welcome to join us — and it’s at the “after camp” sessions that I’ve forged some of the most enduring relationships I’ve made as a result of LaidOffCamp. So if you have an extra hour or two, please plan to stay after!
Most of all, we want you to know that we all get it. We know you’re angry, you’re stressed, you’re dispirited, maybe even losing hope. Many of us have been there too. That’s why the volunteers, the speakers, the sponsors and organizers do what we do. On this day, at this event, you are among friends. And we are here to help.
Also, we want to thank Spoke6 and Creative Slice for hosting our pre-event viewing of Lemonade.
See you at Camp!
Andy
LaidOffCamp Tucson is excited and proud to showcase Erik Proulx’s film Lemonade at Spoke6 Thursday, October 27th (starting at 6:00 PM). But what is LaidOffCamp? We’ll help answer that before watching the film.
In 2008, Erik was laid off — for the third time in 10 years. He started a blog hoping to build a community and resources for other laid-off advertising agency workers, and then embarked on a project to develop a documentary about his experience — and that of others — in being laid off.
His film, Lemonade, was released in September 2009. It was made by volunteers, with the help of sponsors who paid for airfare, film crews and other resources needed to produce the 35-minute film. The film features the inspirational stories of creative folks who turned their layoff into an opportunity for a new and more fulfilling life. The film has gained media attention across the world, including mentions from Fast Company and CBS Evening News.
Thank you to Erik Proulx for letting us show Lemonade.
If you love Lemonade, check out Erik’s current project Lemonade: Detroit.
The goals of LaidOffCamp Tucson are many faceted. Defining the event can be done from several perspectives. However, it greatly helps to clearly state upfront what LaidOffCamp Tucson is not:
LaidOffCamp Tucson is not a job fair.
What is LaidOffCamp Tucson?
It is an extension of a national effort to help people find work — full-time, freelance, volunteer, or whatever work is next for them. Like other LaidOffCamp events, ours is a locally-based, community-supported effort to offer resources, reassurance, and support to jobseekers. Tucson’s event is in great debt to the organizers from LaidOffCamp Phoenix and LaidOffCamp SW Valley for their support and inspiration (especially Susan Baier).
Unlikely job fairs, jobseekers are looking to help each other out (not fight over a job posting). The notion of competition is completely absent. Instead, an all-day series of seminars and/or mini-workshops are offered on a variety of topics designed to help jobseekers make their next step and achieve their goals. When someone does, everyone succeeds.
The entire day, including breakfast and lunch, is free for all attendees. All speakers are volunteers, and food and beverages are donated by sponsors.
LaidOffCamps across the nation see wide range of attendees — from young people who haven’t yet found a job, to those who have lost a job after 40 years with the same employer, to those wanting to make a change that just don’t know how. If you fit in that generous range, then the answer is yes (even if you do not and you are still interested – then the answer is yes).
LaidOffCamps, like ones held in Phoenix, have people who have been laid off for two weeks, and others who have been out of work for two years.
What do they all have in common? They all need to feel hope. They all need to know how hiring companies connect with jobseekers in today’s economy, and with today’s tools. And they all need to feel like they’re not alone, and that there are people who genuinely believe in them and want to help them. LaidOffCamp and its volunteers are dedicated to delivering on these promises.
If you are interested in hearing about one individual’s experience with LaidOffCamp Phoenix & SW Valley, check out Ben Chatteron‘s guest blog post.
Tucson’s first LaidOffCamp will be Saturday, November 12. Again, it is free to attend. In order to plan for the event we are using a ticketing system, EventBrite, to gain an accurate headcount. Reserve your spot today.
DATE: Saturday, November 12, 2011
TIMES: 8AM-4PM
LOCATION: Gangplank Tucson, 5120 South Julian Drive, Tucson, AZ 85706
(following the white signs with the skulls to the door marked Suite 148)
This is a guest blog post by a recent attendee of LaidOffCamp Southwest Valley, Ben Chatterton. Ben provides his perspective on LaidOffCamp having attended events in Phoenix and Avondale.
My experience with Arizona’s startup and freelance culture.
Like many telecommuters and freelancers, I usually live my life alone, in a home office, at my computer. And, like many people in that situation, I do a number of random internet searches every day. One of those searches, one day, led me to the site of a marketing firm called Forty, which was apparently located in a collaborative space called Gangplank. Being an adventurous sort, I drove the zillion miles to Chandler one Tuesday morning.
Gangplank was remarkable. Operations Manager Katie Charland immediately introduced me to a number of people who did cool things for themselves: a few designers, a community organizer, and a number of programmers. All of a sudden, I thought I was really starting to work my way into a community. Then I heard about LaidOffCamp Phoenix.
Let me tell you: I’m not the typical LaidOffCamp attendee, if there is such a thing. I have a “day job”, but I’ve been digging into the world of freelance writing on the side. I’m not actively looking for a full-time employment opportunity—most of my efforts are directed toward finding new clients, so I wasn’t quite sure what I’d get out of the event.
Those fears were allayed right away. Susan Baier, organizer of LOC Phoenix, took the stage before any of the classes began, and explained her philosophy lucidly, and with humor. Her philosophy was simple: The crowd in the room—the network—was just as important as the content of the classes.
“These people aren’t going to be unemployed forever,” she said. Meaning that as people got work, they’d have contacts, which would lift the whole group up, one job at a time. I was a little skeptical, but as I attended the classes, I found that most of the comments were thoughtful, and most of the people were very social.
One of these was a man who had previously been an executive for several hotels and golf courses. He obviously wasn’t desperate, but he was finding that in this economy, having valuable experience in a high-pay industry was actually working against him. Despite his previous success, he never seemed to mind conversing with the LOC community.
In contrast, a woman I met in the hall asked me, “How is anyone going to find a job here?”
“You just talk to people, build relationships, and when they hear of a job opening that fits you, they tell you.”
“But…but these people—” she leaned in and whispered, as if she knew I were not one of them, “—are unemployed.”
“They won’t be unemployed forever!” I smiled. I was buying in.
When LaidOffCamp Southwest Valley was announced, I immediately signed up. I was very excited about the possibility of creating community in my own backyard. As the day arrived, I thought about the people I’d meet who’d have connections to tons of clients that needed my work, people who would be a short drive away. There was sure to be a thriving community for me to tap into.
The day came, and Baier gave the same energetic speech as she had in Chandler. I went to the classes, and participated as I had previously. Two of the classes I attended were taught by people associated with Gangplank: Chris Conrey and Tyler Hurst.
In Conrey’s class, I asked a question that was ostensibly about sales (or how to sell my writing services to clients), which Conrey answered in part by referring me to the guy that was running the slideshow—Andy Lenards, who said he’d get me in contact with someone who was patched into the writing scene in the Valley. Andy lives in Tucson and is active with the recently Gangplank space there.
Hurst’s class focused on building community, specifically using events as a way to get one’s name out in the world and get hired. There was a great discussion, and Hurst gave out as a prize a copy of The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry. I positioned myself to win the book, which he gave out on condition that I sign it and pass it on to someone else.
By the end of the day, I hadn’t changed the world. I didn’t join some magical community of people desperate to give me work. In fact, most of the leads I got from LOC Southwest Valley were people that lived elsewhere. But that’s exactly the point—even though this community is just beginning to emerge, it’s clear that it’s going somewhere. Get connected; you’ll be glad you did.
I’ve been trying to aggregate services and information for job-seekers around the Old Pueblo and I wanted to mention the “Direct Connect” Job Club. Their next meeting is August 15 at 9:00 AM where Deb Roe from Pima County Human Resources will talk about how to apply for positions with the county. In addition to Ms. Roe, Lisa Humenik will present about volunteer opportunities in Tucson. Volunteering that utilizes your core professionals skills is a great way to potentially connect to job opportunities and grow your personal network.
The meeting begins promptly at 9:00 AM in the Santa Cruz Room of the Sentinel Building at Pima County One-Stop – Rio Nuevo. (Flyer)
Details:
Pima County One-Stop – Rio Nuevo
340 N. Commerce Park Loop
Tucson, AZ
(New Location) Sentinel Building – Santa Cruz Room
Also – Direct Connect has a LinkedIn Group that you may wish to join: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Direct-Connect-Job-Club-3977176
The first meeting of the Tucson Job Seeker Network Group is next Wednesday from 8:15 to 9:30 AM (August 10) at the Nanini Branch Library. The library is off of Ina Road and Shannon Road, behind the Division of Motor Vehicles (see map below, address: 7300 North Shannon Road Tucson, Arizona 85741).
Participation in the group is free and all job seekers are encouraged to attend. Our sister event to the north, LaidOffCamp Phoenix, has several attendee success stories that revolve around building and maintaining networks (read Tim Weaver‘s guest post).
Find more information on the group’s Meetup page, http://www.meetup.com/Tucson-Job-Seekers-Network-Group/, or email tucsonjobseeker@cs.com. Thank you to Rebecca Gorrell for pointing this out to us.
We are so pleased to announce a NEW LaidOffCamp event coming to Phoenix! Our friends and volunteers in the SW valley are launching their first LaidOffCamp event in August – LaidOffCamp SW Valley! Here are the details:
August 13, 2011
7:30AM – 1:00PM
Estrella Mountain Community College
Please help spread the word about this event, and let the organizers know if you’d like to volunteer.
You can register for the event here. See you in August!
Reposted from LaidOffCamp Phoenix
This is a guest post from one of our recent LaidOffCamp Phoenix attendees, M. Tim Weaver. You can reach Tim on Twitter at @Tim_Weaver.
One of the information tracks at LaidOffCamp Phoenix (LOC) dealt with networking, with one session covering NetworkingPhoenix.com (NWP), a site created by Gelie Akhenblit. I missed this particular presentation, but decided to go NWP’s May “Signature Event”, to which an estimated 1,000-1,500 people would be in attendance.
Seeing as it had been over 15 years since the last networking event I attended, I also decided to go to the pre-event “Getting the most out of the Signature Event” session. Well worth the extra hour.
If you infrequently attend networking events or have been out of the Networking game for a while, attend the “Getting the most” session, as it will help you survive being tossed into the deep end of the pool when you go to the main event.
At the pre-event session, Gelie gave an intro to NetworkingPhoenix.com, which was probably a much shorter version of the NWP session she held at LOC. The presenter for the remainder of the session was Dave Sherman, who gave a really good 30 minute talk on how to network.
Essentially, his message to non-“career transition” people was to avoid trying to “sell your crap”, but instead look at the event as a way to meet people who can introduce you to potential customers. He also advised those who are part of MLMs (which he likes) to focus on the product, and NOT the business building portion, as any use of “residual income” or its variants will cause people to walk away. Having been to networking events where this happened, I liked this advice. Too bad not everyone attending the event followed it, though most everyone did.
He advised attendees to have a definite plan in mind, or it would be a waste of time. For job seekers, it is about finding the six-degrees of separation between you and a specific company you’re interested in. His advice was to ask “Do you know anyone at XYZ company?”.
My situation, though, is slightly different. I didn’t have a particular company for which I am aiming, but am looking for particular job, without less emphasis on the company. Dave indicated would be a tougher nut to crack unless I was make what I sought simple to understand. Uh-oh….competitive intelligence is SO easy to explain in 5 words or less!
With the end of the pre-event session over, we headed over to the check-in tables, and I made up my name-tag, writing “market research” on it since most people understand the basic concept.
Time to jump in the pool..the main event. When Gelie said 1,500 people, they weren’t kidding, though I honestly don’t know how many showed…Gelie said about 1,000 actually RSVP’d, adding that a bunch don’t RSVP and just show up.
Given my job history, the only real networking I’d done over the past decade was an annual trade show for the industry I was in (running a law enforcement/military equipment retail site), with most interaction being focused on meeting current and potential suppliers. My actual, honest-to-goodness networking skills were over 15 years out of date. To say I was a bit nervous was an understatement but, to quote Shakespeare, it was “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.” After an initial false start or two, it was game on.
My first “hit” came even before the session started — a gentleman approached me while we were walking from the pre-event session to the main event. Dave is a partner at B2BCFO.com, an CFO “outsourcing” firm. I told him what I did for a living, and he immediately suggested a local professional group and said he’d get me a contact for them. The information was in my in-box at 7:30 the next morning.
When it was all said and done, I came away with eight really good contacts, and cards for another twenty or so people. I’ve gotten two leads so far, with a couple others possible.
Here are some other lessons from that day that others might find helpful:
Was it worth going to the NetworkingPhoenix.com Signature Event? Absolutely. Thanks to Gelie for such a wonderful opportunity, which I wouldn’t have discovered without Susan Baier and LaidOffCamp. Thank you, ladies and volunteers.
Was I hesitant about going before I made the plunge? Oh yeah. But I got over it. You will too. So go, have a good time. Meet people. Make friends. We all need more friends.
