So...What's Next?!?

Job Search Strategies Idea (Still a work in progress)

Several weeks ago I posted an idea I had been kicking around for awhile. I was trying to figure out how to best use my experiences as a recruiter and social media consultant to help people get a job while at the same time make sure I did not drain from my own resources. That was the mistake I made the last recession when I launched a career consulting practices that ultimately left me broke. You see, I want to give, but I can not drain myself again.

So, the idea sparked some great ideas and comments and really got me to thinking. But it was not enough for me to launch.

I have had some success the past few years and it is important for me to look at what led to some of that success before launching this new idea. What has worked well for me is to get other people involved ASAP. It is because of people like Timothy Moenk, Jim Stroud, Judy Knight, Michelle Batten, and others who surrounded me and worked with me that I was able to build the company to where it is today. So, for this new idea to take off I need to find some people who are willing and able to be a part of it.

I have already had people offer to promote the idea and offer their facilities for live workshops, and that is much appreciated. I am also looking at partnering with some select nonprofits who will benefit from the voluteer efforts of the people who come through the workshop. Finally I am in talks with some others about getting a little more mainstream attention to our efforts and even aligning job search strategies with workshops on how to start your own small business or consulting practice all packaged with social media training.

The past several of weeks I have been having coffees with people who are on the job market. I have been listening to their challenges, experiences, and ideas. I have seen some serious mistakes that are being made and I have been awed by some creative techniques that are being employeed. So basically I have thrown myself in the trenches to get a good feel for what I can bring to the mix.

So in a nutshell, I am still working on this idea. In the next several weeks I will most likely call a meeting of the minds of people who want to get involved. If you would like to get involved, please let me know. If you just have a good idea - please let me know - and if you know people who will be able to benefit from what we are trying to put together - please let me know.

Everything's Going To Be OK (at least for most of us)

For a long time (since early childhood actually) I have been arguing that the world is getting better not worse. The back-story of that is when I was 10 my mom started studying with Jehovah's Witnesses and would take me to the meetings. The main premise of that group is the world is getting worse and will end soon. I never bought that - not even at the age of 10.

I guess because I have always been fascinated by history I have known enough history to know that the world is getting better. Even today as we turn on the news and hear reports of more families being homeless, more people losing their jobs and more terrorist killing dozens of people in the middle of a street, I still know enough history to know - that as horrible as these events are, it is still better than it used to be. The world is improving.

You hear people say that the media has desensitized us to the horrible events and in some ways I agree. We would go crazy if we allowed ourselves to feel the intense emotions that come when we hear of a child being abused or killed or a mother, father, brother losing his life because he was simply at the wrong street corner at the wrong time or people who are tortured for their spiritual beliefs. But we are not being desensitized we are becoming more and more aware. Wars are fought differently today, people help strangers in far away lands more and we simply do not accept unfounded prejudicial views as easily as generations that still live today once did.

Since the beginning of this recession/depression I have been saying this one "feels" different than the last couple of recessions I have experienced. I recall the recession of the late 80's early 90's which was when I started working for the first time. I still feel the pain of the recession of 2001-2002.  But this time it is different. I have been telling people this is not a cyclical recession, this is chaos. This is caused because of how rapidly things are changing and we are in a state of chaos as some people run so far ahead of their time while others are left so far behind.

Les and Glenn, the founders of Fuzebox have been discussing a book that they highly recommend called Revolutionary Wealth. This weekend I started reading it. I am only on page 22 and already I see that it is confirming all of my thoughts about this state of chaos. I found it interesting how they even talk about how the "Wealth Waves" impact family structures (page 22). It reminded me of a paper I wrote in college where again I argued that we were not seeing a decline in the family but that we were in a state of chaos as we experienced a change in family structure.

This book does a wonderful job specifically outlining the factors that are causing the acceleration in change. But considering we humans are creatures of habits it will be a struggle over the next several years. But when you read about the evolution of mankind and how each Wave brought more wealth to more people, more opportunities to raise to new intellectual and spiritual heights, you realize these are exciting  albeit turbulent times.

Everything's going to be OK - if you are willing to adjust, adapt, and grow/evolve. If you are determined to go down and believe this is the end of the world, well history shows you will simply be creating your own self-fulfilling prophecy.

The future is in our hands and we have more opportunity than ever.

Are You Scared

My husband and I are one of many Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. We have some debt, not a ton, but some.

We also both were raised in environment where we had to do without and get creative in meeting our needs. Together we have been through a number of downturns in the economy as well as in our own lives. The economic downturn of 2002 hit us hard.

Next month will be 18 years that we have been together, it will also officially be half my life. We have been through a lot together.

So here I sit listening to CNN talk about the Dow - which currently is not directly impacting us. We hear about job loss - for me it would mean working harder to get sales - I have job security here since I am responsible for me, and I believe that I am in an industry that will only grow as the economy shakes. I also have a lot of confidence in my partner company.

My husband has been working on a project for over a year that should not be affected by the economy. I can not get specific on what the project is, but it is big, global, and not really tied to this economy.

So we feel like we are safe. We almost feel like we are in a bubble, one that if we play our cards right we can float to the top during this economic adjustment.

But at the same time, we have made our own mistakes and this is not the time to continue making mistakes.

Am I scared of what I hear on the news? I don't know. Should I be? Are you?

Momentum

Offline activities translates to online conversations.

So as I mentioned in the post yesterday, there was some twittering going on at the summit.

At SoCon07, Podcamp, Barcamp, SoCon08 and all the other such conferences there is blogging, podcasting, picture taking, videoing, twittering and more happening.

I was having a conversation with a friend today and I mentioned how SoCon08 was promoted completely through the organizers' online network and the extended network. He has recently been to another large conference that was also completely promoted through online networks.

What is interesting with promoting offline events through your online network is the kind of buzz that gets created before, during, and after the event. That kind of publicity could not be bought - and if it was it would be quite expensive.

But what makes that kind of publicity different from the kind that can be bought is that it is authentic and transparent. If an event has some glitches, everyone will know about it.

So far it has only been a brave few who have been willing to put their abilities to pull off a large task, whether it is an event or a collaborative project, out in the open, naked, for all the world to see and judge.

That does seem like a scary thought... but the ongoing rewards can be absolutely amazing.

“Sliding headfirst is the safest way to get to the next base, I think, and the fastest. You don't lose your momentum, and there's one more important reason I slide headfirst, it gets my picture in the paper.”

Pete Rose

Atlanta's Landscape is Changing

About a year and a half ago we started putting SoCon07 together and we were hoping we could get 100 people there. Although it was a free event, we knew that not many people were aware of the impact that social media was about to have on...everything.

We did A LOT of promoting; TechLINKS agreed to be our media sponsor, CRMA and Atlanta IT Association promoted it, we had lots of of blogger friends blog about it...but I feel the big win was when Time Magazine announced "You" as Time Magazine's Person of the year. Social Media was finally hitting the mainstream.

We had about 100 people at the dinner and about 250 people at the Saturday event.

This year we have not done nearly as much promotion. I have blogged about it and sent information out to my email list. I know Leonard and Jeff have blogged and others have blogged about it. But we have not pushed it nearly as hard as we did last year. Not only that we are charging this year - we have additional expenses that needed to be covered whereas last year we all handled as much as we could ourselves. Currently we have over 120 people signed up for the dinner and almost 200 signed up for the event. I will be sending another email out tomorrow to let everyone know this is the last week to sign up - we will shut registration down on Friday. On Tuesday we are going to have to raise the price of the Friday night dinner. So - if you have not registered yet - do not delay.

Today Leonard Witt, Barbara Vining, Timothy Moenk and I met to finalize some details such as break out sessions and the menu. We agreed on 11 breakout sessions based on what people requested on the registration form. Most people were still looking for a basic over view, or what I think they are saying is they do not know what they need to know but they need to know something. I am happy to announce we put a schedule together that will address the "newbies" as well as those looking to know "what's next."

The "what's next' session will be covered by Timothy Moenk and will touch upon his current interest which is DataPortability. I will be covering Social Media for B2B and Josh Hallett will cover "Everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask."'

Another meeting I had today covered our project scope with the Technology Association of GA. We have been consulting with Tino and his team for a few months and I am very excited with the roll-out plan that Tim has put together. It seems to be a win-win for everyone involved.

As we roll this out to one of the largest associations in GA I can only imagine the ripple affect as more and more organizations realize the potential that can be unleashed when the the tools, technologies and cultural shifts are embraced in favor of collaboration and communication.

Tomorrow's What a Concept! weekly post will be all about the upcoming summit - so I will not repeat that here other than to mention that the keynote is Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics, a book I recommended to everyone last year. That should get more and more people thinking about collaboration.

Just the events in the first few months of this year has me looking forward to some of the changes that I have been advocating finally gaining momentum.

There is this rumor going around about a recession. I personally have chosen to ignore such rumors and to even ignore a recession, if one should occur. However if one should occur I suspect it will make more organizations want to cut back, be more efficient and effective and run a more lean and streamlined business. It might be a good time to learn more about this thing called social media that will allow such changes to be implemented.

So...today's quote of the day...

Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
-Henry Ford