Opportunity for CareerCamp - Your thoughts?

[Douglas E. Welch]

I know that we are really close to CareerCampLA, but I just got a call from Tony in Worksource at Valley College and he has let me know about an amazing opportunity for a partnership which comes with a venue. The timing may be tricky, but even if we can't match up with their schedule right now, the offer stil stands in the future.

Van de Kamp Bakery Building

As you may know, the Van de Kamp Bakery Building in Atwater Village was purchased by the LA Community College district and remodeled into a high school and Innovation Center. It is also a Worksource office for that area.

There has been a lot of wrangling over the usage of the site and they are reaching out to CareerCamp, via Tony, for events to highlight the usage of the space. I don't want to get tangled up in the politics over the site itself, but they were hoping to partner with CareerCamp to host an event at the site to try and raise their profile and damp down some of the criticism. I think we could benefit a great deal from their bad fortune, in this case.

Crazy Time Frame!

Here is the sticky part (which I don't think will work for us). They are having a Job Fair on May 16 and wanted to try to do a CareerCamp on May 6 (it would be a mid-week camp again, like CCLA 2012, as they don't seem to be able to do anything on the weekends). I think this is waaaaay too close to CCLA 2012 to put anything together, but Tony also said there was an opportunity in late may (prior) to Memorial Day and also around June 6. Even if that scheduling doesn't work out for us, I think are still willing to work with us on whatever we can do.

Don't let the short timeframe throw you. I have already been very honest with Tony about our ability to put something together so quickly. If we can, great, but I don't think the deal hinges on it.

CareerCamp for Veterans?

One thing I mentioned to Tony was the possibility of a CareerCamp for Veterans. Danielle and I have discussed this in the past and since it would be a different target market from the regular CareerCamps, it might be something we could do at this site as our initial event.

I am going to connect up with Tony's contact, Rhonda Rose, at the Center and take some time to check out the site and how we might be able to use it.

So, what I am asking for is a bit of brainstorming on your part on how we might be able to take advantage of this offer to cross-promote between the Innovation Center, Worksource and CareerCamp? 

One thought I just had was the possibility of doing a CareerCamp Mini (for lack of a better name) at the Job Fair itself. i.e. bring in 6 speakers to do talks over the course of the Job Fair, as a way to introduce people to CareerCamp in general. We might also thing about doing a CareerCamp Seminar Series (I have talked about this in the past) prior to the Job Fair instead of trying to do a full blown CareerCamp right off the bat. This would call upon some of our favorite CC speakers, as well as ourselves to present talks and short seminars.

I await your GREAT IDEAS!

Douglas

[Jennifer Oliver O'Connell]

I have questions:

What is the restriction on using the space on weekends? Is there any way around it, like getting our own team of volunteers? Seriously, we could do so much if they just let the campus be available on a Saturday.

A CareerCamp mini sounds like a good idea. How would you choose the speakers and how would they communicate the CC model to participants? Any way to mount a video that culls the highlights, best points from the past six CCs?

Since I live a stone's throw (literally) from the site, I'd be willing to do the walk through with you. One of the things I would like to do for the Veteran's one is offer a Yoga class (or two, depending on the time frame) particularly for PTSD sufferers, so I would like to see if the facility accommodates such use.

In terms of ideas, a roundtable or panel with all parties to spotlight what we all can do for job seekers and career cultivation. A joint event with certain employers or entrepreneur/skills-based people like SideSkills, to focus on alternative ways to present your best skills and to earn money.

Maybe a three-day seminar series would work. One day focused on standard jobs, one focused on technology/social media, one focused on independent contracting/entrepreneurship/business building.

Those are the thoughts that initially come to mind. I'll chime in with more as they come.

JOO

Douglas

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[Douglas E. Welch]

I agree totally on the weekend issue. I will talk more with them as see if I can suss out what the main issues are. It probably has something to do with staffing being overtime on weekends or some such thing.

I haven't really collected all my ideas about a CareerCamp mini yet. (LAUGH) It just popped into my head as I was writing. Perhaps it draws specifically on the people they already work with rather than trying to advertise to the larger community. If they had a quorum of folks it would almost be a "private" CareerCamp-style conference for them. Still thinking on that one.

When I connect with them about the site visit I will include you, for sure!

Thanks for all your ideas! I will roll them around in my mind and see what it jumpstarts.

Thanks again!

DW

[Risa Rosenthal]

Tony should be able to put you in touch w/ food, $$$ and raffle sponsors with his local connections.  or Mini camp it w/ speakers(test the waters).   I would consider what surrounding cities you're drawing attendees from?   Besides our name out there, is there an inconvenience to any speakers being there? Politics is definitely a factor---maybe share some of the video from our speakers from our past CC's.   What do we gain from it for future CC's?  We are still looking for growth outside the area.   I definitely like the Veterans focus for all CareerCamps.           On Tue, 4     /10/12, Douglas E. Welch <dou...@welchwrite.com> wrote:

[Michaelides, Anthony]

Douglas,

 

I also like the veterans CareerCamp idea.  It would be sandwiched between CCLA and CCSCV, but is unique in itself.  Advertisement would be primarily to targeted audiences (veterans Centers, college veteran’s offices, etc.) so would not be so overwhelming.  It would be a first, and definitely give them some coverage for serving such a worthwhile audience.  The question is whether he could help fund the food/drinks/etc., as donations may be exhausted with the two “larger” CC’s on either side.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Anthony

[Douglas E. Welch]

So, here is what I am thinking of pitching to LACC and Worksource at the Van de Kamp Building.

A CareerCamp Mini featuring 3 speakers (or more) pulled from the CareerCamp regulars i.e. US along with an open discussion at the end to finish the day. We could gather discussion questions before and during the speakers to give people some input into the day. It be single track or dual, but I don't think we want to go more than that due to the short time to prepare, etc. We could add a third track as a series of breakouts if we had enough people to fill 3 rooms.

Any thoughts on this specifically? I need to talk to Tony and Rhonda and see how many people they think they can attract for such an event and also check out the site, but I would like to get this quick proposal to them tomorrow (Fri) to a least get the process moving.

As you can guess, I would be looking to you, and other regular CareerCamp speakers, for our scheduled speakers this day. This would be a mid-week/mid-day event, so I understand if it might not be possible. I will get the dates as soon as I can to allow you see if it fits in your schedule.

Thoughts?

Douglas

[Jennifer Oliver O'Connell]

Sounds like a plan to me. Definitely include a video from all the CareerCamps, and maybe finding some "success stories" who might be willing to attend would be icing on the cake.

Looking forward to doing that walk-through with you.

JOO

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[Douglas E. Welch]

Ok, I will send that out to Tony and Rhonda today, then.

DW

[Mitch Krayton]

CareerCamp has a mission. We put them on to support the mission of the program. To serve another mission by redoing or altering our mission makes little sense from a consistent branding issue for me.

If we move to a seminar, panel, class structure, the unconference concept, which in my opinion is a significant differentiator, disappears.

I think we can do a CareerCamp demonstration, or show the video in a booth at the career fair, with perhaps a referral to CCLA and CCSCV for this year. And plan later to do a full blown CCLA-North when the timing is better.

Another point is the CC is not a career fair. Blurring the lines between what people expect at a career fair and what makes CC special should be taken into account when proposing to combine events.

My two cents.

Mitch

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[Mitch Krayton]

About veteran focus...what do veterans need to find work differently from any other job seeker? Invite all groups, including veterans for sure, but I struggle to find what makes a veterans only event any better, or require exclusivity, than opening CC up to all attendees. Good veterans topics for the wall appeals to me more.

Mitch

[Jennifer Oliver O'Connell]

Mitch,

Your input is good. However, I don't see how having other types of mini-events/seminars that are birthed out of  CareerCamp waters down the brand--particularly since we have the original three times a year now, and enough material and testimonials to show what it's all about. When I held the Social Media and Your Career Panel, it had promoting CareerCamp in mind. I was able to cross-pollinate attendees, because people who would come to a panel seminar, but would not give CC a consideration were able to see and hear about the model, and then give it a try. So I think satellite events are quite in order with the mission of promoting the other events.

In terms of Veterans, I recall speaking with one at last year's CCSFV, and he was very keen on the idea of having a CC with that specific focus. Veterans tend to have a different skill set than other attendees, have to adapt to the job market in a different way, and have certain government and community resources that could be better exploited at a Veteran-focused CC. Many of them are also coming back with disabilities, whether it's PTSD or some chronic illness from the desert environment; so I can see the benefit in having panels/speakers that are targeted to these concerns both in the regular CCs and a Vet-focused one.

Just my thoughts.

[Douglas E. Welch]

I think that this opportunity is directly on-mission for CareerCamp in the following ways:

• Introduces CareerCamp concepts to Worksource offices in hopes of partnering with them in the future
• Perhaps we can move them away from the singular focus on job fairs
• Introduces new groups of people to CareerCamp concepts
• Hopefully when they see CareerCamp in close juxtaposition to a job fair the differences will be even more striking
• Give attendees as "taste" of CareerCamp in hopes of attracting them to one of the regularly scheduled camps and/or establishing another, regular CareerCamp at the Van de Kamp site. to serve that community.

The seminar stucture, i.e. CareerCamp Mini is designed to allow us to do something in a very short time frame without trying to activate all of our resources again so soon after CareerCampLA. It is selfish in some ways, too, as I see this as a way of getting our foot in the door, raising our profile with Worksource and EDD. I wouldn't be pushing quite so hard if there wasn't this connection.

I think Worksource has the clientele we are looking to serve (and in this case, a venue) and we have something important to bring to them in the form of a new idea, a new concept on how to build careers that differs significantly from a traditional job fair. We all seem to have our issues with job fairs, so I see this as an important opportunity to take our message "inside the gates" as it were.

Douglas

[Douglas E. Welch]

It is my belief that focusing on Veterans allows us to address their very specific needs when it comes to job search and career building. In my mind, I see a camp that brings in many of our usual speakers, but also draws on experience and knowledge within the veterans community to address those very specific needs. One thought off the top of my head is helping the vet transition from a command and control-based organization to the more flexible work found in most companies. I can foresee another session which touches on all the programs available to assist vets in making the transition. Navigating this bureaucracy can be confusing and someone who is knowledgeable in that area could be a real asset to attendees.

That said, I like the special energy that sparks when you put unlike people together in a room and give them an opportunity to converse. It is my hope that those who attend a CareerCampVets would also then be more inclined to attend one of our regularly schedule camps. I see the topic/community/industry specific camps as a way to feed our more general, geographically organized events.

Finally, producing something like CareerCampVets exposes the CareerCamp concept to an entirely new group of people and a new group of organizations who we can partner with in the future. I know that the CareerCamp/unconference idea can be hard for some to grasp, so I think that giving them an opportunity to experience can help to gain a clear idea of what it is and what it can do.

DW

[Mitch Krayton]

If you go forward, I like VetCareerCamp or CareerCamp4Vets better

[Douglas Welch]

Yes, I like the CareerCamp4Vets as a name too. I flows better and is more obvious what it is about. 

DW

[Jennifer Oliver O'Connell]

CareerCamp4Vets does flow well.