Laid Off Camp Phoenix

Whew!

What an amazing day.

I’m exhausted, and energized.  I’m proud, and I’m humbled.  I’m digging out from a month of doing virtually nothing else, and I’m looking forward to doing it again.

I want to share some of my favorite things about the day, but first — an apology.

Mea Culpa

As the event grew, the City of Chandler was kind enough to allow us to use two additional rooms in the downtown Library to accommodate the growing list of sessions and attendees.  As a result, I had to completely rework the agenda for the day.

I updated the agenda on the site and sent an email to speakers to let them know.

Well, most of the speakers.

In my hurry I accidentally failed to include a few of the speakers on the email list I used to send out the updated information.  As a result, they didn’t know the agenda had changed and arrived on Saturday to find they were late or had missed their sessions completely.

This is entirely my fault, and I offer them my most sincere apologies.  Most of them were gracious in their acceptance of my major screwup and many even stayed, talked to attendees one-on-one, and continued to add their value to the day.  LaidOffCamp veteran Daniel McRobie, who missed his session “Career Resilience – Keeping Yourself Employable” completely, was kind enough to provide the slides as a PDF that you can download here.

I can offer nothing more than my deepest apology and my sincere hope that they’ll give me another chance next time to include their expertise and content in our plans.

On To The Good Stuff

Here are a just a few of my many wonderful memories of the day:

• First thing in the morning, as we unloaded the gear and got set up before the event, Chris and Wendy Coneybeer showed up and presented me with the personalized beer mug you see in the photo.  It says, “I Survived LaidOffCamp Phoenix”.  I didn’t want to jinx anything so put it carefully away until I was sure that survival was in the cards.
• As I stood at the front of the room preparing to kick off the event, I was amazed by the crowd gathering in the room.  We had  240 folks registered for the event and it seems like most of them actually showed up!
• Chanelle Richardson took free avatar photographs of over 50 attendees, working all day with her volunteer helper Perri Collins.  Her neverending smile and joy in what she does kept me energized throughout the day.
• Randy Walters from Pittsburgh Willy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs served 140 free meals, although he’d originally volunteered to provide 60.  And then he emailed ME with thanks (!)
• When I announced that we had some deaf attendees and asked if anyone knew ASL, Jimmy Paderta came up and offered his non-professional, “rusty” services.  And proceeded to translate for the rest of the day.
• Erik Proulx, who had come into town from Boston the day before to screen his film “Lemonade”, joined us all day on Saturday, showed the film again, and donated multiple DVDs to the end-of-the-day giveaway.  Then he came out afterwards to join attendees at the Urban Tea Loft and chat for another two hours.
• Chandler City Councilman and Floridino’s owner Jeff Weninger provided over 30 pizzas for lunch at a severely discounted rate.  And then tore up the invoice.

All day Sunday, and again today, I’ve read thank you emails and tweets from attendees and sponsors alike.  My response, to everyone, is — THANK YOU.  Without all of you the day wouldn’t have been what it was.  I’m already seeing people meet online, start discussions, get connected and having new energy about their job search, business dreams, and community-building.  It’s wonderful to see it happening — again.

More Good Stuff

The Resources page is up and running, and full of great offers and opportunities for LOCPHX attendees.  Check it often as I’ll keep updating it as I get more information.  I’ll also be working to add any video, notes from sessions, and links to the day’s work by wonderful photographers Chanelle Richardson, Brad Jones and Curtis Miller.  And we’ve got a “Community Building” section with information on networking opportunities and meetups around the valley.

I’m also working to get everybody on the laid-off-camp-april-2010 list through @laidoffcampphx.  If you visit our Twitter page, you can subscribe to that list and automatically be following everybody on it, even as I update the list and add people.  It’s a great way to start your community if you’re new to Twitter!

So thanks again, everyone.  I can’t believe it was so great again.  I’m going to drink a beer out of my new mug.

Many thanks to Channel 10′s Fox News for the recent coverage of LaidOffCamp Phoenix!  We also owe a great big thank you hug to our sponsor Vyllij, the free online relationship-management tool developed by the great folks at RedPear right here in the valley.  Vyllij is a great way to keep track of all your contacts and their activity across the social media spectrum, and representatives will be on-hand on Saturday to help you get signed up for free and learn how to use this great community-building tool!

2 days and counting, and LaidOffCamp Phoenix is shaping up to be even better than we could have hoped.  34 sessions of incredible content from incredible people, and lots of community energy to boot!  Here’s everything you need to know if you’re coming:

Get a Head Start On Inspiration

If you’re not already registered to attend our companion event on Friday night, check it out — we’re bringing Erik Proulx, the creator of Lemonade: The Movie, to Chandler to screen his inspirational documentary about folks who were laid off and went on to do truly amazing things.  Tickets are only $5, and free if you’re unemployed.  You can learn more about Erik, his film, and buy tickets or donate here.

Parking

Here’s a parking map.

The City of Chandler has generously allowed us to use the parking garage right next to the Senior Center for this event.  PLEASE don’t park in the Library parking lot to the east of the Senior Center, as that will interfere with folks being able to access the library on a Saturday.

The entry to the garage is on Boston Street just east of Arizona Avenue.  When you exit the garage you’ll be right across the walkway from the entrance to the Senior Center, where you can check in.

When To Be There

We’ll be kicking off right at 8:00AM with the welcome session, so be prompt!

The event will end at 4PM, but please join us at Urban Tea Loft across the street in Downtown Chandler for an after-event drink (or one of their signature teatinis!) and to continue the conversation with other attendees, speakers and volunteers.

What To Wear

Above all, be comfortable.  This isn’t a job fair, so ditch the suit, tie, pantyhose, and whatever other stiff, uncomfortable stuff you wear to an interview.  If you want to have your photograph taken for your online avatar, wear a shirt with a collar you like — the pictures will focus on your smiling face, so it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing jeans.

What To Bring

If you want somebody to give you feedback on your resume, bring it.  If you have business cards with contact information, bring ‘em.  If you can’t remember your Twitter handle, dig it up.  We will have wi-fi, so you’re welcome to bring your laptop if you want.  If you want someone to look at your existing website, make sure you have the URL (and the admin login information if you already have a WordPress site and need someone to look at it).

Bring a pen and paper.  You’re going to meet lots of amazing folks and hear lots of amazing things, so you’ll need something with which to write it down.

We will have complimentary tea and coffee, as well as homemade scones, for breakfast from Urban Tea Loft.  Lunch will be provided by Floridino’s Pizza and Pittsburgh Willy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, and will also be free.  However, there is also a snack shop in the library across the courtyard that has snacks, sandwiches, soups and other goodies — and all of the proceeds go to benefit the library.  So feel free to bring some cash if you’d like, but we’ll feed you for nothing.

Mostly, bring yourself.  Bring your smile, your energy, even your insecurities and troubles.  Over 40 volunteers will be there to help you.  And we are all looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Whew!  I’ve spent hours this week talking to people who want to offer guidance and resources for our attendees at LaidOffCamp Phoenix.  After much struggling with the grid, and the generosity and flexibility of the City of Chandler in offering us two additional rooms in the downtown library for this event, we’ve got a new agenda available here.  34 sessions, covering a wide range of topics to help you find your next step and deal with the misery that is unemployment in the meantime.

So who will benefit from LaidOffCamp Phoenix?  Well, anyone who:

• Is looking for a job
• Needs a confidence boost
• Has no idea how to meet people
• Wants an inexpensive, professional website for their job search or small business
• Needs to know how to use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media tools
• Want help with interview skills
• Is struggling with how to handle health insurance or their mortgage
• Needs to build a knock-’em-dead resume
• Is a technology dinosaur
• Is thinking about starting their own business
• Wants to start a business while keeping their current job
• Needs to know how to sell their experience or services effectively
• Wants to create awareness and excitement about their small business
• Wants to make some new friends
• Wants a free lunch

Also, please consider joining us for a special companion event to LaidOffCamp Phoenix! On April 2nd, Erik Proulx will be in town to screen his incredibly inspiring film Lemonade (more info here).  If you’ve ever needed inspiration to do something really amazing with your life, you can’t afford to miss this film.

Thanks to all those who offered help, resources, and sponsorship funds in the last week.  LaidOffCamp is going to be an amazing event and it’s all due to the amazing people in this community who are making it possible.  And while the agenda is full, we always welcome anyone offering resources or sponsorship funds — all the money will be used to help the attendees with their networking and job search efforts.

See you on Saturday!

I am so excited to announce that as a special companion event we’re lucky to have Erik Proulx, founder of blog Please Feed The Animals and creator of the inspirational documentary film Lemonade, coming to Chandler on April 2nd to screen his film.

Read more about Erik, his film and this special event here.

If you have ever been laid off, this is a must-see film!  (I’ve seen it over ten times and still counting.)  It will open your mind to possibilities you may never have considered.  And Erik will share his own experience of going through layoff three times in ten years, then launching a community for other creative folks who found themselves in the same situation.

The event is Friday April 2nd from 6-8PM in downtown Chandler.  Since this is #evfn night as well (for more about #evfn go here), we’re combining the two so you don’t have anguish over missing either one!  More details soon, but please visit our event page and get your ticket.  And if you can spare a few bucks so someone without a job can attend too, all the better.

The agenda for LaidOffCamp Phoenix is up on our Agenda page — check it out, download the grid and start figuring out how you’ll choose between all the amazing sessions we’ve got lined up!

And if you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, do it now — the word’s getting out to the big networking organizations, we’ve got more media hitting and we’re sure to sell out.

Want to help?  You can donate, offer resources for attendees or just join us to support folks one-on-one.  It’s going to be a great event!

Thanks to the Phoenix Innovation Foundation, anyone who wants to help support LaidOffCamp Phoenix can now donate quickly and easily through PayPal!  Since LaidOffCamp is a free event, all donations go directly to support attendees — helping to provide food and beverages the day of the event, paying for copies and name tags, etc.  Since all of the volunteers and speakers are providing their time and expertise without compensation, all donations go directly to support attendees — helping to provide food and beverages the day of the event, paying for copies and name tags, etc.  Any funds left over will be support a giveaway of gift cards from local businesses that attendees can use to help with their own networking and community-building efforts.

So if you have $5, $10 or $20 that you can contribute to this worthy cause, please click the button and help us out!  The Phoenix Innovation Foundation is an Arizona non-profit organization, so your donation may even be tax-deductible (we recommend speaking to your tax advisor about eligibility).

Thanks for your support of LaidOffCamp Phoenix!

Only a week after announcing LaidOffCamp Phoenix we’ve already got an amazing lineup of heavy hitters volunteering their time and sharing their expertise with our attendees:

• Pamela Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation, about doing what you truly love
• Charlene Kingston of SocialMediaDIYWorkshop.com about refreshing your online image
• Joshua Strebel from Page.ly about the value of having a personal website for your job search, and options for setting one up quickly and economically
• Amanda Collins of GrammarDocs.com about developing a powerful resume
• Jim and Sonia Graham of StartUpNow about key considerations when starting your own business
• Matt Clower about developing social confidence
• Yuri Artibise about building networks
• Craig Carnahan, co-owner of CyberGear, about getting a job with small business
• Chris Conrey about selling skills for freelancers and small business
• Justin McHood about options for those facing mortgage challenges
• Lorraine Alvarez from The Tribune/Monster.com and Cheryl Kaufman from Arizona Workforce Connection about using Monster effectively, avoiding scams and connecting with employers
• Jana Knapp and Brandon Willey from vyllij about building community and how to start a conversation

We also have a host of attendees from last year’s LaidOffCamp Phoenix who will be discussing their own experiences using the tools and tricks they picked up last August.

In addition, we will have a breakout room equipped with computers and staffed by volunteers helping attendees to launch their own websites for job seeking, getting established in social media, and registering for online tools to help them build their communities.

And this is only the beginning.  Every day we receive offers to speak, to help and to support attendees looking for a new job, taking a new direction, or starting their own business.  Whether you want to help or want to join us on April 3rd, we look forward to hearing from you!

We’re already getting email, tweets and comments offering help with Laid Off Camp Phoenix.  For those of you who have offered help already, THANK YOU!  If you haven’t thought about how you could help, know that your time and expertise are the most valuable thing you can offer these job-seekers and folks looking for a change.  With only a month to go before the event, we’d love to get more help in the following areas:

• Financial sponsorships to help pay for lunch for attendees
• Panel participants in these areas:
  • Working with recruiters or contract agencies
  • Building a powerful resume
  • What to consider if you want to start your own business
  • Ways to build your community outside of work
  • Effective interview techniques
  • Understanding your healthcare and unemployment options
  • Getting a job with small business
• Hiring companies interested in meeting job seekers in all industries

If you know of someone who might want to help, let us know.  And if you know someone who might benefit from attending Laid Off Camp Phoenix, let them know it’s coming up!

Last August the Phoenix metro area had its first Laid Off Camp.  It was a great success, and we’re proud to announce the next Laid Off Camp scheduled for April 3, 2010 at the Chandler Senior Center in downtown Chandler.

If you’re wondering what Laid Off Camp is all about, check out more info here.

If you’re wondering how you can help, click here.

For free tickets, visit our EventBrite page here.