Earlier this month I talked about the value of networking as it relates to your job search. What I didn’t tell you was that I was working on planning and marketing LaidOffCamp Fort Collins. I wanted to see the value in an un-conference (or BarCamp) first-hand, before I espoused it here. And boy… there’s a lot of espousing I’ve gotta do.
A BarCamp is based around the idea that the coffee breaks are much more valuable than the actual sessions… and so the “sessions” consist of self-organized coffee breaks to talk about specific subjects. There are no highly-paid presenters, there are no hoity-toity sales pitches, and there isn’t a lot of free, but useless, swag.
I’m convinced that the idea of attending people-created BarCamps, TweetUps, going to MeetUp.com and finding local business events, and attending unemployed-centric events is the most effective way to network. Not only do you get to showcase your skills or share ideas with a highly-energetic and tuned-in audience, but you get to rub elbows with people you never even knew existed!
How do you succeed at a BarCamp? Well – you take business cards… or set up a free Contxts account so you can share them via SMS text message. Then, you think about things you are knowledgeable about as they relate to the theme of the conference. At a WineCamp and know something about vintage port? Write your idea up on the whiteboard and if people like it, they’ll attend. Having a creative or funny name for your “discussion” is a big help!
Attend other people’s discussions – listen and pitch in! Ask questions, participate! Don’t go into a BarCamp with the expectation that it’s all about you – it’s about you SHARING your knowledge with other people. It’s true that what you put in will dictate what you get out of it – the more you share, the more people are going to want to talk to you (as long as you’re not a raving idiot).
Most of all, network! Introduce yourself to anyone and everyone who looks or sounds interesting – write down memorable questions and ask if you can e-mail people later.
You never know, you might just be hobnobbing your way to your next job!
The Importance of… um… Sleep
If you have an interview any time soon, though – you might want to reconsider.
Thanks to a cruel twist of fate, sleep actually plays a heavy role in our perception of the world – including mood, sense of time and space, and worst of all: memory. And these aren’t just temporary effects. Skip one night of sleep and your ass is gonna be draggin’ for days afterward. What’s even worse – people who have been sleep deprived show the same sort of muscle degredation as those who’ve overexerted their muscles in a workout.
Going into an interview with no memory, no sense of time or place, a bad mood, a sore body, and circles under your eyes isn’t exactly starting on the right foot. Skip the bar, pwn teh newbz later, and catch those missing Z’s.