Some Notes From My Weekend At LaidOffCamp

This past Friday and Saturday, I attended LaidOffCamp in New York City. In a nutshell, LOC is a bunch of self-organized laid off people who lead workshops for other laid off people. The format – called an unconference – is modeled after widely-attended events like BarCamp where participants are also the leaders. You can learn more about unconferences here.

I’m talking to LaidOffCamp’s founder Chris Hutchins about bringing one to Boston. It would help a lot of people (and not just ad people) learn about trends in job finding. More important, it helps people discover how to create their own opportunities outside those offered by traditional employers.

Following are some notes from a couple of the workshops I attended. Trust me when I say it was a much more inspiring conference than these lousy notes would indicate.

FRIDAY EVENING PANEL “Hacking the job search”

Moderator: Matthew Mahoney, Founder & CEO, Endeavor Prep

Panel: Matt Wallaert, Thrive (justthrive.com); Deb Berman, JustMeans; Dr. Doug Hirschhorn, performance coach

This was the only part of the whole event that wasn’t “by the jobless, for the jobless.” And honestly, it was the least constructive. To the point that I almost got up and left to find a bus back to Boston. I can’t really share too much of what I took away from this panel because the answer is nothing. Ms. Berman said “you need a good resume” and the two Matts argued a lot about the how many opportunities are out there. That was about the substance. The only time I found myself nodding in agreement was when one of the panelists said “Get your emotional shit together. Volunteer. Do something human. There are people who are less fortunate than everyone in this room.” So I guess it wasn’t a total bust.

KEYNOTE: Tokumbo Shobowale, COO, New York City Economic Development Corporation

If you want to be an entrepreneur in NYC, the NYCEDC has some inspiring programs. One of them is something called “Jump Start NYC,” which is an entrepreneurial boot camp for people who want to start their own businesses. I think it is specific to the finance industry, but a great idea nonetheless.

SATURDAY SESSION: “Barn raising”

Three rules:
1. Lead a conversation.
2. No company pitches.
3. “The rule of two feet.” If someone starts pitching you, walk out.

“Starting A Business During a Recession for Under $1000

Hosted by founders of Recession Wire “The upside of the downturn”

Overall takeaway: Be creative about how to approach a startup. Don’t think you need VC or even a business plan. Basically, think less and act more. Too much thinking and considering all possible outcomes can be paralyzing. Some specifics:

•Get yourself moving. Regularly scheduled meetings. Once a week.

•Use interns…lots are eager to get real world experience and they’re free

•Don’t be afraid to barter.  They traded copywriting for tech help. (Made me wonder what else could be bartered? I’ll be there’s almost no good or service you couldn’t get by either trading your own skills or by finding someone who could and doing a three-way deal. There should be more bartering networks in the world. Hmmm. Maybe something for PFTA???)

•Recession Wire future-proofed their business by billing themselves as a “pop up site.” So, when the recession ends, they could either become Depression Wire or Rcovery Wire. Very smart.

Some resources discussed during this workshop:

Vault.com - job hunting website with business and legal focus

helpguest.com – connect you with freelance tech help.  Like an IT department for startups.

mycorporation – alternative to lawyers for legal filings.

THE ART (AND SCIENCE) OF THE ELEVATOR PITCH

Big takeaway here was that the goal of the elevator pitch isn’t to get hired right there or to have that person call you. The goal is to get passed along.  You want that person to remember you and pass you along to their network.

•Goal is to make it easy to pass on your story.

•Should include elements of what you want to do next. What motivates you? What keeps you up at night?

•What problem are you solving?

•What action do you want people to take after they hear your pitch?

That’s it for now. See, I told you I was a lousy note taker.