What will Job Search Jam Sessions be like?

Unlike other conferences, this one depends upon you and the others participating. You help to make this happen by showing up, asking questions, offering to help and networking. You will get out of this event as much, if not more, than you put in. This will be your time to find out what others know, get your questions answered from those who can answer them, and get to network with others to build your listing of valuable connections.

How should I prepare?
Come to the event prepared to share something you have learned along the way. Come prepared for learn. Come prepared to network (bring business cards).

How should I dress?
Dress as you would for any other networking event, business casual or business comfortable. You still want to make a good first impression but a suit or tux is not required.

What does the facility look like?
Check out the brief video of the facility recorded during May 2010:
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-tour-of-job-search-jam-session.html

What will the schedule be?
Check out the overall event session schedule here:
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/p/schedule.html

What can I expect the event to be like?
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-to-expect.html

When do the doors open?
The registration/welcome desk will be open at 8:30 AM.
You can check in, pay at the door (if you elected to do that), and make a name tag.

Beginning at 9:00 AM (or thereabouts) we'll provide an overview of an unconference using the open space technology. 

If you want to read up on the unconference format, you can find info here
http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?AboutOpenSpace

here
http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?WorkingInOpenSpace

and here:
http://podcamp.pbworks.com/ scroll down the page to view the section on how to "host a podcamp"


What is the registration fee being used for? 

1. We intentionally don't want to make money, we recognize that funds are tight.
2. We did want to charge something to ensure a reasonable headcount for planning purposes.

Hence, the $8 charge seems reasonable and allows us to plan a good event and to make a contribution to the church for the use of the facility.

Your registration fee ($8.00) paid via Eventbrite nets the organizing team approx. $6.50 (Eventbrite has a charge for processing the credit card). 

From the $6.50 times however many people register, we will plan for refreshments, lunch and will purchase accordingly.

All surplus funds will be donated to the St John the Evangelist Parish. The church has graciously allowed us use of the facility for free. A full accounting of the receipts and expenses will be provided to the attendees.

You can still talk about the event with your friends, neighbors and networked connections. Registrations will be taken at the door on Friday. You can share the event website http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/

or have them go directly to the registration page http://jobsearchjamsessions4.eventbrite.com/


Thank you. See you soon.

The Job Search Jam Sessions organizing committee

What to expect

Job Search Jam Sessions are finally here on Friday October 1. We have over 50 registrations for this event going into the final day. Tickets will still be available at the door on Friday.


The Jam Sessions will be your time to find out what others know, get your questions answered from those who can answer them, and get to network with others to build your listing of valuable connections.


How should I prepare?

• Come to the event prepared to share something you have learned along the way. 
• Come prepared for learn. 
• Come prepared to network (bring business cards).

How should I dress?

Dress as you would for any other networking event, business casual or business comfortable. You still want to make a good first impression but a suit or tux is not required.

What does the facility look like?


Check out the brief video of the facility recorded earlier this year:
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/05/video-tour-of-job-search-jam-session.html



What will the schedule be?

The schedule will be filled in the morning of the event. We do have some speakers confirmed and slotted but the final lineup is determined the day of to ensure we meet your needs. Check out the overall schedule here:

http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/2010/05/draft-schedule.html

When do the doors open?

The registration/welcome desk will be open at 8:30 AM.

You can check in, pay at the door (if you elected to do that), and make a name tag.

Beginning at 9:00 AM (or thereabouts) we'll provide an overview of an unconference using the open space technology. 


If you want to read up on the unconference format, you can find info here

http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?AboutOpenSpace

here

http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?WorkingInOpenSpace

and here:

http://podcamp.pbworks.com/  scroll down the page to view the section on how to "host a podcamp"


What is the registration fee being used for? 

1 - We intentionally don't want to make money, we are all looking for work and recognize that funds are tight. 

2 - We did want to charge something to ensure a reasonable headcount for planning purposes. 

Hence, the $7 charge seems reasonable and allows us to plan a good event and to make a contribution to the church for the use of the facility.

Your registration fee ($7.00) paid via Eventbrite nets the organizing team approx. $5.50 (Eventbrite has a charge for processing the credit card).

From the $5.50 times however many people show up, we will plan for refreshments, lunch and will purchase accordingly.

All surplus funds will be donated to the St John the Evangelist Parish. The church has graciously allowed us use of the facility for free. A full accounting of the receipts and expenses will be provided to the attendees.

You can still talk about the event with your friends, neighbors and networked connections. Registrations will be taken at the door on Friday. You can share the event website  http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/

or have them go directly to the registration page http://jobsearchjamsessions2.eventbrite.com/


Thank you! See you Friday!


The Job Search Jam Sessions organizing committee

What to expect

What should you expect when participating in the Job Search Jam Sessions? Here are a few tips:

Preparation for the event

• Pre-register for the event to give the coordinators a good idea as to how many people are coming.

• Come early, but not too early - Showing up at the announced starting time will be fine. Show up earlier, and you'll get drafted for setup work (much appreciated!). Show up later, and you'll miss some social activity and the session scheduling.

• Be ready to participate - come with an idea for a session you can lead. You don't have to be an expert at your topic; as long as it's not too specific, there'll probably be someone else present who can help you out. You can also contribute to the conversation during a session. This is a great way to participate, since it spreads knowledge from everyone, instead of just the leader.

The day of the event

• When you arrive, go to the pre-registration table, where you can claim/make your nametag. Make your way into the gathering place, where you should find lots of people to network with.

• We plan to start by gathering together in the main hall. We'll review the schedule for the afternoon. If you see that a session you're interested in is not being offered, check with some neighbors to see if they would be interested, and then approach organizers. We will have some open slots for ad-hoc sessions to be scheduled the day of the Job Search Jam Sessions.

• We plan on having time slots of 45 minutes for sessions. This should allow for a brief presentation and plenty of Q&A. We will allow for 15 minutes between session for follow up and additional networking. We are planning for refreshments to be available.

• As you finish the last session, please look around the room and pick up any trash. We want to leave the facility in as good and clean a condition as when we walked in. Every little bit you can do will help the overall event. 

Note: the starting points for this posting came from the LaidOff Camp wiki