A networking event for those laid off?

What a great idea! Too bad I didn't think of it. This is actually Edwin Duterte's "Aha-light-bulb". He calls it the PinkSlipMixer. It even has a catchy name, don't you think?

I attended one of the events here in the Bay Area last Monday. I believe it was one of the first ones, if not THE first event, in a Northern California venue. Apparently, he's been organizing these events down in Southern California for some time before bringing it up here to us. The event was held in a cool bar/restaurant setting called uWink, located on Castro Street in Mountain View. I liked the venue with its touch-screen monitors on every table from which you can order your food and play games.

I made the 59.60 mile trip (one-way) to this event. As I walked into uWink, Iwas greeted warmly by Michael who directed me to the sign-in desk and asked me to fill out the name tag labeled "Jobseeker" and instructed me to wear it so others can know who I am. There were two different color-coded name tags: one that has "Jobseeker" on it and the other had "Recruiter". Since I was about 15 mnutes early, there were only 4 of us "Jobseekers" there and one "Recruiter". Imagine 4 hawks circling one prey....I'm sure that was how that first Recruiter felt in the beginning. Around 6:30, the room started to fill up with lots of Jobseekers mingling and networking with each other and sharing their experiences in the unemployment limbo. I made a few good connections at the mixer. On the Recruiter side: only 1 recruiter (from Technisource) and 2 Direct Hire managers (from Motorola and llumisys) that were in attendance. All were looking for talented people, but currently not hiring. I gave my resume to one of the recruiters who worked within the industry I was mostly interested in. The event started at 6PM. I left around 8 PM.

All in all, I thought it was a positive experience. I made new contacts from other industries and my network has expanded directly by 10 more people! The one common wish at the event was that more Recruiters or Direct-Hire Managers at the event would have been nice. But this is the first event here so it will take a bit of time to spread the word. There are upcoming events in the area that may be worth attending especially if you're unemployed. Check the PinkSlipMixer website and click on the Calendar tab to view the time and place for the events. You've got everything to gain and nothing to lose.