It’s time we got back to our roots a little bit.
We (Bob, Jeff and I) have had a lot of discussions over the past few months about where the group’s going, what we’re seeing, what we’re hearing from attendees at our events, and what we’re getting in via email, phone calls, etc.
The moral of the story is that it’s time for us to get back to doing what we do best…which, laughably, turns out to be “as little as possible”…
…and so it’s time to get back to the core of what ITintheD.com has always been about – relationships and networking.
So we’re going to take a little break over the next few months and stick with our casual networking events while we get the plans pulled together for the next Pink Slip Party, which will probably take place sometime in August or in the early Fall.
First, let’s be clear – we’re not dropping the Pink Slip Party concept, nor are we no longer interested in helping people find jobs. We’re all still very committed to helping things improve and get better here in the metro Detroit area…we just think that we do that best when we maintain our focus. And so we’re going to let ourselves focus on this next “big” event for a little while in order to make sure things get pulled together properly.
Besides…life happens. Jeff’s got a new son, I’m trying to get settled into a new house…and Bob…
…well, we thought about having Bob take the wheel and just run with things for a while.
Let’s just say that the discussion didn’t really pan out.
And so it seems like a good time for us to do some of the experimenting that we’ve wanted to do with our smaller events. Bouncing them around to locations outside of Royal Oak. Seeing what works and what doesn’t…but, most importantly, just trying to bring some of the focus back on the relationships that we’ve always tried to foster, rather than having the sole focus of the group come down to helping people find jobs. We’ve said it a million times – that was never the intent of ITintheD.com.
It’s great that it’s happened, and we’re thrilled that we’ve helped over 200 people find jobs (and hope for more to come), but these Pink Slip Party events can be a major pain in the ass to pull together…and this next one is probably going to be the biggest pain in the ass of all, since we’re trying to take yet another “step up” with what we want to see happen.
Plus…we’ve kind of gone a little “mainstream”…and that’s pretty much annoying the hell out of all of us. We’re “the anti-group”, dammit…not “the group”. Have you looked around lately? We’ve lost our edge. Our blog entries (okay, my blog entries) have gotten to be all “networking 101” and “shiny happy people”, and we haven’t really ripped anyone apart with a good old fashioned “Don’t Be That Guy” in a while. We don’t start events at 5:00 – we always started our events at 5:01. Why? Stupid distinction, but that’s what we always did to say “It’s right after work, so show up”, and so that’s what we’re getting back to. We quote Martin Blank in our Don’t Be That Guy posts – why? Because everyone always joked that we were the assassins of the IT industry…the guys that would say what nobody else had the nerve to say. And so that’s what we’re getting back to. We’ve tip-toed around calling people out that sorely deserve to be called out…in fact, several of them are flat out begging for it…and, at the end of the day…that’s what we do.
So we’re going to go back to being “us”. That’s our promise to you.
As a result, the next few months will simply be our casual networking events. Keep an eye on the site for dates and times, you can still keep an eye on the LinkedIn group for jobs, and we hope you enjoy coming along for the ride as we get back to being us.
Evolving isn’t easy…but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be fun.
May 19th. BlackFinn. Back room. Royal Oak. See you there.
Networking Detroit…One Beer At A Time.
ITintheD.com
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