Back in May of 2010, on the anniversary of our first Pink Slip Party, I took a look back at the growth of the group.
About eighteen months later, I talked about the evolution of our group since its beginnings.
And so now, sitting here getting ready for our next Pink Slip Party on 9/19/2013, it’s time to do a little looking at the road ahead…
I won’t bother recapping most of what’s been covered in those two earlier entries.
If you’re interested, you can read Perspective from May, 2010 over at http://www.ITinTheD.com/631/its-all-about-perspective/ and Evolution from November of 2011 out at http://www.ITinTheD.com/2628/evolution/
Since those entries were published:
- We’ve grown to nearly 4,500 members in our LinkedIn group
- IT in the D has been a news aggregation site, the name for the conference we’re still working on, and our 3/13/13 Pink Slip Party event. The name finally found a solid home after floating around since December of 2010 while we figured out what to do with it as we launched our weekly radio show / podcast in June.
- In just a few short months, the show already has listeners in 47 of the 50 states, Canada, and in other countries around the world, with our first few episodes already hitting more than 10,000 listeners through our various syndication methods.
- That event on 3/13/13 basically changed the way we do Pink Slip Party events. After years of “No Sponsors”, we realized that in order to keep growing like we’ve been growing, to keep the events at the top-notch level that they’ve been at, and to not bankrupt ourselves by continuing to do everything out of our own pockets…well, it was time to change. Based on the response and the results, we decided to do the same thing for 9/19.
- We’re now at more than 550 people that have found jobs through our group’s events. And those are just the ones we know about.
So what’s next?
Well, our 9/19 Pink Slip Party first of all: http://www.ITinTheD.com/meet/
We’ve got a couple more IT in the D broadcasts between now and then: http://www.ITinTheD.com/listen/
Network Michigan is launching. We keep getting asked “When are you going to do something for people who aren’t in IT?” or “Why don’t you do anything in Grand Rapids / Lansing / somewhere else outside the metro Detroit area?” …and, well, the answer to those questions is pretty simple: “We don’t have the time”
But we’d like to help out people who dohave the time…and the interest…in doing so.
We also want to help build a clearinghouse of networking events that are worthwhile throughout Michigan. We’ve always said we aren’t for everyone, nor do we want to be, and we certainly can’t be all things to all people in all industries…but there are already some great groups out there doing good stuff and so why not help them out?
– The site (“rough draft mode” though it is, it’s still out there) is at http://www.networkmichigan.org/
– The facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/NetworkingMichigan
– The twitter account is at https://www.twitter.com/NetworkMichigan
– There’s a LinkedIn group setup at http://www.linkedin.com/groups/NetworkMichiganorg-4264317
– Events you want to get listed? Drop us a note: NetworkMichigan@gmail.com
– Want to start a networking group and you’d like our help? Read The 10 Commandments of Networking at http://www.ITinTheD.com/2697/the-new-and-improved-10-commandments-of-networking/, then read How Not To Suck at Starting a Networking Group at http://www.ITinTheD.com/2748/how-not-to-suck-at-starting-a-networking-group/ …and if you found yourself saying “Well, duh” and nodding your head the entire time, then we’re on the same page and will help you out as much as we can.
And look, we’re not saying we’re the experts here. We’re not. Quite the opposite, actually – we’ve managed to screw up just about every way you can possibly screw something up over the years, and we’re totally cool with sharing those mistakes to keep you from making them, too.However, we do have our core principles that we don’t even bother trying to hide, and as long as you’re on board with running things like we do, then we’re willing to dedicate some time to help.
After that?
Well, it’s not just people in Michigan that have asked us for help getting things off the ground. So the next step will be helping out the folks in Boston, Washington D.C., Nashville, Miami, San Diego…my head’s already starting to hurt…those are just a few, but we’re going to do what we can to get them up and running as well under yet another umbrella. Because we can’t be “ITinTheD.org” in Grand Rapids, and nobody in Boston would care about something called “Network Michigan”…so, yeah, the next year is going to be entertaining to say the least.
But rest assured, the three of us are still focused on what matters to us personally – the metro Detroit information technology community. These other initiatives will either fly or die based on the engagement and involvement of others…we simply don’t have the time to do everything ourselves.
So if you want “in”…now would be a great time to raise your hand: http://www.ITinTheD.com/contact-us/
Us?
We’re sitting in the car, it’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark…and we’re wearing sunglasses.
