Wow, what a busy day this was! These photos spanned about 24 hours–from Feb 25th, when we got a quick, heavy snow-fall, to the evening of the following day, when I finished my photo-shoot at the Boulevard Theatre around 8:30 p.m. So, yeah, almost 24 hours perfect!
The first two images were made as I walked to the offices of C2 Graphics and Productivity Solutions; they were hosting a “20th Birthday Party” for Photoshop! The next morning saw me, bright and early at the Potowatomi Casino, for the third JobCamp MKE. As I am self-employed, I thought going to a jobfair could be a good skill-builder. Though I consider myself employed, really, every day is spent trying to get a job, trying to get the next job and to build a strong network of contacts to keep work coming in.
While at the JobCamp, I met a number of great people and also got to do some good networking as well. I met Julie Kasbeer, a vocalist, at the welcoming speech. At the marketing roundtable, I met Erin Houk and saw my friend Jane Taugher. Jane has a unique situation before her–not only is she seeking new employment, but she’s trying to find it in Colorado, where she intends to move soon. If anyone has leads on contacts in CO, please contact Jane!
I worked on my “elevator speech” and then manned the “speed networking” table. At the “speed networking” table, I met, though only via her left-behind-busines-card, Amy Decker, president of AIGA. I’ll have to say “hello” to her soon. 🙂 The speed-networking table was by far the most rewarding aspect of the day.
I went by the line of tables, set up like a “speed-dating” line, and there was one woman there. After she hung up her cel-phone, I said “hello, are you here for the networking?” Turns out she didn’t realize she was in the networking area and had just sat down to make a phone call. Well, that was fortuitous for me, because that’s how I got to meet Debra Crawford, a personal/professional development consultant. After our short chat, she left and I stayed seated at the line of tables, facing outwards to all the other participants.
Another fellow walked by, looked up at the sign above me, looked down at me; I said “Hello, wanna network?” And that was how I met Michael Aebly, a biologist, looking for work. That conversation led to me next meeting Ralph Ringkjob, a career airplane mechanic who always wanted to travel, but never got to. We had a real good talk and then he moved on too. I got up to leave, but just as I was packing my bag up, another woman came up to the table: “Is this where the networking is?” I said, “Sure is!” and got to meet Patrice Lynn Tate, an aspiring architectural drafting artist. I said, “Well heck, I have a friend who works for a local architectural firm. Let me give you her name and when you contact her, tell ‘er I sent you.” “Oh wow, thanks, that’s the best thing that’s happened to so far today,” she replied. So, the networking table worked pretty spiffy.
After I left the JobCamp, I went to MPS’ 53rd Street School where I attended their Black History Month Celebration. I had recently done an artist-in-residency at the school, a two-session portrait-making workshop with a few of their classes. The students all made portraits of each other and then we showed the photos as a digital slideshow, while the students read poems that they had written with the help of a local spoken-word artist. That residency, like the three I’m doing right now, are through Arts@Large. I asked one of the teachers to make a snapshot of me as I gave the introduction to the slideshow.
That evening then, I went over to the Boulevard Theatre, a local theatre I have a long-standing relationship with. I was there to do a photo-call on their latest production, Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well.” Norman Gaulin, the stage manager/administrative assistant/ombudsman for the theatre was nice enough to make some snaps of me at work with the actors!
