Recess in the Recession: Day Three

The most awkward moment of the day came early at the Virginia Leadership Association meeting when I had to ditch my fancy name tag because it didn't read "currently unemployed."

Naturally, I arrived early because I didn't have an office to go to before the day started (unless you count Starbucks, which is an unfortunate choice of offices when your income stream has dried to a trickle).

VLA is a loose networking organization for the various leadership non-profits around Virginia -- Leadership Metro Richmond, Leadership Arlington, etc. Somehow I got into their listserv, and as a result found myself sitting round the table with a dynamic group of leadership professionals two days into my career shift.

Much better than a morning of Regis & Kelly.

The morning kicked off with Tom Silvestri, publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and chairman of the board of Leadership Metro Richmond, discussing his passion for creating community conversations. As publisher, one of Tom's main jobs is to be the public face of the paper, and as newspapers have moved from being the primary information source in the community people like Tom have had to be more and more creative about how the develop relationships with readers in general, and the community specifically.

The second part of the morning was focused on the changing nature of corporate donations and the challenge of raising dollars in a struggling economy. Remember, these are all nonprofit groups. The departure of Wachovia and LandAmerica from the corporate scene; the evolution of Philip Morris and Altria; the economic misfortunes of Circuit City, CarMax and a half-dozen other corporations in the region -- you'd better believe the landscape is changing.

I then had an amazingly rapid-fire lunchtime chat with Linda Powell-Pruitt of LMR where we talked about where Richmond's evolution might be taking it. And how to accelerate the growth.

If nothing else, the morning woke me up to a few important facts -- one being that there are a lot of people beyond the four walls of my former employer who are doing phenomenal work in the world of coaching, facilitation and community engagement. Being part of such an internally focused organization for 12 years, I'm not sure I was fully aware of what the landscape "outside" looked like.

The other awakening is really a reinforcement -- compounded by literally hundreds of emails over recent days, and dozens of conversations in person and on the phone -- that I can bring something of significance to whichever community -- corporate, non-profit or personal -- that I choose to join.

What an inspiring gift to receive from a group of 15 strangers on a rainy Friday morning.

The rest of the day essentially involved time with Nikole and Thea connecting; picking up my restored (minus the past year of data) MacBook; catching up with friends from our honeymoon in southern France; and getting a tired baby to bed.

The weekend will mostly be personal time catching up with myself; with Nikole and Thea; and with a few friends and family. I still have about 150 emails to respond to from the events of the week.

Monday, I dive back into the search for what's next and participate in the Cultural Action Plan's discussion at the Visual Arts Center.

Tuesday, Nikole and I visit the career resource center set up by my former employer and make sure we have our financial ducks in a row. Then we have an afternoon appointment. If we get out in time, I'll join a post-discussion reception for Charleston's Mayor Riley (who is speaking at the Convention Center earlier in the day) and do a little work for Buttermilk & Molasses.

Wednesday, perhaps, we'll get to work painting the outside of the house.

Thursday morning, I'll be speaking on a panel discussion about trust and community building across regional boundaries as part of Hope in the Cities' Metro Richmond Day.

Friday, I've got a half-dozen networking and brainstorming meetings scheduled.

Whose got time for a job? (Just kidding, mom!)

Comments

[BP]

re: community engagement... lots of statewide orgs listed in the below:

http://pburgpn.net/news/2008/11/13/connectsouthside-to-host-southside-discussion-presentation-on-new-nonprofit-economic-impact-study/

http://pburgpn.net/news/2008/11/06/power-up-petersburg-nov-22/#more-2318

http://pburgpn.net/news/2008/09/22/phoenix-project-receives-major-federal-grant-to-increase-student-service-nationwide-partners-with-craigslist-foundation-and-george-mason-univ/

http://pburgpn.net/news/2008/03/03/join-gov-tim-kaine-at-social-entrepreneurship-conference/

:)

[Kelly]

Your attitude is very inspiring John. I agree with the other poster...I know alot of husbands/people who don't react with anything remotely resembling your attitude in similar situations.

My question is: how do you find time to paint a HOUSE with a baby around????? I can't even find time to get the freakin dishes put away and or a single wall painted...let alone a HOUSE. hmpf. showoff. =)

[lydia]

So sorry to hear about your lay-off, but I wish every person in that boat would take the route you're taking... I'm sure it's hard, but to see how productive and proactive you're being is inspiring. I have several friends who I'm sure would be drooling over wishing THEIR husbands had been as determined as you!

Can't wait to see what comes next for the Sarvay family, because I know no matter what it is, it will be great!