Job hunting is dispiriting – often lonely and isolating.
That’s why it was so comforting for job seekers to be in a room full of knowledgeable people who were ready to meet with them, one-on-one, to answer their specific questions.
From job hunt web sites to career counseling coaches could personalize their advice to each person’s need. Hundreds of unemployed people flocked to this free speed-coaching event in New York. My colleague, transitionist coach Terrence Seamon was one of many coaches who volunteered to sit in “twenty minute sessions, to review their job search campaign strategies as well as their resumes, making sure that they are accomplishments-focused.” The event was the co-created service of The New York Library, Vault and volunteer coaches.
In this bad economy what top-of-mind topic most concerns your kind of client?
Recruit a cadre of non-competing and credible experts to coach them in a fast-paced, speed coaching event where participants get hundreds of dollars worth of the specific advice they most seek – and coaches demonstrate their expertise to “pull” prospects towards hiring them. More than a free for all, “here’s my card” networking event people actually get to meet the individuals they’d most like to know at that time.
You, too, could leverage your value with a custom speed coaching event that serves a hot need or avid interest felt by your kind of clients. Here’s a quick checklist of jumpstart your first popular, speed coaching event:
• What other credible, complementary (non-competing) experts and organizations serve your “mutual market?”
• What preoccupies your clients?
• When would it be easiest for them to meet?
• What is a convenient and attractive meeting location for them?
• What if you created a helpful meeting momento – an eBook of three tips from each coach plus their bio and s brief description of all partnering organizations, with links to all resources cited in the eBook?
• How long should your event be? Some are as short as two hours and as long as a day. One-on-one coaching sessions in different events range from five-minutes to 20-minutes. Collectively choose the length that works best for your kind of attendee and speed coaching theme.
• Consider combining 20-minutes “expert roundtable” sessions for five to eight attendees to ask an expert questions – concurrent with the one-on-one speed coaching sessions.
Put the coaching sessions on one side of a ballroom or other large meeting place and the roundtables on the other.
• Place large signs behind each coach with their name and/or topic and on roundtables with the table topic.
The more partnering coaches and organizations you involve the lower the per-partner cost and the higher the benefit to them for participating – and the higher the number of people you can reach and serve.
Here is one kind of speed coaching event I co-designed with the astute head of the S.F. chapter of Savor the Success, Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa. 
Hi Kare,
Thanks for the plug! I wish I was in the SF area so I could join in. You are doing some highly creative stuff.
Best wishes from NJ,
Terry
Hi Kare,
Thanks for the plug.I wish I knew more about this seemingly highly creative stuff, that you are doing. I am so stupidly old fashioned that I even can not work in the Face book,where you were so kind to invite me. I hope to catch up fast, although I am not fully convinced at this stage of development this kind of virtual development
that all this can substitute acquiring real and deep knowledge, but is a resource we have to learn how to use most efficiently. I still prefer to discuss what truly matters to me face to face with such an authority like you.
Hi Kare,
Thanks for the plug.I wish I knew more about this seemingly highly creative stuff, that you are doing. I am so stupidly old fashioned that I even can not work in the Face book,where you were so kind to invite me. I hope to catch up fast, although I am not fully convinced at this stage of development this kind of virtual development
that all this can substitute acquiring real and deep knowledge, but is a resource we have to learn how to use most efficiently. I still prefer to discuss what truly matters to me face to face with such an authority like you.
Hi Kare,
Thanks for the plug.I wish I knew more about this seemingly highly creative stuff, that you are doing. I am so stupidly old fashioned that I even can not work in the Face book,where you were so kind to invite me. I hope to catch up fast, although I am not fully convinced at this stage of development this kind of virtual development
that all this can substitute acquiring real and deep knowledge, but is a resource we have to learn how to use most efficiently. I still prefer to discuss what truly matters to me face to face with such an authority like you.
Michael,
I do not think you are old-fashioned as you have specific ideas I’ve seen for accomplishing greater things with others than we can on our own – and that is what this post and blog are about….old-fashioned notion: collaboration / mutual-support that is aided by some new face-to-face and online methods.