Last year in North Carolina, Duke Career Center staffer Samara Reynolds created something called C4. I don’t even recall what the four C’s were at this point…. career counselor something colloquium, I believe. I enjoyed that experience and thought it would be a good idea to do something similar, but focus it on career counselors who are interested in technology.

So, I tweeted a note to Ross Wade (Elon), Mallory Bower (UNC Pembroke) and Cameo Hartz (Duke), all of whom I know both IRL and through digital outlets. They were all on board. So, we dove in and planned it. And it was a great success.

Since then a number of folks from other geographic regions have been talking about planning something similar in their neck of the woods. So, I thought I’d post exactly how we went about creating the Career Counselor Technology Gathering, so others can see how simple it really was.

After the four of us agreed to be part of it, we scheduled a skype conference call. We spoke for about 45 minutes, and during this brief conversation, we outlined pretty much everything that #cctg would become.

1. We wanted it to be conversational
2. We wanted it to be “beyond the basics”
3. We wanted a diversity of offices/centers represented
4. We wanted it to be low headcount, high quality
5. Everyone who attends must present something.

So, we said no more than 25 participants, with no more than one person per career center. We then sketched out what the day might look like:

1. Morning introductions to include a success story, a failure story and a “cool tool” show and tell (whether or not that tool has actually be used in their center didn’t matter).
2. A long lunch for networking/conversation starting.
3. An afternoon based around structured conversations, which would be determined by the group and interests they reported

Ross volunteered space at Elon, so that was no problem. We set up a registration form, using a simple survey tool. We asked only for their name, contact info, institution/office, and what they hoped to get out of the day.

We set up a wiki page (on pbWorks’ BarCap system), and asked each registrant to add to the wiki to outline what tool they planned to present. On the wiki people could also volunteer to bring items like snacks, nametags, and other random things.

We sent an email around to the directors of all the career centers in the state, and made mention of it in notable outlets like the Career Center Technology Forum and NACE Social Media groups on linkedin. People tweeted about it. Mallory blogged about it.

We posted directions, parking info and so forth on the wiki page, as well as sending them out via email a few days before the event. I was in close contact with the hand full of out-of-staters who had decided to join us, making sure they were all set for transport and such.

Then we just let it happen. I think it was Cameo who described it best, I think. She said something like, “You know how sometimes the best parts of conferences are the conversations in between sessions. We wanted this to be nothing but those times.” So, it we gave a basic structure and outline to who we wanted in the room, and then we just trusted that those in the room would make it a good experience.

And it was, in fact, a great experience. If you’re planning one for your own geographic region, I’d be happy to chat more about what we did. But, realistically, just provide a space and get smart/interesting/cool people to show up and the rest will take care of itself.

I’m starting to see that “next wave” of students, who absolutely meant to come see me earlier in the semester. But, like me, they’re just now waking from their winter stupor, as well. The good news is that this year internship postings have held strong. Perhaps the employers are waking from a winter stupor of their own.

Before we all know it, we’ll wake up and the semester will be over. It will be summer. Beautiful, hot, empty-campus summer. It does get a bit lonely. But, for career services, it’s summer, not spring, that is the time of renewal, of planning, of strategy. I’m looking forward to that this year.

But, for now, I’d better focus on what’s left of spring before it’s too late!

The theme of the conference was Advocating for Your Clients, Yourself and the Profession.  So, building off of the “advocating for the profession” idea, I came up with the idea to have a session in which participants undertake a brainstorming session about why they serve as career counselors.  Then, after categorizing the brainstorming session, each member would write a script and record a video of themselves attesting as to their motivations and passions as a counselor.  Each script would begin with the phrase “I am a career counselor because…”

In addition to providing a space to be reflective on their careers, along the way the participants would also learn how to use the 12seconds.tv platform.

Although our attendance was somewhat low (which I chalk up to the fact that our session was the final session on the final day of the conference, and there was an hour break prior to the start of our session — recipe for early departure!), we had a really spirited conversation and developed a really neat video library, which you can see on this 12seconds page.

It is my hope that others will contribute on an ongoing basis. So, if any career counselors out there read this post and are interested in adding your own 12 second video, please send me a note or leave a comment here and I’ll speak with you about how you can be added to the site.

A portion of our staff were interacting with our Student Ambassadors, and we were giving them our bios and info about what we do in the office. I went through my normal intro of education and professional background. I outlined my primary responsibility of internships. I noted a secondary item of social media utilization. Then, out of nowhere, my mouth says, “as the new guy, I also take it upon myself to be entirely willing to fail. So, I’m the one doing these new events that go down in a blaze of glory.”

I’m not sure why I chose to say that. Partially it was a self-deprecating moment, as I am wont to do. Partially it was meant as a lighthearted moment. But, there was a kernel of truth in there.

Although I don’t mean to imply I’m never disappointed when things don’t work out, I do find it exhilarating to try new things. And with that must come the occasional failure.

Case in point, last fall my office held a “Career Week” of events. Having interacted with the RoadTrip Nation folks via Twitter, I thought inviting them to campus for a screening would be a great end to that week.  I convinced my colleagues. We rolled out the red carpet, did a bunch of marketing and booked a 300 seat auditorium in the Union.

One student showed up.

That’s right, one.

Now I was entirely embarrassed that it occurred, and I found myself compelled to repeatedly apologize to the RTN folks, who (to their credit) didn’t seem phased at all. But, in truth, I’m still very glad we tried it.  Although it didn’t even come close to being a “success,” I am still driven to try new things and experiment and give my best shot to things that aren’t guaranteed to succeed.

I’m fortunate to have a supervisor and director who were also happy with the experimentation and not disappointed with the response (or if they were, they hid it very well), and that’s part of how I know I’m in the right place. I’m glad I work with people who encourage new attempts and activities.

Will we repeat the same event in the same way? Of course not. But, we attempted, we failed, we learned, we grew. And isn’t that what education is really all about?  It’s been attributed to many over the years.  But, it deserved repeat here:  If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.