John Sumser Presents The Recruiting Roadshow » Networking

Thank You Notes

johnsumser — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:20:02 +0000

(December 21, 2007) There are a lot of people to thank for this past year. Starting and building the momentum of the Recruiting Roadshow took a lot of effort from a lot of people. Shifting from my comfortable home at interbiznet took support and energy. Bearing up under the new scrutiny at Recruiting.com took some patience and the muffling of two layers of duct tape.

A number of good friends fed me with a straws (through the tape) at the difficult times. It’s good to have and build friendship as a part of making a living. My work is colored by the people who nourish me with their stories about the recruiting world, their ideas about what it could be like and their hopes for bigger and better times.

I’ve always been fortunate to have relationships with people who start companies. As an entrepreneur who thinks about strategy, it seems pretty normal to inhabit a world that mostly includes other leaders who build businesses for a living.

Over the years, I have seen a thousand good tricks for making things happen. This year, though, I may have been shown the ultimate trick.

Steven Rothberg, you may know, is the hard working founder of CollegeRecruiter.com. Very, very few people in our industry work as hard or as persistently as Steven. Through sheer tenacity, he built CollegeRecruiter into the powerhouse it is today. Steven spoke at both the Dallas and Atlanta Recruiting Roadshows.

Somewhere along the line, Steven sent me a wonderful had written Thank You note. It was short, sweet and very thoughtful. I was astonished by the way it changed my perception.

As far as I can remember, it was the first time ever that I had received one. Writing thank you notes is part of the conventional wisdom about doing business. I assumed that it was theory from people with no experience until I got Steven’s note.

As you can see, I remember the note very clearly almost six months later.

Steven got me started. I’ve been following his lead and hand writing Thank You notes. What’s amazing is the effect it has on me.

Thank you, Steven.

Nothing is Free, Not Even Lunch!

johnsumser — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:11:39 +0000

Over the last few days I have a number of calls and emails asking, “What is the cost for the upcoming Dallas Recruiting Roadshow?”.

The fact of the matter is that all of the expenses to put this event on have been covered by John Sumser and his friends.

That means that Hank Stringer is not only sharing his time and expertise leading one of our networking workshops but his company itzbig is underwriting the event as our charter sponsor.

Don Ramer CEO of Arbita — who we hope will be showing up in person — is paying for lunch and refreshments. Don has supported the Roadshow from the get-go providing first-class fare for over 250 Roadshow delegates and doing more behind the scenes, cooking up other stuff.

Recruiting heavy-hitters Bill Vick and Martin Birnbach are not only waiving thousands of dollars in appearance fees but they are providing a host of other valuable things, most of all their training and coaching which — if applied — is priceless.

T-Mobile are providing the venue for the day and making sure everyone is comfortable and well taken care of.

Steven Rothberg and CollegeRecruiter.com, Bill Vargas with Diversity.com with Martin Snyder and Bill Kubicek of Main Sequence Technologies/PCRecruiter, Dennis Smith with WorldLink, Matt Martone with Yahoo! HotJobs and Camille Roberts with ZoomInfo have all given generously with financial contributions and material support.

Without these people and organizations — and more in the pipe — getting access to the quality of thinking, training, networking and community for the session we have planned would be cheap at $600 a head.

There is no quid pro quo. The giving from the Recruiting Roadshow’s sponsors is generous, gracious and without strings attached.

So, take a moment to consider this:

“What kind of people and what kind of organizations would want to do this for me?”

“Are they the kind of organizations I would do business with – socially responsible and on top of their game?”

I know, you want to know how to return the favor for being sponsored for the Dallas Recruiting Roadshow, right?

Show up ready to share, learn, participate and laugh — or cry if needs be!
Take at least one thing away from the experience that will leave you better equipped, more sharply focused, more intensely committed and/or better connected with your recruiting neighbors
Take a look at who your sponsors are, understand what they do and go to them when the opportunity arises — not as vendors but as new and valuable contacts in your expanding network of Recruiting Roadshow friends.

Nothing is free, no, not even lunch. But on Tuesday, December 4 — if you are in Dallas or from around those parts — you’ll be well taken care of! That’s a promise.

Posted by: Amitai Givertz

Gassing Up

johnsumser — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:16:05 +0000

As we gear up for the next Recruiting Roadshow in Dallas on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 it is tempting to stay focused on the road ahead, not look back. But that’s not how it is.

By most estimates the Atlanta Recruiting Roadshow was a success. The people who turned up left with a variety of things that ran the gamut of positive impressions, affirmations and lessons learned, acquaintances made and friendship renewed.

That’s how it was meant to be and how it is hoped it can continue.

I cannot talk to most people’s experience when it comes to delivering the Recruiting Roadshow’s promise of “bringing physical community to social networks” but for those who I have spoken to I am told the day was a force multiplier for their networking efforts.

For me I can say that the value of this collaboration with John Sumser has been immense and continues to grow. My personal network has been enriched and expanded. I’m excited about the road ahead.

More, my whole view of the intrinsic value of networking – as well as the mechanics of it – is changing. I will be documenting that process as this journey progresses. Also, I will be exploring other aspects of networking that dovetail with the Recruiting Roadshow’s underlying theme of building physical community and enfranchising more local recruiters. So, stay posted for that and the continuing updates for Atlanta!

There were some great lessons learned for John and me as we sat back and weighed the Atlanta Recruiting Roadshow in the balance. As we move forward on the next leg of the tour we will be applying some of those lessons and further testing our assumptions. After all, it is an experiment.