I spent my afternoon and evening yesterday at the first TedxBoulder. It definitely lived up to my expectations, which were incredibly high knowing some of the organizers. I had originally planned to write this post last night after returning home, but it was too fresh and there was too much to process. There were 22 presenters last night speaking on topics as diverse as romance novels and donating your body to science, including video of a human dissection & display of a real human heart–those 4th row seats seemed less desirable during that particular talk. There were many talks that followed the theme of finding and loving your true self. There were talks out to save the planet and its people. There was a former professional triathelete, Buddhist monk, school board member, venture capitalist, improv theater owner, astrophysicist, graphics designer, and much more (all the speakers). This wasn’t the kind of night that you happen upon–unless you happen to live somewhere like Boulder.

Here are a few of my favorite talks from last night:

David Thomas, a video game journalist (jealous?), talked about what makes a place fun. His thesis? We think a place is fun if it is and isn’t at the same time. Huh? So, he thinks that we think buildings like Lucy there to the right are fun, because the building is an elephant but it’s not. It’s an interesting way to look at the world and how we can introduce more fun into it.

Peter McGraw, a marketing and psychology professor at CU Boulder, talked about what makes things funny–a similar topic to David Thomas. Does this say something about me? :) This is actually the second time I have heard Peter speak, the first being Ignite Boulder. He posits that things are funny if they are both benign and a violation, like someone falling down the stairs but not being injured. This might help me with my goal of one day doing stand up comedy–which was a fairly well guarded secret until now.

Grant Blakeman, a designer and developer, had a simple message, but his talk was beautifully crafted. Through a mile-a-minute walkthrough of his day (which could be anyone’s), he highlighted the lack of negative space aka free time in our lives. It was simple. It was beautiful.

Nathan Eagle, CEO of txteagle, spoke about the state of mobile devices in Africa and how in many ways, the western world is being leapfrogged by developing nations. I was somewhat aware of this, but one example in particular struck me: ditch diggers are organized by SMS. They look for texts to see where the job site is for the day. That is the very definition of ubiquitous to me.

Diane Israel, former professional triathelete, was simply heart-touching. I don’t mean to go all after school special on you, but of all the talks, she made me feel the most. Some of the other speakers had cheesy little ice-breakers that I did my best to ignore. Diane was genuine from the moment she stepped on the stage. Her message of being embodied and accepting and loving yourself is something we could all hear more often–especially in such an incredibly unvarnished way.

Brad Feld, early stage investor and entrepreneur (and guy with cool shirts), had an unexpected topic. When I’ve heard Brad speak before, it has exclusively been about startups and venture capital. Last night, he got personal. He spoke candidly about his marriage and all of the things that can get in the way. His solution, or perhaps more accurately, his wife’s solution? A quarterly week off the grid. No phones. No email. No contact with the outside world–just time, solitude, and each other. This is quite a lovely idea, and this idea may have been the most practical of the night. It’s also the one I heard most discussed afterwards. My husband and I (married 6 years, together 14) have played with the idea of weekends off the grid. When we even have a few hours of this, we love it. It sounds so hard, but the rewards on even such a small scale are great. It’s something we’d like to give a longer try.

My takeaway: The talks were fantastic, but my biggest takeaway of the night was that nights like this need to continue.  In order for them to continue (and to spread), people like you and me have to make them happen.  That’s my TedxBoulder pledge–to do my part in bringing events like this to the community that I love.

Boulder, Colorado, life, Uncategorized Boulder, Colorado, events, ideas, marriage, self-improvement, tedx

Summer 2008 while rocking out to Blues Traveler at their Independence Day show, Rich and I decided that we wanted to come back to Colorado “with a moving truck.”  At the time, we lived in Rolla, Missouri.  I was an IT project manager and Rich was a grad student–both at Missouri S&T.  Rich had a couple more years of school to go, but we could dream, right?  It’s less than two years later, and we are living the dream.  It took about 9 months to get out here once we hit it, with a summer’s worth of prep time before that.  It might sound like a long time, but we came out here very happily and well employed, with minimal investment.  I’ve promised this post to friends and strangers alike who wanted to know how we made that happen.

My first leap of faith

Rich had interned at NREL just south of Boulder during that fated summer, but he hadn’t bonded with any of the locals.  We knew exactly 0 people that we thought could help us with our big move.  I remembered seeing something about Boulder on a friend’s Facebook page a few months back.  I took a look, and I was right.  An old college buddy of ours had a friend that lived in Boulder.  I wasn’t in the habit of emailing strangers, but when you want something, you leap.  I sent this stranger a Facebook message–a couple paragraph shot in the dark.  It paid off.  In spades.  This stranger was amazingly helpful.  We emailed.  We chatted.  He gave me great advice, three bits in particular: 1) go to Ignite Boulder 2) get on twitter 3) use Craigslist to find a job.

That’s Step 1: Make a connection, any connection.

The dirty work

The first bit of advice was easy.  We were going to be in Boulder when the next Ignite was scheduled.  We bought tix.  We showed up.  I was mesmerized.  This spark made me realize I had truly found my geeky home:

People were cheering for factorial–including me :)  My commitment to moving to Boulder solidified.  My helpful stranger even gave a spark that night–talk about making the right connection.  I’d embed his spark from that night, but he’d kill me ;)

His second piece of advice was harder for me to swallow.  He told me to get on twitter.  I had already tried and hated twitter, not once but twice.  Third time’s the charm?  Yes indeed.  I started to make more and deeper connections with Boulder folks.  I became a virtual part of the community.   How did that happen?  I listened.   I shared information of value.  I engaged.

Now, Craigslist was also a little hard for me to swallow.  I mean, I’m a professional.  Who puts those kinds of jobs on Craigslist?  In Boulder, everyone.  Looking for a VP?  Craigslist.  MD?  Craigslist.  Partner to act out Michael Jackson videos?  Craigslist.  You knew that last, though, right?  The point isn’t that Craigslist is always the answer to where to find jobs.  The point is that there will be some local spot that is the place to find jobs.  Your local connections can help you find this place.

That’s Step 2: Listen to & take good advice

Connections + homework + ? = JOB

You’ve made your connections.  You’ve done your homework.  How do you get a company hundreds of miles away to consider you when there are plenty of local candidates?  This is tricky, but I know what worked for me.  And believe me, plenty of people told me that this could not be done.  Mentors, friends, and strangers alike told me that I should either move out to Boulder without a job or that I should find a job just to get me out here, then find the right job.  Honestly, either of these approaches probably would have been faster.  The first–just move–was just too risky for me.  We had a mortgage, car payment, etc.  I couldn’t risk sitting unemployed for six months.  The second–get a job, any job–just didn’t feel right to me.  I didn’t want to use a company just to make the move.

My approach was to make sure that potential employers knew that I was committed to the area.  It’s important to set yourself apart from the people who are just desperate for a job, any job, anywhere.  I wrote verbiage in my cover letter that spoke to why I wanted to move to the area.  I participated in Boulder events and put this on my resume–including speaking at Ignite Boulder.  I made employers feel like I was already part of the community and that the move was imminent, which it would be as soon as I could find a job.

For large corporate employers, I was a little less open about my location.  If I was fairly certain that a computer would be the first reader of my resume, I used a Denver address and phone number (Google Voice).  If I was going to be culled, I wanted a human to do it.  When contacted by phone or email, I made a point to clarify that I was out of state.  Once I explained why I wanted to relocate and that I was not requiring relocation benefits, I never had any trouble.  That said, you have to be open to starting the job in a time frame comparable to a local candidate–2-4 weeks, the shorter the better.

That’s Step 3: Act like an almost local

The Last Mile

You’ve had the phone interview, and it’s a love fest all around.  Regardless of how much an employer may love you, there’s always more consideration given when a face-to-face interview is going to cost the company a grand or more.  Since we were so dedicated to getting out here, I helped push these companies over the hump by getting myself out to Boulder.  When I felt like I was on the cusp of a face-to-face interview, I scheduled a trip out to Boulder and let the companies that I was talking to know that I was going to be in town.  I nailed down at least one interview, then scheduled my trip, called everybody, and then sent out more applications with a note in my cover letter with the dates I would be in town.  I made two of these trips at my own cost, one of which I bundled with my spark at Ignite Boulder.  On my last job hunt trip out here, I was offered jobs by both companies that interviewed me–a fantastic place to be.  I took the job I fell in love with and had bargaining power to boot.

My results by the numbers:

• Phone interviews = dozens (many firms found me through Dice, Monster, connections, etc
• Applications = 12
• Face-to-face interviews = 4
• Offers = 2 (so very close to 3)
• Result = 1 happy girl

You might have noticed that I actually only applied to twelve jobs in nine months.  That might not seem like I was working very hard at it, but I was focusing on quality over quantity.  For each of those applications, I spent at least 10 hours doing research–for some of them, more than 20 hours.  I regularly spent time cultivating and expanding my network and keeping my online job profiles on Dice, Monster, and Career Builder fresh.  After all was said and done, the two offers I received came through that network and my online profiles.  The company that I turned down found me on Dice, which I tried to update every 7 days.  I found the job I accepted through my network on Twitter and my now friend and co-worker Joe Flasher.  Making this happen was a huge amount of work, but it completely paid off.  I absolutely love my job.  It was completely worth my investment of time and money.

That’s Step 3: Persistence  & Commitment

Bonus Points

In step 1 I mentioned a helpful stranger.  Honestly, I don’t think I would be out here living this life I love without him.  He gave me awesome advice, helped me grow my network, was incredibly supportive, and all-in-all has become an amazing friend.  If you’re a Boulderite, you almost assuredly know him: Terry Cabeen or perhaps affectionately as Tika Bean.  Terry & his wife Kia have welcomed us with open arms–even throwing a welcome bbq for us.  To Terry & Kia: Thank you for truly making Boulder feel like home!

Boulder, Colorado Boulder, Colorado, job, relocation