Some initial post NJC '14 thoughts...

killbilly

killbilly

Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
In no particular order of importance...

  1. Although JC is a pseudo-"professional/trade organization", I can't think of anything in its ilk that would be as encouraging and welcoming to non-professionals in the same trade.
  2. I noticed a few folks who were new to JC and the NJC concept. It'd be cool to mark their badges in a way that everyone who spotted them made it an extra point to say hello and welcome them and introduce them to people; big gatherings like this where so many people know each other can be really intimidating for new folks; it's a great way to start someone on the path to Paying It Forward.
  3. This venue and setup was really ideal. Much easier to move around and do stuff than when I attended in 2012. I hear this was also better than 2013. (hint: I stayed at the Excalibur for my first NJC. Mistaaaaaaaaaaaaake!)
  4. @Derg and @Kristie did a hell of a job putting this together. Seriously - the logistics of something like this are pretty significant.
  5. About six months from now, I'd like to see a thread about "How NJC Helped me this year/What I did to help someone at NJC" because case studies and actual results are the surest way to generate interest.
  6. At least a dozen people told me, "You fly for fun? You're the smart one!" - a bit of self-deprecating humor is a good thing, but y'all gotta realize that seeing the vast diversity of things out there - both 121 and non-121 (or, anti-121 as @MikeD and @Bumblebee would have you believe) just makes me think more about new exit strategies from my present position. Golden handcuffs, indeed.
  7. No, I really am going to finish up my IR this time. I swear. Really. Honest. The wife and I had a long talk when I got home about how we can make it all happen financially and logistically. I must have cured cancer in a parallel dimension to deserve her.
  8. Five different people volunteered to make the NJC trip with me as an IR training flight. The things I needed to align right didn't, but I am deeply grateful that so many were willing to help me out. I need to get myself in a position to do it for someone else.
  9. There is this gap....so much I don't know about aviation....and so much that so many of you treat as casual, institutional knowledge...I think that a) my perception of the gap is more about perception and less about actual book learning and b) I think a lot of you don't fully appreciate just how much you actually DO know. One man's mundane is another's fascination, it seems. If anything...it makes the very long road somewhat navigable...
  10. Wanna see something funny? Walk up to @Boris Badenov and tell him that you think Beechcraft makes excellent airplanes, then stand back...
  11. There's a list of people I wanted to meet that I didn't get a chance to. That part sucks. Sorry.
  12. I never thought a plate of huevos rancheros would EVER defeat me until I tried them at Planet Dailies.
  13. Some day, modern science will isolate the specific protein chain in the DNA that draws pilots to aviation, golf, guitars and motorcycles.
  14. Um....oh yeah....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG! (@tonyw)
 
Nice write up. Agreed on all points. Good to meet you by the way.

I would like to suggest (and be potentially blasphemous in doing so) that the event be condensed to allow for the after party to start earlier. Seems like the networking part was intense and active for the first 3 hours, then it tapered off to milling around. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
 
cencal83406 said:
Nice write up. Agreed on all points. Good to meet you by the way.
Click to expand...

Likewise! (cool business cards, by the way)

cencal83406 said:
I would like to suggest (and be potentially blasphemous in doing so) that the event be condensed to allow for the after party to start earlier. Seems like the networking part was intense and active for the first 3 hours, then it tapered off to milling around. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Click to expand...

I get your point - and obviously, Doug and Kristie will make alterations as they see fit. It does seem, though, that the Event and the Party (or any of the other get togethers) are really variations on a theme; people connecting with each other. To that end, I'm not sure any specific lines really need to be drawn - it sort of manages itself organically.

But that's just my .02, which in Vegas will get you....well...not even some coffee....
 
I think the group me concept was great and should be refined a bit. The milling about after the "intense" networking was important too. Once people got their serious business done, we were able to see how folks could handle their liquor!
 
So here's what's good and bad about NJC: it's gotten big enough, with enough new faces that I basically don't know anybody.

But there are enough people there that I don't have the time to see all the people I want to see.

I think I talked with @killbilly, @H46Bubba and @Maximillian_Jenius for all of 5 minutes, where I could have spent an afternoon talking each each of you.

Now, part of this has to do with this being an actual vacation for Emily and myself. It's the first time in a year that we were both able to sleep for 10 hours, three nights in a row.

At the same time, part of it is the format of things. One big formal event and a few little group outings. I think that worked well when there were fewer of us, and we all knew each other, but I'm not positive that it does anymore.

Or maybe said a better way, a free form, "do what you want, we'll be doing the NJC thing at X time on Y day" worked before, but I'm not positive it does anymore.

Having the ability to get 20 folks together at a time intentionally helps to prevent from herding cats like we're on an overnight, because let's be honest, that's exactly what this is.

So maybe find a way to create a number of breakout groups, for lack of a better term (and I hate that term), and get people doing things that forces you to meet new people, and allows the kids that have been doing this for years to get together at a place other than the bar. Because the bar is great, but at least personally, I'm past my wild partying days, and find that I avoid it these days.
 
Yeah, I would like to see if we could get some additional organized events going. It would be a great chance to further a connection you made with someone briefly who you didn't really get a chance to talk to. I think I talked to Rex more on the cab ride over to the airport than I got to during the actual networking event. It's nobody's fault, it's just that we were being interrupted by other people who wanted to say hello.

Another thing you may want to consider, and I know you're hesitant to do it @Derg and @Kristie is to do something where recruiters/sponsors have a table where people who really want to talk to them can walk over and say hello. That way, instead of desperately trying to find the recruiter from xyz company and meeting tons of others from that company but not the recruiter, those who want to can find those guys right away.
 
tonyw said:
Yeah, I would like to see if we could get some additional organized events going. It would be a great chance to further a connection you made with someone briefly who you didn't really get a chance to talk to. I think I talked to Rex more on the cab ride over to the airport than I got to during the actual networking event. It's nobody's fault, it's just that we were being interrupted by other people who wanted to say hello.

Another thing you may want to consider, and I know you're hesitant to do it @Derg and @Kristie is to do something where recruiters/sponsors have a table where people who really want to talk to them can walk over and say hello. That way, instead of desperately trying to find the recruiter from xyz company and meeting tons of others from that company but not the recruiter, those who want to can find those guys right away.
Click to expand...

For this very reason I stayed near the table this year vs. free roam
Even had help @ComplexHiAv8r bringing folks over that wanted to talk.

Would have been nice to meet some other folks though and mingle.
If I didn't see you in passing by the table I might have missed out on getting a chance to say hi!

Bunch of great people there and wish I could have visited more!
 
killbilly said:
There's a list of people I wanted to meet that I didn't get a chance to. That part sucks. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Happens every year to me, too. There was something like 120 people this year, so it's tough to meet everyone. But I meet a few more each year that I hadn't met before, so I'm slowly putting a face to every screen name. Just gives me another excuse to keep going back every year. :)
 
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