Photo credit: CollegeDegrees360, Creative Commons/Flickr

Yes, it’s cliche, but January is the perfect time for resolutions, goal-setting, and making plans to better yourself throughout the year. Here are some events, webinars, and other activities of note to help you with your professional development this month.

Job-Hunting Help. If you’re on the hunt for a new job, and one-third of employees are, look for online resources to help you make the most of social media and learn more about potential future careers.

• Learn how to leverage the new LinkedIn profiles in a paid webinar from Jason Alba, the author of I’m on LinkedIn—Now What??? on January 17.
• Join #JobHuntChat on Twitter, Monday evenings from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. EST.
• @HFChat (Hire Friday Chat) also hosts #HFChat with career experts on Fridays at 12:00 p.m. EST.
• NY Creative Interns hosts Creative Q&A virtual events, and on January 16 at 8:00 p.m. EST, Tina Yip, community manager for R/GA will talk about getting into and advancing in the social media industry.

Local Events. If you live in one of these cities below, check out the interesting workshops and panels taking place during January.

• If you’re in Atlanta, attend a “Embracing Conflict: Personal & Professional Conflict Management Workshop” at Little Five Points Community Center on January 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• In the New York City area? Achievement First is hosting a professional development session for teachers called “The Together Teacher: Plan Ahead, Get Organized, and Save Time!” on January 26 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Brooklyn.
• In Portland, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon is hosting “Nonprofits & Advocacy: Mission Advancement & Civic Engagement,” a day of training on January 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Free Online Events and Resources. No matter where you are located, you can easily attend several free webinars in January related to nonprofit management and operations.

• The Nonprofit Technology Network is hosting a free webinar on January 15 at 11:00 a.m. EST about mobile donations.
• The “Developing an Epic Facebook Strategy for your Nonprofit” webinar will be held on January 30 at 3:00 p.m. EST.
• If you’re looking to expand your organization’s Twitter presence, marketing software company HubSpot is offering a free download of “How to Use Twitter for Business.”

Conferences. Do you have the time and money to attend a conference that’s not in your zip code? Plan ahead with a couple conferences set for early February.

• The DMA Nonprofit Federation 2013 Washington Nonprofit Conference is set for February 7 and 8, with Katya Andresen, COO and CSO of Network for Good as the keynote speaker.
• The Social Enterprise Conference is planned for February 9 and 10 in Boston, with Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org as the keynote.

Fellowship and Mentorship Programs. If you’re looking for something a little more in-depth and long term, there are several fellowships and internships in public service, government, and more that have January deadlines.

• Apply to work with President Obama (January 27 deadline).
• Choose between a year-long fellowship or a ten-week leadership training program with the Greenlining Institute (both January 18).
• Learn more about the nine-month Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs (January 18).
• The Nonprofit Consulting Meetup Group is expanding its incubator and mentorship program in 2013. The group is currently gathering interest via its Meetup page and will plan a kick-off event soon.

Management Training. Even if you are a bit farther along in your career or more set at your organization, there are still ways you can grow and learn.

• Goodnik, a group for social entrepreneurs and nonprofit innovators, is hosting a free Meetup event on “Hiring and Firing in the Social Enterprise” on January 23 at 7:00 p.m. in New York.
• The Center for Nonprofit Advancement is offering classes in January on “Facilitating Meetings that Work” and “How to Present Skillfully and Tactfully,” in Washington, DC on January 16 and 25 starting at 9:30 a.m., respectively.

And don’t forget to volunteer. Volunteering during your free time is definitely be one ongoing way you can boost your career, especially when the career is in nonprofits. Martin Luther King, Jr. day is Monday, January 21, and there are many volunteer opportunities available on Idealist and elsewhere for that three-day weekend.

I’m sitting in the lobby of the hotel where the Nonprofit Technology Conference will officially kick off tomorrow morning, back with more tips for conference survival and…thrival. (Did I just type that? I blame the jet lag.)

My post last week focused on what to do before you go. Here are some suggestions for what to do once you arrive.

Be realistic about email.

Think you might neglect your inbox a bit? Don’t forget to put up an out-of-office auto reply. Before the NTC, the smarties at NTEN provided boilerplate text that attendees could copy and paste into their email auto-responder (which deftly include information about the live stream of the conference). You could be cryptic, but Sarah Durham of Big Duck advocates that you share “that you’re out, when you’ll be back, and whom to contact in your absence.” And why not take the opportunity to show off your organization’s personality a little bit?

Remember who you meet.

Trish Tchume, National Director, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network:
I know this is an old trick, but I do still write a brief description about every person I meet on the back of their business card that includes where I met them, one physical detail, one professional detail, and one personal detail that will later jog my memory of who the person is. Hence my rolodex (yes, I still use one) is full of cards that say stuff like, “Chicago IS Conference, cool glasses, been at X org for 2 years, joked abt 4th season 30 Rock.”

Not feeling a session? Put one foot in front of the other, says Amy. (Photo: CarbonNYC, Flickr/Creative Commons)

As my yoga teacher would say, “Create your own experience.”

Amy Sample Ward, Membership Director, NTEN:
Remember the law of two feet: if you’re in a session, a social event, or anywhere else and it isn’t the conversation or topic you thought it would be, feel empowered to leave and find the people and conversations you’re after. Every conference tries to cover many topics and create opportunities for all the various goals participants may have, but participants also need to feel free to make the conference what they want it to be!

Building on that, a tip from me (julia@idealist.org):
Give yourself permission to leave and breathe. I’ve arranged to meet up with an old friend in the city for dinner one night. At the end of a long day of nonprofit tech immersion, I’ll have a chance to unwind, talk about totally different subjects, and see another neighborhood. (I’ll probably forget to take off my conference name tag. She’ll probably make fun of me. I’m OK with that.)

Share power…literally.

It’s conference season! Next week I’m heading to San Francisco for the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference, which boasts thousands of attendees and countless opportunities for networking, skill-building, and…sheer exhaustion. To prepare, I asked a bunch of nonprofit leaders how they make the most of big events like this. Here’s part 1: what to do before you leave.

Do you really want to do this?

Ami Dar, Founder and Executive Director, Idealist:
Think twice—or three times—before signing up. It’s tempting and easy to sign up for a conference that’s happening a few months from now, but pretend for a moment that the conference is happening tomorrow or next week. Would you still want to attend? If so, go for it!

Make a plan.

Does this make you want to run for cover? (Photo: Enterprise 2.0 Conference via Flickr)

Amy Sample Ward, Membership Director, NTEN:

Create a schedule for yourself ahead of time. Don’t budget every minute of every day, but do outline any sessions you know you want to see, and add in a block or two of time that’s free time so you reserve flexible time to meet up with new friends or explore the city.

Allison Jones, Fundraising and communications professional:
While I may blog and have an online presence, I am at my core an introvert. Large group settings make me uneasy so I always feel incredibly nervous before a conference…But I build a ton of relationships online, and conferences offer an opportunity to strengthen those relationships face-to-face. [Arranging ahead of time to] connect in a small group or one-on-one feels less random and less “networky”; these interactions invigorate me and allow me to connect with people in a more meaningful way. Plus, by planning time to meet others, it makes it harder for me to run into a corner and hide!

Trish Tchume, National Director, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network:
If the conference posts a participant list beforehand, go through the list and make note of who you want to catch up with or meet. Once you decide on those folks, PICK AN ACTUAL DATE, TIME, AND PLACE TO MEET. The best way to not actually meet up with someone at a conference is to just plan to “grab each other” when you’re there.

Creature comforts, AKA “Your body and soul”

This one’s mine:
On my packing list for this trip are comfortable shoes, workout clothes, healthy snacks to help me avoid a conference pastry overdose or overpriced airplane snack pack, and a travel mug or water bottle.

One thing I didn’t do that required advance planning: Sign up to volunteer. If your conference includes optional service opportunities like the NTC does, why not take them up on it?

Think (way) ahead.

Farra Trompeter, Vice President, Big Duck:
Block out time on your calendar now for AFTER the conference to process all that you learned and actually implement some of the bright ideas you’re certain to pick up in the sessions and in your conversations.

I’ll be back soon with Part 2: What to do while you’re there. In the meantime, have you tried these strategies? Do you have other “know before you go” tips for conference-goers?

Ed. note: Read Part 2, which covers ways to survive and thrive at big events like this!

Hello, Midwest.

I hear you’ve been thinking a lot about your career path. A little bird told me you’re wondering if graduate school might be a good next step.

I have great news, Midwest. My colleague Chris is coming to visit next week, along with recruiters from 100+ grad degree programs. They’re hosting meet-and-greets (otherwise known as Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good) just for you. You can meet them all, ask questions about financial aid, and learn the ins and outs of admissions.

All the cool kids came out to our fair in NYC.

Intrigued? You can learn more about the three fairs and RSVP by clicking these links:

• Minneapolis, MN – Monday, Oct. 18, 5:00-8:00 p.m.
• Chicago, IL – Tuesday, Oct. 19, 5:00-8:00 p.m.
• Ann Arbor, MI – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Hope you can make it. (Psst: if you can’t, you can find tons of resources at idealist.org/gradschool.)

Julia

p.s. You look great today. Is that a new shirt?

–

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

From Harvard Law Record via Flickr

Part of my job is to review listings of new organizations that join Idealist. The other day, we welcomed Scavenger Crawl to the site! Here’s their mission:

Scavenger Crawl is a nonprofit organization that aims to build awareness and advocacy for Bay Area nonprofits through a scavenger hunt and pub crawl event…The crawl portion lands teams at different restaurants, bars, and retail shops throughout San Francisco…In addition to building awareness for our nonprofit partners, we also hope to increase support for our local businesses.

Scavenger hunts are games in which the organizers prepare a list of objects to be gathered or tasks to be completed, and the participants, as individuals or teams, compete to check items off the list. I think this sounds super fun — and, though disappointed that I’m too far away to participate, I got to thinking about why this idea is so great. Folks who work at nonprofits tend to be mission-driven, and pretty much everyone I know loves a giant, interactive game. Why not combine the two? Lightbulb: Scavenger hunts for a cause.

Scavenger hunts can foster team-building; give participants a unique way of interacting with one another and their communities; push people to explore their neighborhoods; and are a fun way to raise awareness for a cause. They can even dispatch a whole corps of participants with assignments to do good.

I started poking around and found some other groups had done scavenger hunts too:

• The Independent Booksellers of New York City’s goal is to “keep indie bookstores thriving and raise awareness of the vital contributions that these local businesses make.” Their scavenger hunt sent teams to independent bookstores across New York City to explore what these small businesses have to offer. They gave participants a week to complete the hunt, so they’d have lots of time to check out some new reading material.
• The Students for Free Culture believes in creativity and innovation, communication and free expression, and public access to knowledge. To contribute to everyone’s favorite public knowledge hub, they sent their teams out to take photos of landmarks across New York City that would fill in blank spaces on Wikipedia. They even had people edit the event’s Wikipedia page to RSVP!
• The Secret Order of Do-Gooders went on a top secret mission to gather items needed by local charities.
• One Brick organizes fundraiser scavenger hunts that take participants through local museums.

I love hearing about creative ways to get people to meet each other, collaborate, do good, and have fun. We started thinking about other ways to mix things up. A softball league for nonprofits joined our site a few weeks ago. How about a “speed dating” style meet-and-greet for local nonprofits? Or the Glasgow group that performed guerrilla acts of gardening? Or the Green Edge Collaborative who organizes “Eco-Eatery Tours?”

Can you think of fun ways to gather food for a local food bank, clean up local hiking trails, or create a collaborative work of art? Don’t forget to invite us!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]