40Plus welcomes Dec. 1 speaker Ritzya Mitchell

40Plus of Greater Washington welcomes Ritzya Mitchell to speak at our December 1 Monday Morning Meeting.  Ms. Mitchell consults on public speaking as “The Drama Coach.”  Her topic: Public Speaking Made Fun.

Join us in this delightful talk on the power of public speaking to enhance your career, “where public speaking means business.” Audience participation is expected! (this is gonna be a fun one).

Monday morning professional networking meetings are free and open to the public.

40Plus welcomes Nov. 24 speaker Gary Vaughan

40Plus of Greater Washington welcomes Gary Vaughan to speak at our November 24 Monday Morning Meeting. Mr. Vaughan is a consultant through Worldwide Information Network Systems, Inc.  His topic: “Launching a New IT Career: How to Mix Online and Traditional Job Hunt Techniques.”

Monday morning professional networking meetings are free and open to the public.

40Plus welcomes Nov. 17 speaker Cynthia Gilmer

40Plus of Greater Washington welcomes Cynthia Gilmer to speak at our November 17 Monday Morning Meeting.  Ms. Gilmer owns Opus Plus, which offers support services for software and IT companies.  She will talk about “Exploring Opportunities in New Product Development.”

Monday morning professional networking meetings are free and open to the public.

Jump into the Web 2.0 water

Our November 10 Monday morning speaker, Dick Davies from Planphoria, offered a number of great tips for trying web 2.0 technologies.  40Plus members are strongly encouraged to jump into the water.  You can start by responding here, for example.  Just click on Comments and weigh in.

Online social networking is a powerful tool all jobseekers need to exploit.  For more information about this, check out the links from the Career Solvers blog describing how Twitter led to job interviews with company CEOs.

We’ll continue presenting similar topics at future Monday Morning Meetings.

Networking Know-How for All Occasions

Here’s a networking tip from 40Plus member Emily Glazer.

When: Sunday November 9th 2008, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Description:
Networking Know-How for All Occasions  (includes lunch)
Workshop Leader:  Lynne Waymon
Wish you felt more comfortable and competent at all those business and social events?  Lynne will show you the rules and tools for making networking an art…not an accident!  Learn what to do and say to make great connections in all kinds of situations – during coffee hour after the platform at WES, at business and professional events, at work, at backyard barbecues.  Wherever you go, you will benefit from the life’s abundance that’s all around you.  Conversational skills can be learned.  Become the natural and only choice when opportunity arises by putting the tools of networking to work in the service of your business or career goals.  This class is very interactive, upbeat, and fun – lecturettes, demonstrations, one-on-ones, and writing exercises, etc.
Fee:  $30, includes lunch and Lynne’s book, “Make Your Contacts Count”
Lynne Waymon is an award-winning speaker who’s taught networking skills to people in corporations, associations, and entrepreneurs for more than 18 years. www.ContactsCount.com
To register for this event, please phone or e-mail Mark Sorden: markS@ethicalsociety.org.
Washington Ethical Society
7750 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20012
(202) 882-6650 – wes@ethicalsociety.org

Jobs with Obama Administration

40Plus members interested in working with the incoming Obama Administration should act now.  Check out these two websites for information about positions and how to submit an application.

http://www.change.gov/

http://www.transitionjobs.us/

Good luck!

A 40Plus success story

Recently, 40Plus Member Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga (Nolu) landed a new job, and we wanted to share her story with everyone.

Dear 40 Plus family:

First of all thank you for your support during this too long time of my struggle to find a decent job. As I say, doing the job will be a breeze compared to FINDING the job. I never, never would have made it without 40Plus, so I am FOREVER indebted to the organization. Here are the details:
 
CARE, Washington, DC (see www.care.org)
 
The Policy Media Relations Officer will develop and execute strategies that leverage news media to further CARE’s pursuit of its policy and advocacy objectives. S/he will have a deep understanding of policy matters relating to global poverty, develop professional relationships with key members of the media, and in accord with CARE’s advocacy strategies, secure placement for stories and opinion pieces that affect public opinion leading to support from policy makers.
 
One of the many things I’ve learned on this arduous journey is that I will never ever let my contacts get cold, because in actual fact it is due to an old friend who is PR director at CARE that I have this job. I did not contact her when I applied for the job online as it had been at least 10 years since we talked. But she somehow saw my application and put it on the top of the stack. The rest as they say…
 
During the negotiation process I requested and they agreed to (among other things) two hours a week off for volunteer commitments. That means I can now attend the Monday meetings with some regularity, and I will NEVER stop going to Job Club until I retire, hopefully 10-15 years down the road from now.
 
I will wait to ring the bell on Nov 24th the Monday after my start date which is Nov 17th.
 
Much love to you all,
Nolu

40Plus welcomes Nov. 10 speaker Dick Davies

40Plus of Greater Washington welcomes Dick Davies to speak at our November 10 Monday Morning Meeting.  This is a return appearance for Mr. Davies, who is part of the Leadership with Planphoria, a developer of Web 2.0 communications strategies.  His topic: Talk Your Business — How To Establish Your Web 2.0 Presence in 2 Hours or Less.

Monday morning professional networking meetings are free and open to the public.