The “best attendance on record” was noted for the turnout of the Mass Bay Chapter’s 2004 Career Day event.  Total count of 150 professionals included members from the Mass and other local Chapters, speakers, and job fair representatives.  Thanks to all of you for making the Career Day event a success.

The event was held on Saturday, May 22^nd, at the Boston University Corporate Education Center.  The crowd started pouring in at 8 A.M. sharp.  The morning started with registration, breakfast, and networking, followed by the key note address by Ginny Rehberg, also known as “The Career Doc” on Channel 4.  Amongst others, an important message Ginny sends in her speech, “stay positive and keep your head high in the job search process.”  Ginny also emphasized the importance of networking.

We had 10 breakout sessions presented by 8 speakers.  In addition to the Development track and the Job Search Skills track, we had speakers representing Healthcare, Bio-Tech, and Government on the industry track.  While all sessions were well attended, the High Performance Interviewing session seemed to be a favorite with more than 65 attendees. 

This years’ event included a focused Job Fair.  Participation by Oracle, DRC, Titan, Keane and Harte-Hanks was a well-received added attraction.  Both the participants and the job fair representatives expressed their satisfaction.  

The day ended with a bag lunch and a raffle.  The participants were required to return their evaluation forms in exchange for a raffle ticket.  Having received an impressive pen light in the morning, a chance for winning a great raffle prize in exchange for an evaluation form worked like a charm.  The total value of all prizes awarded was more than $6,000.  Winners went home with various vouchers for free classes and seminars, including a 4-day PMP class, a project management seminar at BU, a project management seminar at Worcester State College, a project management seminar offered by PMI Mass Bay Chapter, and more.

As the day progressed, the Career Day Project Team watched the event activities move smoothly.  The Teams’ hard work over the last two months came to fruition, and was well received by all, including participants, speakers and company representatives.

Some of the comments on the evaluation forms include:

●   Expected it to be well managed and it certainly was

●   Great value for $10

●   Great opportunity to Network

●   Great event; Great speakers; Great topics. 

●   Worth the trip, etc

Some of the suggested improvements include:

●   Have longer sessions

●   Offer each session at least twice

●   Have more companies at the job fair

All the feedback will be consolidated and used in the planning of future events. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Career Day Planning Team for their dedicated support and all their hard work in bringing this event to you.  Many hours were put in by Ann O’Connell, Matt Metcalf, Jackie Morrissey, Guy Paquette, Suzanne Ress, and Hannah Sukonick (consulting support).  My special thanks to Jim Harris for helping us at the Registration Desk. 

I would also like to thank Lalig Musserian, Barbara Alevras and Mark Schlepphorst for providing their support.

Thank you.