Yesterday evening I attended the annual “State of the Young Professional” event. The first event last year was well attended, but left some people skeptical and others energetic. I think for the most part, the energy is still there. The whole “attract and retain” initiative seems like something very hard to produce measurable results for, but the efforts coming from the Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor’s Office are creating a buzz within the circle that I’m frequently in. Outside of that circle is a whole different story. I guess what I’m trying to say is… I feel like there’s a lot of preaching to the choir going on. Here’s a photo of the choir:
All good people. Enthusiastic young folks who want to make a difference. It’s a great base to have and keep energized. They can really help push the agenda forward.
I actually agree with what Rebecca Ryan said last night (via video) and think that the next steps are going to really be engaging the folks who are disengaged. The laundry list of wonderful survey results that were rattled off by Dr. Bill Lafayette sounded great for all pep rally type purposes, but I feel like the demo group surveyed relied too heavily upon those already engaged and already in attendance. It doesn’t really tell us too much else about the other young people in our city who weren’t currently on the proper email distribution lists to get a notification to participate in the poll.
Anyway, I know it’s easier said than done to “engage the disengaged” and while I’m being critical of a few details that jumped out to me, I’m still confidant that these efforts are time well spent by all involved.