I addressed Danville’s CPC Job Connections group today. There were about 80 people in attendance.

Once again, as at Experience Unlimited in Lafayette CA, I was struck by the wealth of knowledge and skill in the room. I’ve never been in a position to need the services offered by these groups. They are both fine examples of community and business outreach.

The room was full of interesting people including Dean Guadagni, uber-blogger from Marin County, CA. Dean mentioned in his blog that I would be addressing this group and his post was picked up by FoxBusiness.com. A big thanks to Dean (under the arrow).

If you are having a hard time recognizing Dean, it’s because he’s slimmed down to his Philadelphia fighting weight – the Stallion is Back!

The gent in the wild shirt in the center of the picture above is Alex who is a pretty wild and funny guy. Behind him in black is Marisa who was ecstatic at having been to several successful interviews recently. It appears that PG&E may make her an offer she won’t be able to refuse. This on top of another offer. Multiple offers! We love those in real estate also. (We’ve written about PG&E’s upcoming expansion at Bishop Ranch.)

My presentation consisted of about 30 slides, that took me 35 to work through. There were a lot of good questions and comments. The topic was “A New Way of Strategic Thinking About Your Career.” Basically, what I have noticed is that few people are leveraging the power of the Internet to effectively influence the evolution of their careers in a positive way.

There were several people who had recently returned to the San Ramon Valley area and I was quick to mention that I am a real estate agent. Everyone got a chuckle of of my change in careers two years ago from the bankrupt airline to crashing real estate – kind of like out of the pot and into the fire.

A big thanks each to Don Smith for introducing me to Doug Neeper who invited me to speak. CPC Jobs Connection online at Yahoo Groups.

Hilary Toyryla has invited me back to Experience Unlimited in August. She says she is finally getting the significance and potential of blogging and would like me to focus more on it as a way to further one’s career.

To end, I mentioned my good friend Linda Strasburg author of Competency Based Resumes and talk show host veteran (14 years now). Linda loves to interview interesting people and she can help anyone create a fantastic resume.

We wrote a while back about flooding in Walnut Creek, Ca. But in that post we were just showcasing a little digital image manipulation. Now we read about the real deal - Walnut Creek reaching the flood stage due to heavy rains.

Of course that's Walnut Creek in Des Moines, IA where heavy rains in the mid-West continue to plague farmers and residents with problems. Watching MSNBC yesterday while I was on the treadmill at 24 Hour Fitness in Walnut Creek (California), I saw the price of corn and soy beans are going through the roof due to the flooding.

Inflation worries are becoming a concern for an economy that is already in trouble. Thank God Chevron is still raking in record profits. I'd hate to think the whole country was suffering.

BTW when I gave my presentation to Experience Unlimited a few weeks ago, it seemed the largest group of job seekers in the room were those from the real estate and mortgage professions.

Experience Unlimited, a job seekers’ network in Lafayette, California, met yesterday and while Hillary Clinton was following the primary results in North Carolina and Indiana, Hilary Toyryla (one L) was introducing me to the crowd.

I told Hilary that I was going to use the name Hillary for link-baiting, which I then had to explain. Hilary then pointed out that she spells her name with one L unlike the Hillary on the campaign trail. 

I was sharing the importance of having a web presence to this very interesting mix of professionals currently seeking jobs in the Bay Area. What a wealth of knowledge and experience in that room! The idea of leveraging the power of the Internet for promoting themselves seemed new to many.

The title of my presentation was – 8 Simple Tools to Market YOU. I will post more details on the presentation later.

I haven’t had to search for a job in over 35 years (real estate is busy and my Internet marketing consulting is booming). It was very interesting to listen and observe. I was struck by the richness of the experience, the support and networking.

Experience Unlimited, as a group, could really benefit from applying the 8 simple tools I was talking about. Leveraging the Internet in an effective way would do a lot for this group and the people it serves.

The talk seemed to go over well as I received two invitations to present to two other groups in the area and was swamped with questions at the end.

My thanks to Rosanne Goodwin and Cathy Flanigan for suggesting me to Experience Unlimited.

They even gave me this Certificate of Appreciation

8 Simple Tools to Market YOU is the topic of of my presentation to this week's Experience Unlimited meeting in Lafayette, California. 

I will discuss  "YOU the Product" and the importance of establishing a viable web presence for business networking. 

The Internet has changed everything. The importance of Marketing YOU has never been greater. People are searching for what you have to offer. If you can't be found, you're losing out on tremendous opportunities.

Experience Unlimited is a no-fee career management resource center and job search networking group for business and technical professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. EU meets every Tuesday morning at Temple Isaiah of Contra Costa, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, CA 94549.

For job seekers who know how to leverage the Internet the rules change – employers and head hunters come to you, not you to them.

This presentation is something I will be fine tuning for presentations to the local Chambers of Commerce and small business owners. It seems the word has gotten out into the small business arena that I actually know what I am talking about!