I can tell you how I plan to go from laid off to employed in four words:
Do things, tell people.
I wish that I came up with that pithy, four-word summary, but I didn’t; Carl Lange did. It’s the title of his blog post from the early 2010s, where he describes that line as “the only things you need to do to be successful.”
(And in the same blog post, he defines successful as “‘taking advantage of personally interesting opportunities,’ but I think that this mantra works for success in terms of money also.”)
So let me tell you about the more interesting things I’m doing over the next two weeks…
Monday, February 12: Interview with Tampa Bay Business Journal
On Monday, I’ve got a video interview with Stephen Pastis of the Tampa Bay Business Journal about the experience of tech layoffs and what I’m doing now.
Tuesday, February 13: A meeting that I can’t talk about yet
It’s about an interesting opportunity — the kind that I wouldn’t be able to take under normal circumstances but is feasible because I got laid off.
Wednesday, February 14: The Surviving a Layoff LinkedIn audio event with Computer Coach’s Suzanne Ricci
Join me and Suzanne Ricci from Computer Coach on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST on LinkedIn audio (just navigate to this LinkedIn page to join) as we talk about the layoff experience and what you can do to survive and even thrive!
Thursday, February 15: Recording with Jorge Arango for his podcast, The Informed Life
On Thursday, I’ll be recording a podcast episode with author and information architect Jorge Arango for his podcast, The Informed Life. You get three guesses as to what the topic will be (hint: getting laid off).
Monday, February 19: Flying to Austin, Texas
On Monday, February 19 at 6:50 a.m., my plane is to board a Southwest Airlines jet, find a window seat somewhere in the last five rows, fall asleep before takeoff, and wake up in Austin, Texas. Then I will find a place to set up my computer and make last-minute updates to a presentation that I will give on the following day…
Tuesday, February 20 – Wednesday, February 21: Speaking at and attending the Civo Navigate conference in Austin
On the morning of Tuesday, February 20 at 10:30 a.m. — a prime speaking slot just after the opening keynote — I will give a presentation at the Civo Navigate North America conference titled You’re Not Too Late to the A.I. Party. It will kick off the conference’s AI/ML track and will feature live code, amusing slides, and an accordion performance.
With my presentation done and out of the way, I will proceed to enjoy the rest of the day and the day after by attending the conference, hitting the after-parties, enjoying bourbon and Shiner Bock, and eating some barbecue.
Thursday, February 22: Hanging out in Austin until my evening flight home
during StartupBus in July 2022.
My flight home doesn’t take off until 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, February 22, which will give me most of the day to hang out in Austin. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something to do, but if you’re in the area and want to catch up, let me know!