The 4th Annual Un-Company Picnic held on Friday, 31 May 2013 was attended by 38 people – three more than participated in the 3rd Annual Un-Company picnic on Friday, 25 May 2012. These picnics were at Preston Park Meadow Pavilion in Plano, Texas. Those who landed described their new positions. Lee Brucker read a very short list of job fairs and workshops. Everybody recited their 30-second introduction. Paulette Wagner and Bobby Wrenn played a game of Cribbage. The wind blew a few things around, but otherwise attendees enjoyed the fellowship and food. The North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group, Jeff Morris, organize these picnics. Advance registration for $5 or at the picnic for $6 got two all beef hot dogs, a bag of chips, two drinks, and a large cookie. Funds not used for the picnics are donated to CareerDFW. Potato salad, fruit, and other items were brought and shared by some participants. Photographs taken at the 4th Annual Un-Company Picnic follow. 

North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group met on Friday, 25 May 2012 at the City of Plano - Preston Meadow Park Pavilion for networking and their third annual un-company picnic. The formal networking meeting agenda included:

• Announcement of Landings
• Announcement of Interviews
• Announcement of Job Fairs
• Announcement of Workshops
• Announcement of Practice Interview Sessions
• Reading of the Career Tip-of-the-Week – Networking Tools
• 30-second commercials

There was more networking while the hot dogs cooked. Items provided as part of the picnic were:

• Two hot dogs
• Bag of chips
• One large cookie
• Two soft drinks

Other food items (fruit salad, baked beans, deserts, etc.) were shared by members of the group. Everything tasted wonderful. The strong wind was somewhat troublesome and uncomfortable. Otherwise, I believe everybody enjoyed the meeting and networking.

Next Meeting: Friday, 01 June 2012 at Christ United Methodist Church of Plano, Texas (the typical meeting location) will be Open Forum. 

The North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group met on Friday, 04 May 2012. Attendees, who arrived on time, paired up, told each other their 30 second commercials, next each participant introduced the person they were paired with to the entire group. This caused the 30 second commercial to be less technical; therefore, they were better understood by persons in different professions. Plans for a group picnic on the Friday before Memorial Day were discussed. The last hour of the meeting was Open Forum. Some of the topics discussed were:

• Job Fairs – apply on-line to companies represented at job fairs prior to attending the job fair, then you can tell them that you have already applied on-line and ask for the name of the hiring manager; you might not be told the name, but there is no harm in asking
• Telling another person how to give a 30 second introduction for you forces you to put it in plain language
• Look at alumni list of networking group roosters for people working in target companies
• After landing, do not unsubscribe from Yahoo and Google groups; rather, modify profiles for web access only to avoid receiving all the e-mails

Next Meeting: John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, Economic Development for Richardson, Texas Chamber of Commerce is schedule to speak to the North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group on Friday, 11 May 2012.

The North Dallas / Plano Career Focus Group meetings are on most Friday mornings at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. Official information about this group is available at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CC_NorthDallas/.