Apr 20

First-ever JETAA NY Blog Workshop a Success

Advice, Blogs, Career, Uncategorized, Writers Add Comment (1)

This past Saturday we held the first-ever JET Alumni Blog Workshop where we invited JET alums to gather and learn how to set up, use and take advantage of blogs.  This was my first activity in my new JETAA NY role as Professional Outreach & Development Chair and it turned out to be both productive and a lot of fun.

• The goal was to help JET alums develop skills that will be beneficial in furthering their careers, whether they want to be independent writers, promote their services and abilities or perhaps just be one of the few people in their company who knows how to use blogs effectively (or at all).

• Location: JETAA NY webmaster Lee-Sean Huang‘s apartment building in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, which has wi-fi in its library.  Two JET alums joined:  Randall, who had never used a blog before, and Anton, who is familiar with blogs but was seeking structure for his writing energies and was interested in learning some of the techniques for effectively using a blog and increasing traffic.  Rather than a formal class-style lecture, we just sat around with our laptops (3 laptops for 4 people), demonstrated the basics of blogs and then looked over Randall’s shoulder as he set up his first-ever blog.  With Anton we discussed using RSS feeds to follow other blogs as well as possible writing topics and ways to contribute to JetWit.com.

• Next JET Alumni Blog Workshop:  Probably on a weeknight in the near future, most likely in midtown at a cafe or other space that has wi-fi.  Stay tuned for more information.  If you’re interested and you have not already been in touch, just send an e-mail to professional at jetaany dot org and I’ll add you to the list.

• Lastly, I encourage other JETAA chapters to try setting up blog workshops as well.  In addition to helping JET alums learn new skills, it was also nice to get together, learn about what each of us was doing and exchange info in a constructive way.  In the current economy it’s more important than ever for JET alums to help each other out, and this is just one small way among many to do that.