Eight years ago, during what I like to think of as my “fallow” period, I heard about something called “Recession Camp“. Basically, it was two laid-off dot-commers in San Francisco who, weary of their job search, started planning fun daytime events throughout the Bay Area: baseball games, amusement park trips, etc. I told another out-of-work friend about it, and we went so far as to contact the founders about setting up a New York chapter. Unfortunately, these conversations were all taking place mere days before 9/11, and afterward, none of us felt much like planning anything.
I hadn’t even thought of Recession Camp until this past week, when in the space of days I heard about two independent projects designed to help the recently unemployed: Runway Project and Laid-Off Camp. What’s interesting about these initiatives is how much more ambitious they are than Version 1.0. Here’s how one of Recession Camp’s founders described his venture back in 2001:
“This is not about trying to get a job or even talking about trying to get a job,” Brenner said, noting that Recession Camp is unlike pink-slip parties where recruiters mingle with job seekers. “No one here is looking to hire you, so you just hang out.”
Here’s Runway Project’s call to action:
Your severance package, if you got one, buys you time to figure out what to do next.
Maybe you want to go back to employed life, but maybe this time you don’t.
Maybe this is your chance to strike out on your own.
Your severance package has cut you free. Now you have some runway. By the end of the runway, you need to be flying.
We’re here to help.
The positive spin on this development is that the advent of social media has made it easier for like-minded individuals to organize effectively. The more pessimistic view is that, unlike at the beginning of this decade, when a lot of young people experienced temporary career setbacks after spending the previous few years outpacing their qualifications, this downturn is likely to be far more lasting and transformative, and if people are going to reinvent themselves professionally, they better get started immediately; they don’t have time to “just hang out.”
Which interpretation is correct? Should we be optimistic or gloomy? I suspect a little bit of both. But maybe the fact that we’re in such a transformative age means that the innovations people are developing now will have more of a lasting impact, and that eight years from now, they will be remembered for more than that they once had an article written about them by future novelist Curtis Sittenfeld.
