LaidOffCamp to offer job hunt ideas, support

Laid-off workers of the world unite.

Local businesswoman Valerie Croke Schoenherr is putting together Colorado Springs’ first LaidOffCamp on Thursday — a free event featuring networking and seminars on entrepreneurship and retooling job skills. And, for good measure, snacks and beer.

Schoenherr runs her own human resources consulting business, Croke Schoenherr & Associates. She struck out on her own after being laid off by a large company six years ago.

“I had to lay 70 people off, and then they laid me off,” she said. “That’s how I ended up in business for myself. I have a lot more freedom and I like running my own business.”

She’s hoping the laid-back, low-key nature of laid off camp will help other people reevaluate their job search and think differently about what they want to do.

“When you’re laid off, it gives you an opportunity to reevaluate and find something that really speaks to you,” Schoenherr said.

LaidOffCamp is a national movement that began earlier this year in San Francisco when Chris Hutchins, a 24-year-old management consultant who lost his job, gathered 400 other unemployed people to share ideas and support. The idea has been imitated around the country. Schoenherr heard a radio story on the event and thought Colorado Springs, where the unemployment rate has hit a near-20-year high of 8.1 percent, could benefit from a local version.

DETAILS
A free (RSVP required) networking and counseling camp for unemployed workers and people considering career changes.
When: 2-6 p.m. Thursday July 16.
Where: 1160 Lake Plaza Drive
Information and registration: laidoffcampcos.org