By: Tom Bigford. Edited by, Cassie Wilson, Kim Grubert, Tricia Hooper
No virus was going to de-rail TCS’s young tradition of hosting a Margaret A. Davidson Coastal Career Workshop during Capitol Hill Ocean Week. This year we switched from a full day in person to four hours on a virtual platform. The response from students and early professionals was outstanding. Our cap of 36 registrants was reached 10 days before the event, and another 27 people are on a waiting list for a future event. Clearly, TCS is filling a need by the next generation of coastal professionals for informative and inspirational advice on career planning and mentoring.
Skilled speakers representing many sectors and perspectives shared their personal stories and tips for how to be successful in a coastal career. Despite some technical glitches, nearly all registrants felt the workshop was “definitely a good use of their time” (96%) and thought the nominal registration fee was appropriate (89%). As one speaker wrote on the evaluation form, “Great job organizing the workshop! Overall this is such a great network and I always enjoy supporting this group!” Registration included a 30-minute mentoring session with a speaker, workshop organizer, or member of the TCS board. Those mentoring sessions are being conducted now and were an exciting new addition to these career workshops. Early responses to this new virtual mentoring benefit are very positive.
Since December 2018 TCS has hosted ten Margaret A. Davidson Coastal Career Workshops. TCS is currently planning the rest of its 2020 calendar and anticipates hosting another workshop in early September and several more this autumn. Learn more about this workshop series.