If I have heard one time, then I have heard it a thousand time… "There is nothing to do in Roanoke". Many young adults want more events catered toward their demographics. This belief has been present for years.

The Event Zone has created a young adult event organized by young adults called Midnight on the Market. This could be one of many future events designed specifically for this audience.

I hear many young adults say they want to be on boards and make a difference, well here is your chance. If you want to be part of the planning and organizing committee, then please contact Sara.

Midnight on the Market, New Year’s Eve, Downtown Roanoke. Make plans now.

The Challenge Job Fair was held today in Roanoke. Area colleges and universities both from the region and outside the region participated in the fair. Over 400 students were present for the morning fair and in the afternoon interviews were conducted by the 70+ companies.

Many of the out-of-town students drove their own cars from Farmville, Lynchburg and Richmond to attend this fair. It was a great opportunity to show off the city and some of its local employers, however, the majority of employers were from outside the region. Hopefully, next year, more local companies will see the benefit to participating.

Kudos to Hollins University, this year’s organizer, for a job well done in promoting and organizing the event. 

On Friday, nearly 40 Virginia Tech engineering students visited Roanoke as part of the City of Roanoke’s Roanoke Wants U. program. The visit included a tour of the Coca-Cola bottling facility, a walking tour of downtown Roanoke, and a reception with local employers at a popular downtown establishment.

The students were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the representatives at Coca-Cola. It was customer service and community outreach at its best. On the way back, students were interested in bringing friends and other organizations to participate in a future event.

Exposing local college students to the region’s amenities, both socially and professionally, can only increase our chances of retaining these knowledge workers.

Of all the job sites and board on the Internet, whototalkto has to be the best because it focuses on personal networking.

The author’s description of why job sites do not work - only 7% get jobs from them - should be read by every job seeker.

Brian McCullough has created the concept and I hope all will visit it.

Thanks to E from Radford and C from Richmond who share wonderful resources on a regular basis and recently they each intersected with info on cost of living.

Best Places hands down wins the award for the best cost of living web site around. It give tremendous details and even qualitative data from folks from each region.

This New York Magazine article talked about the value of a dollar in NYC is only 76.2 cents. 

We often times do not know how great a deal it is locally to work, live and play as compared to other places in the U.S. Take some time and play with these sites and read the materials to see how we compare. You may be surprised.

Yesterday at Roanoke College, the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity in conjunction with the career services office, hosted a local internship fair for Roanoke College students. Approximately, 30 organizations attended and were looking to fill a wide range of positions. (Interestingly, the recruiters of these organizations were predominantly young adults.)

Annie Johnson’s recent Roanoke Times article on internships reported a sharp increase in the number of local internships in the region. This internship fair supports her article.

Congratulations to Roanoke College on making the connection between its students and the region. 

Faculty Net is a hosting another professional social at the Oge-Chi’s Restaurant in Blacksburg on Nov 9, 5:30-7:30pm. Oge-Chi is located at on Draper Rd. next to Bollo’s and Rivermill.

Faculty Net is an opportunity for young professionals in the region to gather and meet each other. For more info, email Hardus. 

Feel free to bring colleagues/spouses/friends and don’t hesitate to let others know.

On Friday, we brought a group of college students from Virginia Tech to tour the city and visit with local employers. They were very impressed with the venue, downtown, food, but especially the employers and how they talked favorable about the region’s prospects.

Wachovia, Shenandoah Life and the Renick Group all helped sell the region and the opportunities locally to these aspiring college students. Thanks to the representatives of these organizations who took their time to help us sell the region to Generation Y.

The City of Roanoke created a database to capture the names and contact info of people wanting to be employed in the Roanoke region. From this list, employers contact candidates and the candidates receive eNewsletters about "hidden" jobs.

I received this email today from one of the persons on the distribution list:

"I gave up on VA, moved back to the good folks of Texas. No sense sending this to me. Thank you."

We did not get it done with this one, but we will continue to give it the old college try. If you have friends thinking about leaving because of job opportunities, then direct them to these resources.

Recently, I had the good fortune to meet Jason Dorsey on his recent trip to Roanoke. Jason is a 28 year old international motivational speaker and author who has become the voice for the next generation. He helps organizations better understand how to motivate and retain young adults through the lens of a young adult.

His presentation style is entertaining, witty and very informative. Check out his website and pick up his books.