Our friend Juan Urrea has created a blog in Spanish that reaches the local Hispanic community called "Circuito Cerrado". The name of the blog and its content is translated in English here: "Closed Circuit".

In 10 days the blog has been live 120 people are reading his blog each day. Juan has a video production company called Katios Media Productions. He also creates a periodical Spanish news program and burns it to a DVD and passes it out within the community. Juan’s success and use of technology in capturing a niche demographic audience is quite impressive.

If you want to learn more about his production company and some of his content, then email Juan.

Roanoke Biz2Biz, WDBJ 7 are hosting a local bloggers conference on Thursday, March 15 from 12 noon - 2 pm at the WDBJ 7 Community Room in Roanoke. Lunch will be provided and the cost to attend is $10.

You will hear bloggers from all experience levels discuss this topic.

If you are a blogger, then we want you there to meet other local bloggers offline. Bring your laptop to showcase your blog in the wireless environment.

Individuals curious about blogging and how to create, use and read them are strongly encouraged to attend. 

You must RSVP to attend as space is limited. To register, email Patsy at RoanokeBiz2Biz.

A young female named Jennifer has taken the initiative to address the concept that there is nothing to do in Roanoke by creating a business - You5w.com - which will organize and promote special events for young adults in the region. Their next event is March 2 the Spy v. Spy Limo Chase. Hope you will attend. 

We have written much on the topic of networking on this blog and how many young adults are absolutely ignorant to the importance of it in their job searches. 80% of all jobs are never advertised and how you uncover those jobs is through networking.

Many young adults are indeed natural networkers. Look at the popularity of Facebook and Myspace. Unfortunately, for them many Boomers and Xers are not using those channels, and therefore Yers never create an online or offline network of contacts. (Perhaps LinkedIn can bring the generations together online.)

To further hurt them, the accepted and only way most know to search for a job is to post a resume at Monster or other large national job boards and sit back and wait. If they get to a local company website, they shoot an email to a generic email address with an attachment and most often never follow up. Only 10% of jobs are filled through online databases. Just 1 out of 10.

To help young adults with networking, the book Truth and Delusion by founders of BNI (includes co-author and Roanoke’s own Mike Garrison) talk about the six-different groups professionals should have association with. Also, Jason Dorsey’s book My Reality Check Bounced also offers a list or organizations to visit and join.

We all must tell recent graduates (high school and college) that just because you have a degree does not mean you will have a job. Job searching is hard work and takes time. You must be able to sell yourself and your skill sets to the company. 

The gap appears to be getting wider of young adults not being able to communicate with older generations offline. As a result, the default for young adults is to move to a larger city cause Monster says there are more jobs there. But really, using networking in the job search is the same in those cities too. 

Reach out to young people and help them understand the labor market and how to use networking in their job searches.

Many have heard of Richard Florida, who is the guru for region’s attracting and retaining the Creative Class. Florida’s two books - The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class - really make a lot of sense to Generation X and Y and are great tools for practitioners trying to implement Florida’s research.

Fast Company magazine recently published an article "The View from Florida-Ville" criticized Florida and his work.

I felt it was necessary to support Florida and his team and therefore submitted this letter to the editor I hope is published in April’s issue.

In response to “The View from Florida-Ville”, Mr. Florida understands Generation X and Y in ways Mr. Peck does not. He knows what motivates young adults and he uses sound research to back it up.

It is no secret that many medium size cities like Roanoke,VA are bleeding young adults to more urban areas, especially during the 1990s. Roanoke’s city manager had a vision to be proactive in addressing this important, but not urgent issue, by creating a staff person to implement many of Mr. Florida’s ideas.

As a result, Roanoke is beginning to see many signs of reaching the tipping point - increased participation by young adults in regional issues; programs and events which are receiving local, regional and national coverage; and an online buzz that is giving hope to many young professionals who are looking for ways to return home, stay in the region after college, or discover the next hip city.

Mr. Florida’s work has been very instrumental in Roanoke and other cities branding process in making second-tier cities a destination for young adults.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jason Dorsey this morning in Roanoke about his work as Generation Y’s voice in communicating with older generations. His book - My Reality Check Bounced - is a wonderful read about how 20somethings can cash in on their real-world dreams.

Jason repeatedly mentioned how fantastic a city Roanoke is from the times he has visited. He lives in Austin, Texas and tells a story of how it grew from 100,000 in population in the 80s to now 700,000. It’s growth can be attributed to a number of things, but it is known for its information technology industry, music scene, University of Texas, entrepreneurial spirit and a destination for young adults.

Jason feels Roanoke is prime and ready for growth and it has many attributes young adults are looking for in a destination city - like outdoors, cost of living, beautiful setting, nice people, etc. He gave us some good ideas and thoughts on how to make this happen. We need ambassadors like Jason who carry the torch for us in other cities he is speaking. This perception from afar can go a long ways in promoting the region to young adults.   

Thanks for your good work Jason. All of you reading, get a copy of his book.

Today on the campus of Virginia Tech, the City of Roanoke and the Department of Business Assistance hosted an event in the classroom of Dr. Chris Neck’s class with 500+ people to discuss the concept and traits of entrepreneurship. Cameron Johnson, 22 year old and 12-time entrepreneur, was better than advertised. His story is so good, Hollywood could not have made it up. Dr. Neck was equally as good with his interactive teaching style. Read more about these two gems in the region - Neck and Johnson.

Many have said there needs to be a central location on the web for young adults in the Roanoke and New River Valleys to obtain information about what is happening in the region, as well as, offering an opportunity for other people to add links to the site of other events, helpful resources, etc.

What would you like to see on such a site?

Cameron Johnson - 22-year-old, 12-time entrepreneur - will be speaking to Dr. Chris Neck’s Management Thoery and Leadership in Practice class on Friday afternoon at McBryde 100 on the campus of Virginia Tech from 2:30 pm to 5pm. Space is limited. Click to register. Area entrepreneurial service providers will also be present to help the 400+ students who want to learn more about how they can start a business locally.

I was recently turned on to this article that suggests some very good commentary that will support Richard Florida and this blogs approach to retaining local talent. It provides three different alternatives to "educational segregation" - throw more state money at education, Florida’s findings about recruiting the creative class to do the economic development for you, and incentives through financial aid.