Scones and Conversation

Niall Smith, a 2011 On Purpose Fellow, recently attended one of the On Purpose training sessions and introduced us to the employability social network, Backr. Having launched the network with Participle, Niall and the Backr team are now working to get more members using the tool to make the connections they need to further their careers.

I was pretty taken with the idea — making invaluable conversations more accessible to people so that they could explore and plan their job paths by chatting to others who have more knowledge or experience of that area.

Backr also organise ‘real-life’ meet-ups for members themed by industry, so last week I attended the ‘foodie meet-up’ in the hopes of stealing a recipe or two.

I trundled in to find a table laden with brought along food and made a beeline to some inviting looking scones. Good scones: a talented bunch!

Speaking to the attendees I was struck by their passion, motivation and talent. They’re producing distinctive food products: from traditional Jamaican juices to an old family chicken curry, that have been honed to perfection over years of practice.

From their questions it became apparent to me how important it is to have, early on, a network of people who can provide at least the road signs for where to go and what to avoid when starting up a venture.

This reiterated the importance that the On Purpose year places on having conversations in order to further one’s understanding of a given sector, technique or just about anything that happens to be interesting. Having benefited from this all year from our fantastic trainers I was surprised to find that I too could deliver a little bit of guidance, even if it was only never to buy dairy in bulk

You can join Backr here: http://www.backr.net/