A funny thing happens when you get 460 young professionals together in a room, let them hear a wonderful speaker and then feed them beer and brats afterwards. They get energized, start thinking and begin cultivating new relationships. They also begin to see their city in a whole new light.
The "young and young-thinking" professionals are skeptical, technically savvy, and all but immune to traditional "your father's" sales pitches. Many call Milwaukee's young professions and consumers (ages 19-39) "the MTV generation." They rock and roll, make good money, want to make a difference and need to have their voices heard.
To facilitate this need to package and promote Milwaukee's younger generation, the MMAC (Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce) in association with several area companies including OnMilwaukee.com, created YPM (Young Professionals Milwaukee), a networking, development and social group for you fast tracking young professionals.
OnMilwaukee.com was honored to help fill the Todd Wehr Theatre for the kick-off event on Thurs., Aug 9. Our active, younger demographic was the perfect fit for the evening. We also felt privileged to spend a good part of the day with Ron Lieber, a senior editor at Fast Company and the speaker for the evening. Leiber's insights were thought provoking, witty and fun. In fact, the entire evening was incredibly lively -- a true testament to a city that's on the rise, and is finally catering to its younger generation and in turn, getting them jazzed about Milwaukee's future. If we aren't telling a good story about our city, who will?
But don't take our word on YPM. Here's young professional and Norlight Telecommunications employee Greg Quigley's take on the evening:
Fast, Young and Professional…How cool is that?
By Greg Quigley
When I first heard about the Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM), I thought to myself "that's a group I need to get involved with." Being a young professional and someone that avidly enjoys networking, it seemed like the right place for me to be on a Thursday night after work.
The meeting was held at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and was promoted as a place for young "fast-trackers" to network with other professionals from their age group. YPM intends to have all of their meetings in unique and trendy locations with speakers who are younger and interact with the audience.
The kick-off meeting featured Ron Lieber, a senior editor for Fast Company magazine. When I heard about the speaker I thought it would be cool, but I figured Ron would be an older guy in his 40's or 50's. I was wrong. I guess that's what I get for not reading his bio.
Ron Lieber, still in his 20's (29 to be exact), isn't doing too bad. I thought this fact was one of the event's biggest benefits to its young attendees. The fact was that Lieber is only 29 and a senior editor for Fast Company. I know this gave me some inspiration and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.
In his presentation Lieber talked about being young and in the professional world. His discussion ranged from the recent shakeout of the dot-coms, to the younger generation's rejection of suits and pantyhose. I felt that one of his most interesting observations was how the workplace has changed and evolved in the past 20 years. We all have seen movies or television shows where the father works at the same company for 40 years, then retires. Obviously this isn't the case anymore.
Since I graduated college I've had three jobs, and I have friends that have had several more than that. The point is that a good number of the younger generation doesn't care too much about the company they work for. With increasing numbers of layoffs and bankruptcies, who can blame them? Further explaining this attitude, Lieber pointed out that even if someone did put in years of hard work at one company, the person who noticed it the most probably wouldn't be around to give him/her the promotion they were working toward.
Another interesting point Lieber made was about starting your own company while you're still young. He stated that there wouldn't be another time in your life when you have as much energy and as little obligations than in your 20's. In fact, he said that many younger people use their employment as a training exercise. Once they think they know more than their boss, they recruit their 10 best friends in the company and head out on their own.
Lieber closed the presentation by taking questions from the audience. Although I have a suspicion that some of the questions were asked just to get one of the Fast Company freebees he was giving away, it was a nice touch and there were some intelligent ones. His answer to "Define success?" was a great quote from a middle school basketball coach of his.
Although the presentation was interesting, I was happy that it was ending. Now it was time for the most exciting part of the evening, the networking function. As we left the theater where Ron gave his presentation, we were greeted by a buffet of brats, hot dogs and pasta salad as well as a cash bar. I ran into my old college roommate and his wife, so we hung out while we ate and chatted with a few other young professionals in the room. Business cards were exchanged and a few new business partnerships may have been developed. All over a brat and a pint of Sprecher. You have to love that.
I ended up meeting a lot of people at the networking function, mainly because I invited a lot of friends who brought several colleagues with them. Although I did meet people and had a pretty good time, I thought the networking portion of the night could have been designed to fit with the young professional motif a little better.
Even though there was Milwaukee music from the BoDeans playing in the background, an added benefit might have been a DJ spinning some tunes. This would have been a touch that you don't see at other networking functions (except those put on by the ultra-hip American Institute of Graphic Artists) and it would have suited the young crowd well. Also, as one of my friends suggested, some method to help facilitate the networking might have been nice. Perhaps a card exchange with everyone sitting to your left would have done the trick.
All and all, YPM is definitely something I will attend again. Let's face it, a room full of young professionals is where you want to be if you're one yourself. Good contacts were made, inspirations were instilled and I went home happy.
The next YPM meeting will be Sept. 13 and will have an interesting theme. The meeting will be centered on a panel discussion with young professionals from a variety of media outlets, including OnMilwaukee.com, FOX 6, The Business Journal and Journal Communications. The event starts at 4:30 p.m. and will be held at Lakefront Brewery, 1872 N Commerce St . For more information check out http://ypm.mmac.org/ or call (414) 287-4143.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
