San Francisco Stole My Heart
By Chelle Shell
I’ve been very fortunate in my life to travel a bit. I’ve been all over eastern and southern US, Hawaii, Europe, South America, Mexico, and pretty much to every island in the Caribbean, but never to the west coast, until the end of June. None of these trips were extravagant, or at least not monetarily extravagant, but nonetheless, always an adventure and enjoyable. My visit to San Francisco was no different.
My colleague, Michele Banares, and a volunteer, Richard Horton and I set out for Cali for our Nonprofit Career Conference in San Francisco late Thursday night, June 24th. We had been in process of planning this event with our wonderful partner the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of the San Francisco Bay Area for months and the event was only a few days away from our arrival. We planned ahead for a day to adjust to the late night travel and time change, and for a day or two of tourism and fun, as work was starting on Sunday.
Of course, there was no rest on Friday or Saturday as we had too much to see! We put our money together, gathered up any membership cards we had for discounts, and lucked out on a great deal for a convertible to tool around in the Bay area.
Our first stop Friday was Fisherman’s Wharf. We walked around and ate as much seafood as we possibly could. We went in to some of the stores, looked at sidewalk art and jewelry, and then took a $15 boat ride with Dan and Rog around the bay. Of course, on the walk back to the car we just happened upon (wink wink) the world famous Ghirardelli and ate ice-cream…lots of ice-cream.
Saturday started early with a drive up to Twin Peaks. What a view, if you can catch a glimpse through the fog! Then we drove through Haight-Ashbury and over to Golden Gate Park. We took a stroll on the beach and then headed back from the direction in which we came. We ate some dim sum at a restaurant in a residential area…okay; maybe we were lost and got hungry and then headed for Pacific Heights to go on San Francisco’s only walking Ghost Tour. Did we experience the paranormal? You be the judge, see pics below.
Sunday morning work began. We got ready for the radio interview with Dr. Marty Nemko on KALW-FM, San Francisco’s NPR station. Marty invited me to come in and chat with him on his show, Work with Marty Nemko, about the present and future of nonprofit careers. Marty’s show was a blast and we love his dog Einstein!
Then we managed to sneak in just a bit more fun before we had to start prepping for the conference so we took a drive down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz.
Monday morning Michele and I met with several organizations we work with in Oakland. The first visit was the Alameda Food Bank, where we chatted for a bit with Diane Smith, HR Director about the Major Gifts Officer position they are trying to fill and she gave us some great downtown San Francisco visiting tips, like don’t even attempt to drive over there (thanks Diane!).
After our visits, the rest of Monday was spent on the last bit of preparation for the career conference.
The big day of the conference held at Cal State East Bay’s wonderful Oakland Center had finally arrived. Close to 200 participants including job seekers, nonprofit professionals and career experts started filing in and the consulting table rooms were buzzing as well as the exhibitor area. When it was time for the workshops to start, folks filled those rooms up quickly and began note taking and giving their undivided attention.
All in attendance had a chance to meet one-on-one with consultants to discuss resume critique, volunteering, career pathing and person financials. They also had the opportunity to take 4 different 1.5 hour workshops.
It was a long day but nothing is more rewarding than when people were leaving with smiles, networking with one another and exchanging contact information and thanking everyone who helped them throughout the day. The most gratifying thing for me was hearing compliments on what people learned and could now apply to their career path and / or job search. The positive attitudes leaving Cal State East Bay that afternoon was phenomenal.
This conference wouldn’t have been possible without all of the hard work from our wonderful partner Karen Anselmo from YNPNsfba and her constituency, all of the top-notch presenters, consultants, exhibitors and sponsors who volunteered their time for such a valuable cause.
After the long rewarding day, we slept for what felt like forever, and then Michele and I were back up at 7 am for visits to organizations we partner with in downtown San Francisco. We took BART over to San Francisco began our walk. We had many scheduled visits for Wednesday and actually met with a few others who greeted us with open arms as we just stopped by to say hello and chat about their HR needs. We must have walked 6 or 7 miles and went to The San Francisco Food Bank, EARN, The Nature Conservancy, The Larkin Street Youth Service, Room to Read, SFWorks, The YMCA of San Francisco, The Arthritis Foundation and The GLBT Historical Society. It was delightful to finally meet so many noprofiteers we’ve been working with for years as well as others. We now have a face to put with the names.
As I mentioned before, I’ve been to a lot of places in the world but what I can truly say about the Bay Area is that the weather is unbelievably splendid, the views are superb, and most importantly the scenery mirrors the people. All we encountered were beautiful! Thank you San Francisco - you stole my heart and I know Opportunity Knocks will be back there very soon.
Note from Opportunity Knocks – Are you interested in supporting a Career Conference in your city? Let us know by emailing us at info@opportunityknocks.org with “Support a career conference” as the subject line.
About the Author
Michelle “Chelle” Shell has worked in management for over 14 years in positions ranging from recruitment to public relations. In her current role as Client Development Manager for Opportunity Knocks she assists national nonprofit organizations and recruitment agencies connect with talented, qualified nonprofit professionals and HR management solutions. Chelle is active in her transitioning neighborhood association as well as local tennis associations. She is also a Board Member of ANP, Atlanta Nonprofit Professionals.
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