On Saturday, February 12, 2011, my mentor, Rhonda Shasteen, and I hosted a break out session at the Kellogg School of Management Annual Career Symposium. The event had about 150 attendees from a broad spectrum of specialties. There was a panel of recruiters who gave us all a few really good tips to help us be more self-aware of our professional presence. Some key tips are as follows:

1. Always respond to people quickly.
2. Check yourself out on Google, and Google Images in particular.
3. Know what your social media presence is, and keep it suitable for the public eye.
4. Have a LinkedIn account, or you won't be taken seriously.

The keynote address was by Aylwin B. Lewis, the CEO of Potbelly Sandwiches. His speech included many stories of taking risk with both positive and negative outcomes. He shared how an experience that seemed horrible at the time turned out to be leading him to his next great opportunity, offering great encouragement to all of us. He has a lot of great experience supported by a vision that has been proven time and time again.

Rhonda and I spoke to a group of people ranging from MBA students to a CFO. Rhonda was able to share her amazing insights and be a sounding board for those in the room with pressing issues and questions seeking some self-improvement tips. It was wonderful to be able to share the relationship we have with others. After about an hour of presenting and talking, we attended the keynote address and stayed for lunch to network and sell some copies of my book, Views from the 13th Floor: Conversations with My Mentor.

For our first event together, I'd say it was a big success. We had a great time and look forward to doing more.