Switchboard Goes to NYC to Engage Oberlin Alumni

Last week’s Oberlin Switchboard party was something special. We not only had an incredible turnout, a great location, and free flowing beer and food, but were also joined by Switchboard’s CEO, Mara Zepeda. After falling in love with Oberlin during my campus visit, I was confident that a gathering of Obies would impress her as much as they had impressed me. And sure enough, more than 25 Obies joined us at the lower east side’s Hill & Dale for pitchers of beer, fresh oysters and celebration and nearly knocked our socks off with how awesome they all were.

With over 40 years between the oldest and the youngest alumni, the range of experience and interest in the room was almost dizzying. There were Japanese cooks and restaurateurs, international publishers, real estate agents, programmers, radio journalists, political organizers, entrepreneurs and even the future president of the United States. There were experienced Switchboard askers and offerers, success loggers, helpful commenters and total newbies. Our happy hour celebration perfectly encapsulated the dream of Switchboard, to bring members of the Oberlin community, all ages, interests, skills, and experiences, together in one space to share and connect.

The overwhelming consensus seems to be that Obies don’t just aspire, they do. From talking to them in person and from watching them connect on Switchboard, I have come to add another important quality to their reputation. Obies are unbelievably helpful. In the last week alone I met so many warm, generous and active alumni and a couple of cases really stood out:

Kristen ‘04 asked the Switchboard for help with her new fashion company and was directed to Oberlin’s own small business accelerator, Launch U. Switchboard helping Obies help Obies start companies! I love it.

I met another young Obie at the happy hour who had chimed into the now famous “law school post” to share her insight, taking the opportunity to add her voice to the 16+ person conversation about the merits (or demerits) of law school. Just going to show that every bit of help helps!

During the week, I met with Evan ‘14 who found his current internship at Columbia’s School of Journalism through the father of another Obie. We absolutely love when parents can be part of the network.

I also met with Naomi ‘14, who joined forces with two other alumni to create a web development collective, and who have been building things for Obies (like your homepage!).

The Oberlin Switchboard may have only been around for a few short months but the Oberlin community gets it like it was what they were born to do. From its first breath, the Switchboard has been a thriving hub for compassion and connection across generations, time-zones and disciplines. We couldn’t have been more grateful to cap our Switchboard Hearts tour with a final party for the Oberlin community!

A Visit to the American Museum of Natural History

Greetings from New York! I had an awesome success recently and I wanted to share.

A few days ago on the Switchboard for Reed College, Nisa (a 2014 grad) posted this offer: 

It turns out that employees of the AMNH get 20 free vouchers a month to give away. Crazy, right? I was in town for a conference and so my husband Andrew (2002) and I reached out to Nisa for tickets. Within minutes, they were waiting for us at the will call window.

Andrew had never been to one of my favorite exhibits, the Hall of North American Mammals. That was our first stop. (I am indebted to the influence of photographer Joseph O. Holmes whose 2005 series shot at the AMNH is delightful).

Nisa was a biology major. After graduation she learned of this job through another important network in her life: her rugby team. She works in the museum’s cryogenic lab. Her job involves cutting off very small pieces of frozen tissue (of, say, a lizard’s tail) and sending them in vials to researchers. She hopes to study neuroscience in the future. We got an insider’s view of the place. Nisa pointed out the fossils on the museum’s walls…

and we talked a lot about dinosaurs.

I was struck by how donors to the museum have doubled up on sponsoring certain dioramas. A thing can exist in the world that can be so awesome that people petition to recognize its awesomeness again. You can see what I mean here: the original donors, and then the 2011 donors tacked on. 

We headed to Dive 75, quite possibly the only dive bar on the Upper West Side, where Nisa shared the story her remarkable Turkish immigrant family. I won’t go into it, but I bet if you stop by here and say you know Nisa, the proprietor will be very glad to serve you. And then I logged a success, only to realize that I was in fact the third person to do so in less than a week.

What never ceases to amaze me about Switchboard is how, every day, I’m surprised by people’s imagination. Who would have thought a simple “Offer” button would lead to such a memorable day, a new friendship, and such meaningful engagement for a new alumna wanting to stay connected to her community? It’s a success I won’t soon forget.  

(PS: Nisa posted an Ask of her own a while back looking for contacts in neuroscience. For our Reed community readers: if you know of someone, please lend a hand!)

Switchboard Hearts New York Reedies!

This weekend we invited Reedies in New York City to join us a for a drink to celebrate the Reed Switchboard and all of its awesomeness. I wasn’t sure how many people would come to a Saturday evening gathering in NYC, where there are always a million things competing for one’s attention, but Saturday’s event turned out to be a complete success. The circle continued to widen as one by one Reedies found their way to the back room. At final count, we had taken up all the available seats. Switchboard grabbed the first round of drinks and the evening gave way to easy conversation while the DJ played, by happy coincidence, everyone’s favorite 90’s hits.

Among the attendees were writers, world travelers, activists, contra dancers, german speakers, new grads, co-opers, trivia masters, international students, community organizers, and many more. From the eldest to the youngest, our graduation dates spanned more than 20 years. Like any good gathering, the circle was constantly shifting into new configurations of people and conversations. “At one point I was overwhelmed but in the best way” said Vlad ‘14, a recent international alumnus looking for art history work in the city.

Vlad was one of handful of recent grads who came to celebrate and also to commiserate. There was a lot of talk about Reed experiences, the joys of being finished, and what to do next. One ‘14 alumna shared her post-grad anxiety, “I just graduated and I have no idea what I want to do except not go back to school, and I wish Reed would hold my hand.” Reed Switchboard is exactly that hand, bringing together Reedies across generations to help each other explore their many interests through conversation and connection. If this gathering was a sort of dinner party for 13, then Reed Switchboard is a dinner party for 3500 and counting.

Over the course of the night, we dreamed up all sorts of exciting ways to use Reed Switchboard, including: finding a new trivia team, exploring options other than grad school, applying an art history degree in the “real world,” throwing a potluck, sharing a couch, teaching an obscure programing language, or finding a roommate.

All it takes is a simple ask or offer to continue the evening’s conversations, as one ‘13 alumna hoped we would. “I think it’s good for New York alumni to have a casual way to connect that’s not an official alumni association thing, a little more relaxed,” another recent grad shared. As a complement to more directed activities, it’s those kinds of “unofficial” interactions that can lead to relationships that can lead to friendship, mentorship, connection, and ultimately, to a stronger community.

That wraps up our official Reed gatherings for the Switchboard Hearts tour. It’s been incredible meeting so many passionate, intelligent and generous Reedies over the course of our travels. We are lucky to have so many enthusiastic and thoughtful supporters, from our early days as a grassroots project, to the present as a thriving community-place, and into the future. Here’s to you. We couldn’t do it without you!

Next up, we’re hosting a happy hour for the Oberlin alumni community in New York that promises to be epic. Stay tuned.

Soda Bar photo by Nichol A &  Renn Fayre Photo by Mara Zepeda

Switchboard Hearts New York City

This week the Switchboard Hearts tour landed in the Big Apple. While we’re here we wanted to meet up with some of our users from the Oberlin, Reed and Willamette Switchboards to say hello and hear about what they’re up to in the Big City.

It must be true that New York attracts a special kind of motivated person because all four of the folks I met this week are complete powerhouses. Our College Switchboards are driven by people who pursue their curiosity with fierce dedication and for whom the idea of asking for help and offering back is second nature. Here are two highlights: 

Brooke - Willamette ‘02

There aren’t many Willamette Switchboard members out here in New York but I’m glad I got to meet up with Brooke because she’s a veritable super-cool-person. We got together over sushi and she blew me away with an account of her time since graduation.

She graduated from Willamette University with a degree in art history and since then has taught English in Costa Rica, worked on a number of films, gone to culinary school, earned a M.S. in communications at Columbia and about a million other things. She now works for a company that coordinates international students at U.S. universities and gets to travel all over the world for work. Oh and on top of that she is the new president of the Willamette NY alumni chapter and is starting a company producing allergen-free hygiene products. Wow!Hero status!

By Mara Zepeda’s (our CEO) conservative estimate, “it will take a decade of experimenting with everything you are passionate about to carve out the life you want.” Switchboard at schools is all about helping connect students and alumni with the resources they need to experiment with and pursue their passions. Brooke couldn’t have paid us a better compliment when she said that what she loves about Switchboard is that it “accomplishes what it sets out to do.” And we couldn’t have asked for a better role model than Brooke.

She’s happy to connect with Bearcats who are interested in or on their way to New York but she has yet to hear from anyone looking to connect. We hope that Switchboard will help more recent grads find their way to Brooke so she can inspire them as much as she’s inspired us! 

Nikki  - Reed ‘12

Nikki just gets it. As a natural connector, story collector and community creature, it’s not surprising that Nikki has been one of Reed Switchboard’s most active users from the beginning. The funny thing is that a lot of her own posts have been “near misses.” In spite of that, each of her posts has been fruitful in unexpected ways, like someone reaching out for help with their crowd funding campaign after seeing her ask for funding. “It’s not always about achieving the task, but about connecting with people” say Nikki of her many Switchboard successes 

She is currently pursuing a PhD in art history in part because she missed the academic community and collaboration she found at Reed. In between graduation and beginning her program, she looked to Switchboard to connect with that community. “I love Switchboard because it began as grassroots project (not top-down) and because I love being able to see everyone’s stories.” 

Nikki looks forward to the day she is making offers instead of asks. “That’s the dream,” she says, “of course, I’ll probably also always be asking because I’m naturally curious and love talking to people. But it would be so satisfying to offer something back because I’ve received so much. I’d love to pay it forward” We are so lucky to have Nikki onboard making Reed Switchboard an awesome place and we’re looking forward to the exciting offers she’ll make!

Switchboard Hearts Oberlin!

It’s true, we love them.

This last week we visited the place from which all Obie magic originates. It was such a treat to get to know the campus responsible for shaping the Oberlin community during their four years and beyond. As Switchboard’s first institutional customer outside of Oregon, we are so glad we got to include them in the Switchboard Hearts Tour.

Some highlights from our visit:

We hand wrote thank you cards for every current student who was among the first 100 Obies to sign up for Switchboard last May. We stayed up into the wee hours of the night writing and delivered them to their mailstops the next morning. We got to meet one of these students later in the week who thanked us for such a beautiful card.

Each night we posted up in the library cafe and handed out candy, cards and stickers to students interested in Switchboard. Besides being grateful for a study-break sugar kick and free swag, everyone we talked to was genuinely excited by the site. Our favorite response, however, was a student who came up to us and said “Oh Switchboard, I think my dad just tweeted at me about this.” That’s a cool dad!

Other students told us that of all the senior resources they’d heard about, Switchboard was their favorite so far. Another just exclaimed “Oh, f*cking cool!” The folks who stuck around a little longer were kind enough to tell us a little about themselves. For every interest and need they shared, we encouraged them to “Switchboard it!” New asks started popping up in real time.

From the other side of our visit, we had an awesome meeting with Oberlin’s Career Services office. Recognizing that “careers” emerge from experimentation, exploration, and chance as much if not more often than from formal “networking” we began thinking about what keywords the career center should set alerts for. Richard Berman, director of Career Services showed his Oberlin expertise when he suggested setting an alert for “the man,” as in, “I don’t want to work for the man.” More seriously, Richard is captivated by the word “curious.” I’d say reaching out to curious Obies on Switchboard is the perfect way to help!

Since launching just a few months ago, the Oberlin Switchboard now boast 750 helpful Obies and counting. With nearly 300 asks and offers, it can be seen as a kind of mirror, reflecting back the image of an active, passionate, and generous community for all to see. Even more exciting is that the success stories are already rolling in. It’s clear you can count on Obies to help Obies - all you have to do is ask.

After a bittersweet departure, the Switchboard Hearts Tour continues on to New York City. We’ll be throwing a little party to celebrate our members in the Big Apple in the coming weeks so keep your eyes open for an invite! We’re looking forward to meeting you!

An Awesome Reedie I Know: Eleanor Ray '07 + The WasteShed

A community’s Switchboard is only as awesome as the people who use it. 

Because we allow people to use real words (and not checkboxes or form fields) to share the stories around their asks and offers, Switchboard tends to illuminate the incredible things a community is doing and how they got to be doing them better than most tools.

In an effort to share this magic across communities, we’ve decided to highlight some of the awesome Switchboard users that we encountered on our Switchboard Hearts Tour and a little about their journeys.

Our first interview is with Reedie alumnus, Eleanor Ray ‘07. Eleanor opened Chicago’s first operational creative reuse center, The WasteShed this September. She was kind enough to share her space with us for the Reed Switchboard Hearts party earlier this month. Packed to the brim with scraps of fabric, handmade papers, glitter, pompoms and party supplies - all donated, the Wasteshed is a mecca for educators, artists and anyone else who wants to make cool stuff on the cheap. Eleanor offered to tell us more about her shop and how it came to be:

First of all, what is a creative reuse center?

The WasteShed is a creative reuse center based on a nonprofit retail model; the short version of what this means is that we are like a goodwill for art and school stuff. A creative reuse center has numerous positive aspects; it keeps good usable materials out of the landfill, provides a cheap resource for the local creative and educational communities, and establishes a social nexus for people who are interested in creative approaches to everything, from leatherworking to environmental activism.

The advantage of being retail-based is that we can be open to the public, respond to the needs of the community, and cover a lot of our overhead through sales; the advantage of being a nonprofit is that our prices start at 5 cents.

Why did you start the WasteShed?

There is a tremendous shortage of (and demand for) accessible resources for art, education, and environmentalism in Chicago. Creative reuse combines all three; I hope that The WasteShed can become a sort of walk-in switchboard for people who are looking to prevent waste, support educators and artists, make cool stuff, or connect with other people who are doing all those things.

What experiences led you to starting this?

A pretty broad swath of different influences led me here; as an artist I’ve been interested in found and unconventional materials and their properties for a very long time. I’m also interested in making art social and playful, and using it to bring people together to investigate common interests and activities.

I think when I was first introduced to SCRAP by a guy I was dating at Reed, I didn’t really understand what that sort of access to incredible amounts of miscellaneous cheap materials could do to me, but after a while my incessant need to be making something, experimenting and problem solving and prototyping, made me completely dependent on SCRAP. During the many years I was involved with them, I grew fascinated by the multitude of little alternative cultures and economies that fed off of the creative reuse center, and the way that resource subtly enriched and permeated the lives of its participants.

When I left Portland for Chicago in 2012, I found myself in a massive city full of art and schools and trash… but no functional creative reuse center. Phenomenal quantities of good stuff thrown away everywhere, and broke artists, teachers, students, and makers either dumpster diving, trading among themselves informally, or spending small fortunes for new materials at chain stores. Reuse, which in Portland had been a fun pastime I was passionately unserious about, quickly became a complex philosophical mechanism that reframed American history, social justice, developmental psychology, engineering, environmental collapse and resilience structures, design, craft, technology, globalization, art, charity, urban planning, labor, fashion, and cultural mores in all corners of our society.

And it’s that much more interesting of a proposal in the context of a massive, diverse urban area which has many serious challenges, and which doesn’t have the ubiquitous and unquestioned environmental program present in many coastal cities. There was really nothing else I could do.

The ASK:

Eleanor is looking for “creative/educational/environmental Chicagoans to come check out the project and get involved," and has even taken a page out of Switchboard’s book in starting "WasteShed Asks.” If you are looking for something in particular or have materials you can donate to meet someone’s need, get in touch or swing by the shop

She warmly accepts donations of any size to help cover startup costs. In exchange, she kindly offers to talk to anyone about reuse until they are absolutely ready to never hear about it again.