C2CT Conference Highlights: Empowering the Next Generation of Professionals

Good morning!

Madeline from Poor Bear here once again, back with another update. 

Over the last full week of July, Jake, Chase, Mica, and I visited Tampa for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation’s College to Career Transition conference (C2CT). Much like Operation EPIC back in June, this was an event I once attended as a student, though the name and location were notably different from this time. This was a great opportunity to see the new version of this event from a different perspective.

The main takeaway from C2CT is that it’s a conference to prepare SOWF recipients for entering the professional world as they graduate from college and make the next steps into starting their careers and how they can be prepared for the road ahead (essentially a “level 2” version of EPIC). Some of the highlights of the event include a variety of guest speakers from various organizations and companies, personal coaching and mock interviews, as well as a visit to various places such as the headquarters campus of Power Design, SOFWERX for an opportunity to network, and of course, Splitsville to let out all that energy.

Much like with EPIC, we did our best to get plenty of coverage of the students, events, and various activities. However, the biggest thing we worked on during the event was the shooting of one-on-one interviews with the students to produce “video resumes” that will serve as a boost to these students as they network and market themselves to the working world. In addition to having each student talk about their experiences in life, education, and careers, we supplement that with content that the student can provide to make their resumes at their best.

Overall, this was an interesting and quite busy event, especially with numerous interviews shot back-to-back during the final day. What I got out of it was plenty of experience as I continued to develop as a filmmaker and videographer, as well as getting to meet a ton of friendly people, old and new. I certainly look forward to any future events to participate in with Poor Bear Stories!