A new city has entered my top 5.  I had been to Chicago before, but only for about 6 hours to meet with a company… enough to see the cool buildings, have a conversation and find a cab back to the airport.  Not enough time really.

This time around was different.

Last Monday, after finishing up with Disney Institute, I flew out to Chicago to be a part of two Red Shoe Project events.  On Monday night, Veronica Ludwig from Hire Power Solutions threw the first ever Red Shoe TweetUp at the Dragonfly Mandarin.  With only a few days notice, Veronica managed to draw in over 35 people for the event… over half of them were wearing red shoes.  Awesome job Veronica!

Here are some photos from the TweetUp!

On Tuesday, it was time for the Skilled Recruiters Network of Chicago event.  I had the honor of presenting to a large group of recruiters on Red Shoe Project.  We also briefly touched on overall recruiting strategy through the use of social media… but, time was short to get into any real detail.  Special thanks to PCRecruiter and Out of Work Chicago for sponsoring the event!

The group of recruiters that I met were fantastic!  They love their trade, they are passionate about learning and they definitely know how to have fun!  For those of you from SRNC that read this… I want you to know that I really appreciate your hospitality!

Wednesday rolled around and I finally had a chance to check out the city in more detail.  Veronica made sure that I tried the Chicago pizza and afterward brought me over to Millennium Park for a tour.  Talk about an amazing place!

We snapped a few more pictures for Red Shoe Project, including my “Michael & The Nuns” photo from above, before it was time for me to head back to San Antonio.  Here are a few “keepers” for the monthly roll.

Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean")

Married With Children Fountain

Jay Pritzker Pavilion

The Crown Fountain

I think Chicago is top-notch and I had a fantastic time meeting all the great people there.  I would have to imagine that most people have good memories of the city considering how much there is to do.

What’s your favorite Chicago memory?

Thank you very much for your participation and support of Red Shoe Project!  I consider it a privilege to have you as a part of this growing cause!  It’s been an exciting adventure thus far!

As the months roll by, more and more opportunities are coming up for Red Shoe Project.  As we pass our 900th member on Facebook, I thought it would be important to share some of those happenings with you.

• BarCamp Recruit – The first BarCamp Recruit was held last month in Newport Beach, CA.  Almost all of the attendees were wearing red shoes… it was a blast.  More photos and a video of the event are coming soon.
• Skilled Recruiters Network Chicago – This month, I will be speaking at SRNC about Red Shoe Project and what the cause intends to do.  This will, once again, be a great chance to engage additional voices and hopefully propel the project forward.
• In The News – A variety of traditional and new media sources are beginning to spread the word about Red Shoe Project.  I have added a Newsroom page on the website to catalog updates.

As you can imagine, spreading the word, editing photos, speaking, traveling and making videos requires both time and effort.  From an evaluation of this commitment, we have decided to organize RSP further by implementing a few plans over the next couple of months.

• 501c3 Status – We will be registering RSP as a 501c3 over the next couple of months.  Once established, all donations to RSP will come with the added tax benefits for our contributors and for the charity.
• Assistance – Once we have the paperwork in line, we are going to be preparing a five-year plan for RSP to include our process for selecting the charities we support, potential hiring plans and annual goals.  That vision will be shared with our members as they are defined.
• Social Hours – RSP Social Hours will become a priority over the next few months.  Having a method for organizing and holding an RSP Social Hour in various cities will become a way for our members to connect and share their mutual passion for giving back and propelling social change.  Not to mention that we will all be wearing red shoes!

As you can see, there are lots of priorities right now for the future of RSP.  With your help, I’m confident that we can build a solid group of passionate individuals who believe in the concept of “access.”  I refer to it as “access” because I firmly believe that people, at their core, want to get involved.  For financial or other reasons, it sometimes becomes difficult.

Membership to Red Shoe Project will continue to be based on the simple act of submitting a photograph of yourself, your friends, your family or others in red shoes.  The financial impact that we make on other charities will only happen when our members or outside contributors find it within their means to assist.  Those financial means, however, should never serve as a barrier to involvement.

So, here are a few ways that you can help now:

1. Send in your picture.
2. Invite your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter or any other avenue available to you.
3. Voice your desire to organize an event if you so choose… they are a lot of fun!
4. Stay tuned for updates on the RSP Facebook group page and on the website.
5. Let us know if you identify a shoe sponsor for the project.  We would like to have one shoe sponsor that can provide a line of red shoes for our members to pick from.  Ideally, a small portion of the proceeds would come back to RSP in order to help execute on the long-term vision of propelling worthy causes forward.

We started in April of this year and RSP is about to pass the 1,000 member mark.  It’s an exciting time to get involved and I want you to know that I sincerely appreciate your help!

Are we having fun yet?