- Cassidy Burel, University of North Carolina
Omaha & Kansas City Trip: The Most Memorable Moments
As you know, the National Millennial Community (NMC) is a group of people within the millennial and Gen Z generations that come together from all over the world to participate in healthy conversations with business owners and corporate leaders. During these visits, the goal is to change the overall conversation and negative connotations attached to the millennial and Gen Z generations. After all, we are the generations in and newly entering the workforce and we are the largest group to date. Thus, our learning habits, preferences in the work place, and aspirations are opinions that can make or break a company as they are looking to hire our generations. We see today more and more that companies, even if they have been established for many years, will crumble under the changing demands of the younger generations if they do not adapt in some fashion. These trips are designed to share our perspective and offer humble advice to businesses who are looking for a way to keep up.
Omaha, Nebraska is a city in the Midwest that will shock a visitor in many ways. Some describe the city as being one of the best kept secrets and I would certainly agree. Not only is this city abundant with local shops, vendors, and opportunities, but it has all the perks of a big city without any of the traffic. New to the area, Dr. Sarah Walker from Creighton University says, “I moved here from a big city and have gotten two hours of my life back every single day since living in Omaha”. Yet, the beauty of the city, the opportunity, and the vendors are still not all the city has to offer. This brings me to some of the most memorable experiences I had the pleasure to be a part of during my recent visit to Omaha because there is no way they can be limited to just one most memorable moment.
This trip was officially my first trip with the NMC and I can say it did not disappoint. Starting from the moment I arrived in town to meet with the group I was thrilled to work with such a talented and diverse group. The NMC alone is an impressive and memorable experience because Bill Imada brings together students and graduates from all over the United States as well as Australia, Alaska, and more. If you are looking to “soak up some culture”, one way you can do so is by spending a few days with these talented and diverse individuals not only by interacting with them outside of meetings but by listening to their perspectives as we answer and debunk the common misconceptions about millennials.
In addition to being in the presence of a young, talented, and diverse group, the companies we visited gave us a very broad range of input and questions to think about that I would consider to be quite memorable. We prepared for every meeting by debriefing one another about the company and the people we were scheduled to meet while on the way there. This gave us a bit of insight before we actually arrived to our meetings. This made it an easy transition from being on-the-go to sitting in a conference room with the company’s chief representatives. The companies we visited ranged from software developers, cartoonists, and railroads. The inclusivity of having so many different companies to visit really shows that the NMC is making and effort to touch on many different career styles and interests. Ultimately, knowing that what we had to tell them could make a huge difference left us all with a memorable sense of accomplishment. I’m so looking forward to more trips in the future.
