Let’s think through this scenario…You happen to live somewhere else in the world and are offered an awesome job in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sounds great already, right? Right. Once you get here, you’re acclimating to the new career just fine, but you want to experience the same connection to the community. That may be a bit harder.
So, for the newcomers in town trying to find their own path, how do you meet people and learn all the local knowledge? If you are like us, you’d want to go directly to the source – someone from the community who could serve as your personal guide to the city. Someone who might have already navigated the “newcomer” role in Baton Rouge. Someone who shares your common interests or hobbies.
This scenario led our talent development team to create a community-connector program, Connect, to make it easier than ever for newcomers to get plugged in to all of the great things going on in Baton Rouge. The online platform, created by local software company Clear Blue Design, is designed to acclimate newcomers to the Capital Region by matching them with long-time locals who show them around, connect them to different organizations and people, and share local knowledge to make the transition into the community seamless.
Connect allows for two types of participants: City Guides and Pathfinders. City Guides are trusted locals, community-connectors and champions of the Baton Rouge Area. Pathfinders are Baton Rouge Area newcomers. Through a series of quick surveys, City Guides and Pathfinders let us know a little bit about themselves. Using that information, City Guides are matched to Pathfinders and then invited to meet-up, swap stories and chat about the community.
Ready to be part of Baton Rouge’s welcome wagon? Looking to make new connections in the community? Great! Sign up for Connect now.
For questions, contact BRAC’s Talent Development team – talent@brac.org.
Written by Melissa Thompson
Melissa leads all aspects of BRAC’s talent development program, including talent attraction and orientation. She works in partnership with employers to provide services that complement existing human resources recruitment practices.
Morgan is the Marketing Manager for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. In her role, she manages writing organizational publications and materials, oversees BRAC’s social media and blog, and coordinates timelines for all internal marketing projects.