Because there ain’t nuttin’ funner then hanging out with a bunch of wannabe young professionals. And when you are done drinking your glass of reisling you can go home watch Survivor and pretend that life is just ‘swell’ in Sioux Falls.

Mendelson, who works for Raven Industries, joined the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Network during a kickoff event Wednesday night at Cherapa Place.

 

“There aren’t a lot of opportunities for young professionals in Sioux Falls,” Mendelson, 22, says. “It’s nice to meet people with the same interests.”

That’s because there isn’t a lot of professional jobs for young people in Sioux Falls, unless you are willing to work your ass off.

“When you think about the Sioux Falls community, one of the major reasons that our community is successful is that people volunteer their time and are willing to get involved in what this community has to offer, whether it is the United Way or another nonprofit,” says David Fleck, chairman of the chamber’s board of directors.

Community Successful? I guess I do agree with one point of that, volunteerism is high in Sioux Falls, and for the most part, people are hardworking and proud people, so yes, I would consider that a success, but the low wages the business community pays only spells ‘success’ for the people who own those businesses not the people they employ.

The Christmas Toy video Amanda Taggart, 25, listed the benefits of attending as “seeing other opportunities, getting your name out there and meeting other people that want the same thing as you.”

I guess I would have agreed with Amanda about 8 years ago. I wanted to be a ‘young professional’ but I soon found out that unless you play the reindeer games, kiss ass and keep your individulism and political opinions to yourself you won’t make it in Sioux Falls as a ‘young professinal’ I even had a freelance client tell me if I kept my ‘liberal’ opinions to myself I would have many more oportunities and success. I told him I preferred being happy over being rich or successful.

So put on your D & G sunglasses and drink your Morgan Cokes while climbing the corporate ladder, I would rather be poking eyes then kissing asses. Though I do think it would be fun to attend one of these events wearing a Napolean hat – are we on Angry Guy?

Deliverance full

6 Thoughts on “Dammit! How could I have missed this?!

  1. Ghost of Dude on April 24, 2009 at 10:54 am said:

    “There aren’t a lot of opportunities for young professionals in Sioux Falls,”

    Sure tehre are, if you’re willing to stretch the definitions of ‘opportunity’ and ‘professional’.
    Consider the many benefits of a career as a phone banker in one of our large cubicle farms. You get $12/hr plus a few bennies! Talk about living the high life in the big city!

    Meh. I don’t go to these things because they’re full of salespeople looking for leads. In fact, that’s usually the only people who show up.

  2. Ghost of Dude on April 24, 2009 at 10:54 am said:

    Wow. I must have forgotten a slashy in the html tag.

  3. l3wis on April 24, 2009 at 4:53 pm said:

    You are right. This town is drowning in salespeople. Not that there is anything wrong with being one, but when I think of the term ‘professional’ I think of someone who is either very good or an expert in their field with DECADES of experience. Is there such thing as a sales professional? Sure, I know a couple of them, one is client of mine. He has been at it over 25 years and he makes pretty good dough, but to call yourself a professional when you have only been out of college a couple of years selling ads for the local rag, give me a break. I would have loved to take a survey at the event and see how many of them were actual ‘professionals’ in their fields. I betcha 90% of them were only professional at opening Miller Lite bottles.

  4. redhatterb on April 25, 2009 at 6:31 pm said:

    I also wondered how the people mentioned could be called professionals at their young age. I also thought the membership fee was quite expensive, especially if they weren’t members of the “chamber.”

  5. Ghost of Dude on April 27, 2009 at 6:53 am said:

    The Chamber is drowning in salespeople. The rest of the city isn’t nearly as saturated.

    I figure if you’re good enough at what you do to make a living at it, you can consider yourself a professional – especially if you’re self-employed.

  6. l3wis on April 27, 2009 at 7:16 am said:

    I guess I’m not a professional bullshitter then

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