Here Are All The Black People | Justine Taveras

Here Are All The Black People or HAATBP by The One Club was a wonderful and memorable event. I love being a part of special moments like these that diversify creative opportunities. I enjoyed the faces of creatives from young to old. I appreciated that I ran into old classmates from undergrad that have made their way into tabling at this event and representing their organizations. And disliked losing my umbrella between moving from one panel to another.


My favorite moment was hearing the inspiring words of the keynote speaker, Tariq Trotter formerly known as Black Thought. These words of inspiration to “Never give up on your dreams.” was resonating to me because I too work on never giving up everyday. I related to this speaker a lot from the details of his life and how his hard work and dedication prevailed.

Another great speaker at this event was Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia. He is a blunt and down to earth individual. And inspired me to apply to his company one day. Him and his team made me feel like I too can find my center in this competitive industry.

I was inspired by the tips that the panelists gave to current students on how to apply to companies and how to build confidence in your talents to stand out.

I really enjoyed all the panels and how all their words touched the hearts of all the people, including mine, who sat in the hall. I enjoyed that the conference was held in The New World Stages Theatre because the location of the theatre places it very close to where famous Broadway shows are conducted a few steps away. It empowered me that we are gathering in solidarity and acknowledging how far we have come for recognition in this industry.

I am very shy when it comes to introducing myself, and this was not my first job fair either. This was my first time speaking with recruiters from companies in the field that I have always dreamed of working for. One company however surprised me at this event. This company, Omnicom Health Group’s business card was a physical capsule bottle and it was once filled with kisses. The take away for this company is that this was a health industry looking for designers. What's funny is that I currently work in the healthcare industry and I always look for ways to apply my skills. This company was looking for designers and I was so happy to see that the values that this company has is what I stand for and there was a position that they had open looking for an individual just like me to design for them.

Overall, HAATBP was a very sentimental event and I enjoyed celebrating diversity in this industry.
    
Here is a selfie of me with my coffee waiting for the first panel of speakers.


 

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