Washington - You'd expect a website aimed at the recently laid-off to be self-pitying, even mournful. After all, on the surface it's just a site full of obsolete business cards people have uploaded. Job titles and contact info are crossed out. Some have written a few words about the jobs they once held.
But the images at Cards of Change (www.cardsofchange.com) are symbols of defiance, liberation, and even triumph.
Not spending two hours in traffic, reads one. Working on my tan in Portugal, says another. Island hopping for a living. Building my own business. Learning to have more appreciation for the small things.
The site was created by Tom van Daele of Unknownlab, a Los Angeles-based "ideas company," which is what used to be called an advertising agency, van Daele says. A client wanted a promotional campaign that targeted those hit by the current recession.
"More people than ever are being laid off," van Daele said in a phone interview. "But more people than ever are starting their own businesses."
The initial idea was to give new businesses a forum to share contact info, van Daele said, and the site would be sponsored by the client, a lighting supply retailer.
"We realized we couldn't compete with CareerBuilder" and other online resume sites, van Daele said. "So we went back to the drawing board."
Now, van Daele said, the goal is just to collect stories of positive change. The site invites users to upload their old cards modified however they like happened because of their being laid off.
"Enjoying copious amounts of free time exploring, inventing, imagining," one reads, with an arrow pointing to the former employer. "Thanks!"
No more cubicle hell.
Professional surf bum.
I belong to me again.
Caitlin Rogers of Chicago started an online magazine about feminism and comedy.
"I used to be a comedian, and sometimes still am," said Rogers, a recent college graduate who's been moving from job to job for two years, sometimes with long periods in between. Recently, she worked as a recruiter for the US Census Bureau - until she was laid off in April.
"While I was searching for some meaning to my existence this winter, I thought it might be a great project to start."
Rogers said her magazine site, Wizecrack (wizecrackzine.blogspot.com), isn't making any money - and probably never will - but work itself has its own rewards. "For the first time in my life, I have had something I wanted to stay up until 5 am working on ... it's nice not to have to get permission or validation, just to go for it."
The site kept her busy until she was able to find work again. She recently got a temporary real estate license and has found work showing apartments.
Howard Tarplin has also found time to devote to his passions. A communications consultant for pharmaceutical companies by trade, he's been getting gigs as a DJ around Maplewood, New Jersey since the consulting work dried up a few months ago.
"I love music, I love playing music," said Tarplin, who is married with two teenaged children. "I had the opportunity to DJ in a local bar and loved it. I have been working a couple of nights a week ... I have even got a bit of a following," he said proudly.
Tarplin says he saw a link to Cards for Change in an email about a job search workshop and uploaded his own card after seeing how others were coping.
He posted his DJ-ing card, on which he calls himself The Soulful Mr T. But, like Rogers, he isn't making any real money. He hopes to go back to consulting as soon as he can find work.
Meanwhile, "music is a great coping mechanism for me," he said. "It's a great distraction from the job search."
Van Daele is delighted with the response to Cards of Change, which has had more than 100 cards posted since it went online on May 1.
"It's global," he said. "There are cards from Italy, China, Sweden, Belgium, Thailand, the Philippines ... (It) really shows the reach of the recession."
Van Daele said his favourite cards are the brutally honest ones - like one that says "Now I steal office supplies from myself" - but he's glad people are using it to drive web traffic to new businesses.
The site has even caught the eye of two book publishers, and Van Daele is trying to work out a publication deal.
"It'll be a quirky little book like you'd find at the register [of a bookstore] ... a little postcard of recession. Hopefully by the time it comes out we'll already be in better times."
