Pinkslip party!
Last week, the first Montreal PINKSLIP party was held. HRjob.ca was there to cover the event. Where were the recruiters, though?
Organized by Milla Craig and Terry Dimock, the event was hosted at Cavalli. Renowned for its cuisine and waitresses, the Peel Street establishment should have attracted more headhunters on the lookout for those rare pearls. . .
While some heeded the Pinkslip Party call, issued further to the success of the Toronto event, many were absent. Here’s what they missed: 
- A rather private, select VIP event. Some 50 people were in attendance, identified by the colour of their glowing bracelets. Pink was for jobhunters, blue for the media, the curious and friends, while green was reserved for headhunters.
- The Pinkslippers (or Pinkslippeurs in French!) included senior candidates with varied profiles including general managers, vice-presidents, engineers/MBAs, financial managers (many of whom had very interesting backgrounds), and other marketing and sales managers.
- A perfect opportunity for the “blue bracelets” to mingle and develop their contact networks.
In short, all the ingredients for a successful evening , which perfectly matched my expectations for this type of party. The first floor of the restaurant was ideal, but the location, entry fee and price of drinks perhaps scared a few people away. . .
Whether the candidates sent by the career transition firms found what they were looking for remains to be determined, however. One thing is for sure, the event will have to be repeated, and include sponsors from the transition firms and more headhunters. In addition, perhaps there could be a quiet location for jobhunters and headhunters to sit down and chat, along with a speaker to get the ball rolling. There are still some improvements to be made, but in these rocky times, a party isn’t such a bad idea. Long live pink!
Nathalie Francisci, Adma, CRHA
Executive Vice-president
at Mandrake Groupe Conseil