Yesterday had a great thrill to visit the White House, take pics and meet President Obama. Yes, it was thrilling!

I was one of a handful of people invited to the first ever White House Tweetup. (Note: If you want to read my moment-by-moment Tweeting, check out my Twitter page @alisonwoo.)

But being with a group of cool, digitally connected people made me think…what if we took this ball and ran with it? Clearly the big issue of the day is jobs and the economy. What if each of the “tweeps” (that’s Twitter people, people) went back to their local communities and held Tweetups to talk not just about the problems but maybe start to brainstorm solutions about what everyone can do to start getting the economy moving forward again.

Clearly, there are a lot of issues when it comes to jobs and the economy. Many of them are interlinked. A hint of some of the topics that came up yesterday included:

• Creating jobs
• Sustaining jobs
• Helping entrepreneurs with start-ups
• Building a stronger economy
• Housing
• Helping veterans
• The need for better education
• Finding support for teachers and students in classrooms
• Sustainability issues
• The need for technology and innovation

This idea doesn’t even have to be limited to the original “tweeps” who attended the event. This could be done by anyone, anywhere.

I’ll put myself out on the line and say I’m going to start today to start arranging groups in NYC (my hometown), Charlotte, NC (where I’ve lived for the last nine years) and Princeton, NJ (my new hometown.)

In the coming days, weeks, months, I’ll use this space to share ideas, best practices, etc.

It’s so easy to feel like the problems we face as a nation are so overwhelming and what could one person do to change that. But if we band together…aka Tweetup…maybe we just may find some solutions. At the very least, we should try! Isn’t that what enlightened democracy is about?

Anybody interested?

What I learned on Saturday truly was that this saying we hear all the time is true: Life is about the journey not the destination. And the journey can be a marvelous experience in and of itself.

Saturday, Oct. 30 I woke at 3:47AM with just one question on my mind: Why does a rally to restore sanity require an insane wake-up call? Silly question, I know. But after just arriving home hours ago from a 650-mile drive from Charlotte back to my home in NYC, it seemed relevant. My warm bed beckoned me to stay under my goose duvet. But I had made a commitment to one of my dearest friends, Trish, to join her on the free busses that Huffington Post provided. All I had to do was get dressed and get myself to Citi Field (the home of the NY Mets and next to where Shea Stadium used to be) and hop on. It couldn’t be easier, I reconciled.

On the 25-minute drive from my home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn to Queens, I asked myself, “Why am I really doing this? Is this just one of those things I say yes to instantly?” I like to think of myself as more passionate than impetuous. But it’s the idea from the quote that says “all that evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing” that inspires me to action. In today’s hurly burly world, it’s very easy to be apathetic. Not because no one cares but the realities of life – work, bills to pay, children and elderly parents to take care of, exhaustion – do take their toll on one.

I was truly appreciative that Jon Stewart provided a forum to take a few hours to stop and say, “Hey, I think the vitriol of the public discourse (as often witnessed on TV news and in newspapers) is insane and it does not have to be.” This truly bothers me both as a journalist and as someone whose family became citizens by choice.  

The drive into the packed parking lot told me this would be no ordinary day as thousands of cars, more than 190 busses and cabs strained into the gate to park. An unexpected NY moment happened when I ducked in front of a cab to get ahead. As the cab pulled up alongside me and rolled down his window, I prepared myself for what I thought would be some verbal attack for cutting him off. Instead the Middle Eastern driver asked, “Are you going to this rally?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“The one in Washington?” he peppered.

“Yes,” I said again.

“With Jon Stewart?” he continued.

“YES!” I stressed.

“That’s awesome! You’re going to have a great day!” he shouted and waved.

I smiled. I didn’t know if he thought that this woman behind the wheel of my silver Lexus SUV didn’t look like the 20-30 something’s he saw flooding the gates but I liked to think he thought he was coming with me in spirit to something bigger. And that he celebrated the idea that you didn’t have to just be one kind of person to stand up for democracy.

In the midst of the 40-degree, cold, windy and dark morning, it was hard not to be excited. Almost 12, 000 people wrapped around the building. It was truly the huddled masses yearning to break free but not from something but to something bigger, a grander idea perhaps that individually and collectively people can make a difference.

There was joy, hope and optimism in abundance in a way I had never experienced before. And like all great crowd moments, people befriended one another easily. There were people there alone or with a group; the age range went from 10-75. Conversations of substance comingled with quips about some of the signs and outfits people wore (it was the day before Halloween, after all.) Ideas were shared, people talked about the challenges we faced with an eye not on blaming but on truly getting to the root of why they started and what could we do about it now.

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington made an appearance and the crowd went wild. It only took an hour for insanity to reign as the once neatly formed lines turned into a bum rush for the busses. But by 7 AM, Trish and I were on our bus making our way to DC.

The bus ride was super silent (inspired, perhaps, by a lack of oxygen) but what you could see in virtually every seat was an iPhone or PDA as people tweeted or updated their Facebook status and connected with others online. If you don’t think Generation Y is leading the tech revolution, think again.

Thanks to thousands of cars pilling into the area, our arrival was delayed. When the rally started on the Mall at noon, those iPhones became personal TV watchers as many watched the rally take place and the band the Roots kick it in to high gear. We arrived at RFK Stadium at 12:30 PM where we were expected to hop on to DC’s subway, the Metro.

Rather than join the hundreds of people straining to buy a metro ticket at the Stadium stop, Trish and I and maybe 50 other people decided to walk to the next stop about a mile and a half way. As we walked through the quaint neighborhood on Potomac Avenue, homeowners who saw this mini-parade of people going to the Mall cheered us on and shouted out well wishes. How could that not bring a smile to one’s face? Again, it felt like everyone was part of this whether you went to the actual rally or not.

While waiting for a train that wasn’t packed to the gills, a fellow traveler, who had stopped somewhere to buy a pizza, offered us some of his lunch. We politely declined but took the gesture to heart. It reminded me of going on a pilgrimage. We’re all so busy day to day. When do we ever have time to stop and share? By this time it was already, 1:15PM. “Do you think this is going to be a day where we went to the rally and never actually get to see the rally?” asked my absolutely wonderful travelling companion. BTW, if you ever go on an adventure, take someone wonderful and not whiny, like my friend Trish. I thanked my lucky stars for having a friend who always embraces life in such a positive way and knew my journey would not have been nearly as fun without her.

By the time we arrived at the Federal Triangle stop and got out of the station, we were bombarded with hundreds of people (including a sobbing Batman – thanks, Halloween!) returning and somewhat disgruntled from the rally. They seemed to be miffed because there were too many people! Hello! This is a rally. Not a cotillion. This is a good thing!

At the Mall it was a sea of humanity. But there were so many hilarious signs and people in costume; you couldn’t not love to see the spectacle of it all. High on a telephone stood Jesus suggesting the legalization of pot. There were a ton of people in bear costumes offering hugs (offering a nod to Seth McFarlane’s “The Cleveland Show” which features Arianna Huffington as Arianna the Bear.) You didn’t have to agree with any of it but you had to appreciate the effort and humor it took to conceive these contraptions.

We heard both Stewart and Steven Colbert on the stage do some hilarious bits. But it took nearly one hour to cross the Mall in the swarm of people. The result: mini rallies broke out in groups of 2-10 all across the Mall with just the people in your immediate circle. And it was grand! “This is going to be awesome to watch tonight on my computer with a glass of wine,” said one fellow reveler who was as kind-hearted stranger as anyone I had just met. We all mused about why we showed up and how important it was just to lend our presence to the event. And that was what this day was all about.

After a quick stop at Teaism for lunch for some amazing Udon noodle soup, we joined the ensuing mob to return back to the busses. DC’s Metro, like the subways in Paris and San Francisco, require that you put your ticket through the turnstile when you exit as well. A number of NY subway riders, who are not used to this practice and the resulting logjam upon exiting that ensues, got a bit hot under the collar.

“This is crazy; I’m never coming back here to this!” shouted one Russian man. “There’s no need for yelling,” said one traveller. “They just do things differently here and that’s OK.”

That exchange stayed with me as the perfect microcosm of what this rally was all about. We may all have different opinions but we’re all going in the same direction. There’s no need for shouting.

Question:

Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a jump in the unemployment rate to 10.2%.Some economists think we could be looking at 10.5% by early next year. 

Given these grim forecasts, how do you counsel recent college graduates and others entering the job market for the first time in this employment climate? Is there any advice or strategies you find particularly useful?

Answer:

What’s happening in the United States is a fundamental shift on how we approach the world of work. Considering the economic forces at play, it may be a very long time before we ever get back to normal. Now it’s time to imagine what  ”the new normal” looks like. Let’s take a look at a few options.

Scenario No. 1: Think more entrepreneurially

No matter what age you are or what profession you are in, we all need to look at how we can approach our careers with a more entrepreneurial bent. If you are an accountant, you may be downsized out of your large corporate office but how do you create a niche for yourself and make yourself a valuable free agent so you can market yourself to not just one company but a whole bunch of them? You may remember that this was the picture forecasted by Daniel Pink’s brilliant book, “Free Agent Nation“ however it hasn’t been fully realized.

“A large reason why ‘Free Agent Nation’ never came to pass is that we didn’t have the kind of social services net to support that,” said Sharon Hadary, founder and former Executive Director of Center for Business Women’s Research. “You need things like portable health care to make something like this happen.” Now that there is substantive discussion on a nationwide health care plan that would allow self-employed individuals to afford health care, I see this as a trend that can finally have its day.

Scenario No. 2: It’s not about the job; it’s about “The Gig”

Recent statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Labor show that as an alternative to finding full-time, permanent employment, more individuals are choosing to look for temporary situations, or something I like to call “The Gig.”

Formerly thought of only as a desirable situation for those in a band, the gig has the power to completely transform our entire the way we approach the world of work.

Why would anyone want to be stuck in a job for five to 10 years without any hope of variation or excitement? That’s just not how today’s worker is built. My fellow Generation Xers have given up the notion that we’re ever going to work at anyone company and get a gold watch at the end of our 20-year tenure. That concept went by the wayside with my parent’s generation and other boomers.

The idea is simple: choose 2-3 areas that you love. Yes, love. Passion is a critical component of the Gig philosophy. You can now find work as an architect, painter and nourish your dream to be a triathlete. Or you are a stay-at-home mom that creates beautiful hand-made crafts that sell on etsy.com (the leading handmade craft website) and you write code as a programmer. People have been piecing together parts of this lifestyle for awhile because they have to. The change here is doing this because you want to, not as a makeshift answer to lack for full-time employment but a way to nurture your pocketbook and your soul. How revolutionary is that?

Scenario No. 3: People should only work at what they love

If today’s job market has taught us anything, it’s that most people are pretty sad to lose a paycheck but sadly few loved their job that much. In fact , for many the paycheck was the only thing keeping them going. But those who love what they do will always find a new and exciting outlet for what they do. They have to. This is their passion.

How many people have you worked with a  job that are just there to fill the hours between 9 and 5? Far too many, I am sure. I know I have. And I’ve worked in every creative area of television, print and media imaginable. Work zombies are everywhere. But when you work with a person who is filled with passion, it’s contagious! You can’t wait to talk to them, to hear what they have to say. That’s the kind of enthusiasm that boils over when you are doing what you love from the very essence of your soul.

As Americans, we spend more than 60 hours a week, on average, at our job. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to be in love with what we do? Life is so short. It doesn’t have to be a dream! What we do need is new business models so that we can get paid to do what we love. Hopefully new distribution models such as cooperative sites on the Internet and new ideas in working such as co-working will help us along the way.

What do you think work is now? I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you like what you’ve read here, subscribe to this blog to get weekly updates.