Ken Feinberg - Curry College

“I learned so much from that job in theshort period of time I was there. Being apart of a startup is so eye opening. You seeso many different things that you don’t seeat an established company.”Nolet says he doesn’t regret the initial pathhe took despite the career speed bump thatit led him to.“If I had waited for a job elsewhere vs. anapprenticeship at Plymouth Rock Studios,I would have never gotten one. Never. Wehad over nine thousand resumes on fileat Plymouth Rock. That was a sign of thetimes in 2008.“After Plymouth Rock, I didn’t want to sitthere and say ‘poor me.’ At that time, therewere thousands of people out of work.”Nolet feels fortunate to have landed a newjob quickly after Plymouth Rock Studios, buthis good fortune was as much a testamentto his commitment to the Plymouth areaand his diligent networking as it was toluck. He’d volunteered his service to thePlimoth Plantation Marketing Committee,as well as for Destination Plymouth, thePlymouth Tourism Board. It was throughDestination Plymouth, where he met thewoman who’d subsequently become hisboss at the Radisson hotel in Plymouth.Knowing he was out of work after thestudio venture dissolved, she reached outand offered Nolet a position as the Directorof Corporate Travel and Tourism.“I was at the Radisson for almost twoyears and it was nice, because I was stillworking in Plymouth, I was able to use allmy same contacts. I was running in thesame networking circles and going to thesame events. I knew I didn’t want to leavethe Plymouth community, because I reallyworked hard to build the foundation thatI had and I didn’t just want to throw thataway and move up to Boston and startover.“Nolet had indeed forged a solid reputationin the Plymouth community, so whenDennis Hanks, the executive director ofthe Chamber, had an open position, hereached out and recruited Bob for the job.“I knew Dennis from my days at PlymouthRock Studios. It was full circle and that’sthe power of networking. I still talk to thepeople that I worked with three or fouryears ago at Plymouth Rock. I still networkand I see them these days in the same typeof networking events we used to attendtogether - the networking events that weput on here at the Chamber. I’m on theother side of it now, in a sense.”Casting a Wide Net“In my career so far, the biggest thing thathas helped me is the networking that I’vedone. The networking that I did all goesback to Curry and from what I was taughtthere; that networking is the key to careersuccess, and there’s so much truth behindthat.”Bob says what he enjoys most in his role atthe Chamber is that networking interactionhe has with business owners and thepeople in the community.“There’s nothing more gratifying thantalking to someone that you’ve helped bypromoting their event, or someone comingup to you and saying ‘I’ve met a greatcontact’ or ‘I have a great lead from one ofthe networking events that the Chamber puton.’ I think that’s probably one of the bestparts about what I do - being able to helppeople achieve their goals, and put theirmessage out there. That’s the most gratifyingpart of my job. Being able to help thesebusinesses succeed.”In terms of his own career success, Bobcites his internship experiences as beinginstrumental in acquiring the workplaceskills he still uses today.“There are so many times when I’ll think‘what I just did I learned about five or sixyears ago on that internship I did, thankGod I did it!’ I have to give so much creditback to those internships, and that wasbecause Curry pushed me to do them.”Plymouth PrideNolet gained a lot of Plymouth pridewhile working at the Radisson and atPlymouth Rock Studios, so when he hadthe opportunity to work at the Chamber, heknew it was one that he had to take.“It allows me to get even more into thecommunity, and it allows me to do moreof exactly what I wanted to be doing -communications, public relations, events,community outreach.“The reason I love this community is thehistory about it. It’s America’s hometown.People come from all over the world to seePlymouth Rock, the Mayflower, and thePlantation.“I’ve grown to love Plymouth. I’ve beena part of this town for five years nowthrough my work, and I live here nowas well. I recently became a member ofthe Plymouth Lions Club, and I love itbecause the Lions are the largest serviceorganization in the world. It’s veryrewarding to give back to a communitythat has given a lot to me so far in mycareer. I sit on the Plymouth CulturalCouncil, as well, which is a branch of theMassachusetts Cultural Council.“I believe all things happen for a reason.Because I responded to that Craigslist adfor Plymouth Rock Studios, it launched mycareer here in Plymouth and I couldn’t bein a more happier spot that I am in now.” u16 | CURRY COLLEGE MAGAZINE SUMMER 2013