^THIS. THANK YOU, SIR. In my case, it wasn't the sudden lack of a job that stung, it was the experience of being completely blacklisted by everyone at the company. That was 20 close friends who I never heard from again.
They were not close friends then.
Also, not everyone in the company should be painted with the same brush. There was a lot going on, none of which I'm actually at liberty to talk about, unfortunately.
If there's no severance, then he can air all the dirty laundry you want. Whether he wants to is up to him.
Therefore, I learnt it the hard way and try to be an arse at work speaking in short and to-the-point sentences and keeping my mouth shut and slogging for the 40 hours I am contracted for. What matters to me is the hard cash employers bring on the table and no longer give a flying fuck about stocks, RSUs, et all. I don't even bother to check my email or answer phones unless I am on-call and being paid extra for it.
What works for you is great. I am happy for you.
I have learned to pour a little less of my soul into work, to guard against this happening again.
Most companies are shitty and most people know most companies are shitty and aren't going to ostracize someone just because their employer fired that person.
You are best off if you have an offline form of contact. Don't expect them to let the company know that you're still in contact with them, because that's not a fair expectation (they could be endangering their own reputations) but they'll usually be in contact with you offline.
Even I learnt it the hard way :)