Comments on: Your Conference Experience May Vary

By: Steph K

Steph K — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:09:47 +0000

Lance, just watched the webcast yesterday and it was very well-done. Covered it on my HR blog at Hewlett Packard, I welcome you to add any comments: http://bit.ly/1a3t3r
Your approach to the networking at SHRM was really impressive, I’ll link back to your posts again when I do an upcoming “Art of Networking” post.

Steph K
HP

By: Lance Haun

Lance Haun — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:53:24 +0000

@Mark – Thanks!

@Kari – I loved this conference for the sheer amount of people I could meet up with. I think that is just a huge opportunity that can’t be missed.

@Mary Ellen – Exactly. It is difficult staying out of a particularly comfortable room to boot but sacrifices must be made!

@Tracy – I don’t necessarily disagree though I do think that there are two problems with bloggers: If they are interested in making significant money, they are making deals. I’d love to say we can separate out that information, but I don’t think it is perfect. Secondly, I think bloggers have a huge self-interest in the topic while journalists and the press have a huge self-interest in presenting a story. There is a disconnect there.

@Bob – You are right. And actually, you are one of several people that e-mailed or commented to let me know that it gave them new ideas. That’s great. I think my overwhelming fear is that we feel like we have made progress when we haven’t. I want to stay on my toes until HR gets it.

@hfahey – Absolutely. I think that is a big part of how they can improve the sessions. There needs to be some interaction during the concurrent sessions. Both for the good of the session and the good of the organization.

By: hfahey28

hfahey28 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:24:26 +0000

As a first time attendee, I was very excited to attend, purely at the thought of that many HR people in one spot. But I quickly realized if it were not for twitter and the tweet ups I would not have interacted with as many people as I did. In general the sessions do not allow for much interaction and SHRM did not offer much in the way of networking/social events. Parts of the conference came off a little too polished, like a well scripted evangelical telethon but overall I think SHRM did a good job and I absorbed a wealth of information.

No having to carry home a giant monster doll….priceless.

By: Bob DeProspo

Bob DeProspo — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:57:42 +0000

I’ve been in HR for more years than I care to remember. I go to the SHRM Annual Conference solely to get new ideas. This includes your session on blogging, which I knew little to nothing about. Now I’m a little more than interested. Don’t always assume that you’re preaching to the choir.

By: My Thoughts on SHRM « Human Resources Pufnstuf

My Thoughts on SHRM « Human Resources Pufnstuf — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:31:34 +0000

[...] being said, Iâ€™ve heard some people that I trust like Lance Haun, Jessica Lee and Laurie Reuttiman, speak very highly of the recent SHRM event and the new [...]

By: Tracy Tran

Tracy Tran — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:22:53 +0000

I wish I was there meeting you guys and other bloggers. Now you’re making me sad. Eventually I will meet everyone. I’m at 8, so I got 492 HR/Recruiter bloggers to go.

Anyway, on your 3 points, I agree with the first 2 points about blogging, but the third one, whatever you look at it, has been blurred. Let me be clear that the press and blogging /columnists are different, but they’re under one umbrella and that is telling a story. The press is there to tell the story, the blogger is there for an opinion from the facts given. Although you’re not part of the press, you are accounted for the information that is written on your blog(s). People will call you out if you distort any information and since your blog is syndicated, it’s fair game. Frankly, everyone who has a blog is a columnist, but with access, they’re a hybrid journalist/columnist and that line has been totally blurred.

Finally about the swag…I’ll admit I collected swag…wait….a lot of swag and try to bring it home. You can call me a dork but that’s what I did. Now, the only reason I grab swag is to give it to my then co-workers. I worked for a nonprofit and all they got is bounses but not enough positive reinforcement. I do agree that some take a lot for themselves, but there are some that take swag and do what’s best. Also swag helps on tipping your hotel maids on occasion.

By: Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Nice post. Another key to getting the most out of a conference — any conference — is to stay out of your hotel room as much as you can stand it. The conversations you have after the sessions are over are priceless. Have dinner with strange people, go to tweetups, share cabs, chat up strangers in the checkin line. If they are wearing lanyards announcing that they are also at the conference, they are fair game.

By: Kari Quaas

Kari Quaas — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:10:36 +0000

Lance, I second what you said and what Mark reiterated. The key is to make the physical, face to face connections, not go home with a bunch of crap. The knowledge of those you interact with should be your swag.

I also agree having gone to two of these HUGE conferences that this one was more fun for me because of those connections I had made in advance. It’s hard to go alone, but if you are brave and reach out, oh the people you’ll meet.

Great post.

By: Mark Stelzner

Mark Stelzner — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:57:10 +0000

Terrific post as usual Lance. In my opinion, you nailed it with – “I saw people that, given the same opportunities as everyone else, went hunting for swag instead of making connections or going to sessions. Being a rockstar in HR has nothing to do with SHRM and everything to do with how you operate.”