Tag Archives: Contest

Buy a Book, Get Free Stuff: Limited Time Only

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this important announcement!

Cover design for the new book

Cover design for the new book

This year I’ve written my first book. It’s coming out in North America on December 28th. Since the publisher decided to push it to the end of the month, it’s not a Christmas present–it’s a “let’s start 2019 off with some really cool insights on HR and how technology is enabling us to create more human workplaces” present.

As with all my writing, there’s a good blend of research, fun stories, and examples to make even a book on technology very interesting and actionable!

Free Bonus AND a Giveaway

To encourage you to grab a copy, I’ll be running a special promo. Anyone that buys a book in the presale period will receive a special shirt to commemorate our collective belief that HR is an essential part of the future of work. We’re working on the design right now but it will be sure to get great comments (and plenty of jealousy) from your HR friends if they don’t get in on the presale.

Additionally, for every copy you buy you will get entered into a drawing to win a Human Capital Institute virtual conference pass ($800 value). Buy two copies, double your chances of winning! :-)

Please note: Amazon and other sellers do not send me presale information as the author, so in order to enter the contest and get your shirt I need you to send a copy of your receipt and your preferred shirt size to ben@upstarthr.com no later than December 30th in order to participate. Shirt orders will be made on 12/30 so we may not be able to accommodate late requests.

Note: If you are ordering a batch of 10 or more books for your HR team, your students, your customers, or a local HR chapter or reading club, please let me know and I can try to help with a bulk order to save you some money through the publisher directly.

Questions? Drop a comment below! Thanks in advance for all of your support and I am looking forward to sharing the book with the world!

Nobscot HRevolution Scholarship (Free Air Fare!)

Our friends at Nobscot have put together a great scholarship contest to help HRevolution attendees pay for their travel expenses.

Click here to learn more about the scholarship.

Here’s the info to enter:

  1. Write a post on one of the three topics listed below.
  2. Post it on your own blog.*
  3. Include the required entry notification listed below on your blog post.
  4. Paste a copy of your post into the entry form.

Topics (choose one)

  1. In what ways can new technology help HR evolve to have an even greater impact on business success?
  2. How can using technology for exit interviews, new hire surveys or mentoring program administration make these HR processes/activities more successful than handling manually?
  3. Get Creative – Describe HR in the year 2050! (Fictional story format acceptable.)

Required entry notification (including links):
This is [author-name]’s entry into the 2011 Nobscot HR Evolution Scholarship Competition. Nobscot Corporation is an HR technology company specializing in key areas of employee retention including exit interviews, onboarding surveys, and corporate mentoring programs.

*Don’t have a blog? Email me your submission and we can get it on the HRevolution blog if it meets the contest requirements.

All entries will be reviewed by the Nobscot Corporation 2011 HREvolution Scholarship committee. Entries must be received by February 28, 2011. Up to 3 winners will be selected. Selection will be based on originality, intuitiveness and generally good thinking! Winners announced on March 11th, 2011.

Scholarship includes airfare up to $500 for travel within North America and up to $1000 for international travel.

HR person of the year?

A few days ago, I saw this tweet about a 2010 HR person of the year contest. Here is the original post on ERE with the details. I figured I would go in and vote for someone I know, but much to my surprise my own name was on the list! (Who was in charge of vetting these submissions, anyway?) I remember jokingly telling my wife that she needed to vote for me so I could get at least one vote. :-)

Then I got an intriguing email a few days ago from Geoff Webb, the organizer of the contest. He told me I had won!

I just wanted to say a quick “thank you” to everyone who  took a few minutes out of their day to go and vote for me. It means a lot to have you all as friends.

What does it mean?

As a side benefit of winning the contest, the event organizers are bringing me to Toronto in September for Radical Innovation (the TED Talks for the HR industry). The neat part? I’m not only invited to participate in this event as a spectator. It also sounds like I get to speak as well! Sounds like a blast if you ask me…

Anyway, just want to say thanks again to everyone and to Geoff for his hard work putting this contest together. I sincerely appreciate it! Here’s Geoff’s “official” announcement.

You told me what to write

tell meSince my beautiful girls were born, I have been sleep deprived beyond my wildest imaginings. :-) Paradoxically, I’ve had my brain crushed with different ideas to write on. The only issue is that some of them are probably pretty crappy, and my filter isn’t up to snuff at this point. So I crowdsourced my thinking and let you guys tell me what you wanted to hear. Each of the commenters listed below will receive a $10 gift card for their help. Those cards will be used to donate to a project to help others around the world courtesy of GlobalGiving. Thanks again for your help, ladies and gentlemen!

Naomi
I would like to see ideas about how a person would use their GPHR designation. It sounds fun and interesting to have that specialty, but if someone is not already working in an international assignment (or if they want to try a new twist) what are some of the options for work? It would be great to learn about some of the world changing positions to which we can aspire!

Laurel Picard
I think that Succession Planning is probably one of the toughest things to approach as a young HR professional. So many companies are facing critical skilled labour shortages, but young HR professionals don\’t always have the experience to address this issue.
It ties in nicely with all sorts of other good HR topics too, like leadership development and flexible work arrangements.

Steve Browne
I\’d like you to talk about passion for the field. I\’m excited that young HR professionals are much broader in their scope, desire and balance. How are they going to maintain that in a workforce that tends to want to limit passion and creativity?

From personal experience, it takes a determination and an environment that fosters true passion, but I\’d love to hear your take on it!

Michael Haberman
I would like you to address the issue of being a young MAN in a profession now dominated by women. How have you been accepted by your employer, by your peers, and by your local HR leadership? Anything special you have had to do to gain credibility?

Lois Melbourne
Since you are a new Daddy I would like to hear from a man\’s perspective the balancing act of family and work. How can companies help Dads with this balance too.

Bruce Dodge
I think that perspectives on what really builds engagement on a company Facebook site and what prospective recruits are looking for when they check it our would be great.

Latina Culture
What about dealing with “overqualified” people who would do a great job and really need the job? How do you deal with the “fear” or concern they may be in the job for only a year and then look to internally promote?

Raina
How about the relationship between HR and the managers of the company? By bringing value and tools to them, you grow as a trusted partner and resource.

This leads them to go to you first before issues grow out of control. You can touch on ongoing training programs HR can implement to help managers recruit, coach, identify, and prevent potential problems and issues.

Look for posts coming to answer these questions in the coming weeks! If you have something that you would like to add (but you missed the cutoff), just let me know in the comments below. I’m sure the sleep deprivation will last for a while. :-)

Help me blog (and change the world)

Update as of 8/30/10: I have received enough comments/emails to give away all of the gift cards. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts! If you have an idea that you didn’t get to share, email me anyway! :-)

Hey, everyone! It’s good to have you here. No, really. If you weren’t taking your valuable time to read, then I wouldn’t use up my time to write. Hey, where do you think you’re going? Sit back down. I have something to offer you. :-)

I recently received some gift cards to give away from Global Giving. These gift cards aren’t like the normal ones you see for Starbucks or your favorite food place. These are used to help other people. And because I know you ladies and gentlemen are an amazing bunch, I think we can do this. I have fifteen $10 cards to give away. You can use them to help a number of people, depending on the project you choose from the Global Giving website. While $10 might not seem huge to us, remember that it can be life-changing for people in another part of the world.

Some projects you might consider that can be done for only $10:

  • Support the development of Mexican children left behind by migratory parents through a life skills and health education, school-based project link
  • International Medical Corps is saving lives of mothers and children around the world by giving midwives the tools and skills they need to deliver babies safely link
  • One hundred additional families struggling to survive in rural Zimbabwe will be able to grow enough food to feed their extended families and have surplus remaining to sell link

Here’s how you can get a free gift card

I need your help. I’m looking for ideas to write on that aren’t just interesting to me, but to you as well. Simply leave a comment on this post with a writing topic you’d like to see me cover, and I’ll send you a gift card. (The more specific/detailed your comment, the more likely I’ll be to actually fulfill the request.) The first fifteen comments that fulfill that simple requirement will be winners. It really is that easy. I’ll email you privately when the contest closes and we’ll take care of the details.

Let’s make a dent in the universe, people (thanks to Chris Ferdinandi for the terminology :-)).

Free HR Flashcards-Take 2

human resources certification flashcards

I have more free HR flashcards to give away!

Read on to learn how you can get in the drawing for this prize valued at $25.

The Scoop

I’m offering the Rock the PHR eBook for only $14.97 for a limited time. All you have to do is use the discount code flashcard to get the lower price. (The package has has multiple bonuses that more than double the value of the guide.) Continue reading

The flashcard contest winner is…

contest winnerWell, SHE came, she saw, and she took the prize! Congratulations to Samantha for winning the free HR certification flashcards from HRCP. She’ll be hearing from me via email shortly.

I really appreciate everyone who entered, and I’ve created a 75% discount on the Rock the PHR guide as a consolation prize. The discount will only be good until Friday at midnight (one and a half days), so get the PHR study guide now if you’re planning to take the exam. The discount code is “random” (minus quotes).

Upcoming Contest/Giveaway/Whatever

Keep your eyes peeled for a new contest with a HRevolution flavor in the coming week! Subscribe now so you don’t miss out.

Oh, and I’m going to try to do more giveaways, contests, etc. If you have a good idea for one, drop it in the comments or email me. I’m always open to ideas.