A few months back I read a great post by Keith McIlvane about wanting HR conferences to offer more content toward small companies. My first answer for HR conference problems is almost always going to be an event like HRevolution, because it allows participants to drive the conversations and topics that they find interesting, not what some organizer slapped on the agenda.

Keith’s post goes on to discuss this specific content request:

Don’t get me wrong, the big-brand case studies are extremely strategic in how they launch each initiative and often in a very impressive manner. But most companies have a more limited budget. I would love to hear how they took their huge wish-list and walked through the strategy and reasoning about going in the direction they chose.

I think I have a solid strategy in place, but know it is by far from perfect. Wouldn’t it be great to hear what similar obstacles are happening in your industry or other industries that might be similar pain-points to what you are encountering.

Can HRevolution really do that?

I say we give it a shot. We’ve had solutions created on the spot for actual participant case studies, activities like the hack labs where participants walk away with a list of ideas to try in their own organization, and other highly participatory content. Why not this one?

What else are you looking for that isn’t being provided by the “traditional” conferences?

Interested in attending HRev? Click here to get your ticket.

Wow! We just got the finishing touches on the website and the registration page for HRevolution 2012 in Chicago. While we had planned to launch on Tuesday, we have already had a handful of people happen across the site to register early. It still amazes me at the fanatical level of devotion embodied by the fans of the HRevolution event (movement?!?).

For the new readers, you can see everything I’ve ever written on HRevolution here.

It is a different kind of HR event, and I highly encourage you to check it out. While it costs less than most other events, the content is anything but cut-rate. You’ll be rubbing elbows with some of nicest, smartest people I’ve ever met. And if you participate like we hope you will, there’s a good chance the other people will walk away thinking that you are one of those intelligent people they are glad to know. All we ask is that you bring the enthusiasm and passion that led you to this profession in the first place!

I’ll be posting more on the event in the coming months, but if you want an early bird ticket (25% off), you probably need to get a move on! Click here to register Continue Reading »

I spent some time on the phone with my good friend Trish McFarlane the other day discussing HRevolution 2012. This event is going to be fantastic. Then I heard the phrase “don’t be a fan, be a player” today, and I knew the two topics were related.

You see, HRevolution isn’t your average, ordinary event.

There’s a reason we talk about “participants” when we discuss HRev. Why? Because they are expected to participate. We want people to come and share ideas, ask questions, and walk away with more than they came with.

The differences between this event and the traditional conference are many, but that is one that I keep coming back to as the main sticking point when comparing the two.

Give it a chance

If your employer pays for you to attend conferences during the year, this is one you need to seriously consider. You will walk out the door fired up and ready to take on whatever is thrown at you. Not sure if it’s right for you? Email me and we can discuss your individual position and how it might be applicable (or not) to what you need. The positive side is that it’s not going to cost you a thousand dollars to attend this event. We have done our best to keep costs low so that anyone can attend, no matter what career level they may be.

There’s a reason we have so many people who have attended every single HRevolution event. They believe in it, and you can, too.

Sponsors welcome

If you are a vendor in the HR space and would be interested in sponsoring, please reach out and I can get you the information you’ll need to make it happen.

Have you thought about attending HRev Las Vegas in October but didn’t know if it would be worth it?

Wonder no more.

At this link you will find the agenda for HRevolution Las Vegas, complete with speakers and session topics as well! A few snippets:

• Talent Anarchy Hacklab
• A Metric, a Trend, and an Analytic Walk Into a Bar
• Delivering Happiness
• Talent Communities and Company Culture
• Tools and Tech Jeopardy! Style

Snag your ticket now so you don’t miss out on these fantastic sessions and speakers!

Whew. I don’t travel that often, but the coming weeks are going to be quite busy. I hope to meet many of you at least once in this whirlwind, so check out the list below to see if we’ll be at any of the same events.

HR Florida-August 27-31

This is my first HR Florida excursion, but I’m really pumped to attend. From working with a few friends on the pre-conference Social Media Academy to having the time and topics to blog about throughout the duration of the conference, I am very excited about this experience.

Hire Minds-September 28-30

The good folks at Snagajob reached out to me about speaking on social media and I couldn’t turn them down. It sounds like an amazing event with a small, intimate group of incredibly talented individuals. I’m honored to attend!

HRevolution-October 2

I did a video a few days ago on HRevolution. If you want a ticket, it’s one of the cheapest events out there but has a consistently high rating from attendees. Definitely encourage you to check it out!

HR Technology-October 3-5

While I might not be able to stay for the entire event, I’m a geek/nerd at heart, so you know I’ll be in love with some HR technology. Working for a startup means that we’re always just one big proposal win away from needing something more powerful than Excel as an HRIS system. I’ll be looking for some ideas and hope to meet some great people for the first time there.

In the midst of that is work, family, and volunteer stuff, so it’s definitely going to be a wild month, give or take a few days. So, how about it? Anywhere you’d like to meet? Feel free to shoot me an email!

Will I see you at the next HRevolution? Las Vegas is right around the corner (October 2, 2011), and I hope to see you there. In the video below I discuss some of what makes HRevolution different from other events and why it’s so popular. If you’re ready to get your ticket, head over to the Eventbrite page and make it happen!

Email subscribers need to click through to see the video.

The ones who started it all...

We have about thirty posts here today from some of the people I respect most in this industry. It’s not because they’re the smartest (although many are brilliant). It’s not because they know all the secret tips and tricks (although they could teach us all a thing or two). It’s not even because they are good looking (those avatars don’t show everything) . It’s because they take the time and make the effort to continue pushing this profession and the people in it to be better. Every. Single. Day. We’re all better off for your efforts!

Because we have so many great posts, I’m going to keep my commentary to a minimum and just share the links to these fantastic recaps, takeaways, and nostalgic moments. If you set aside twenty minutes to start digging into the posts below, I can pretty much guarantee that you will find new blogs/people to follow. Fair warning: you’ll also have an insatiable desire to attend the next HRevolution. What can I say? It’s an awesome event.

Speaking of awesome… We are going to be partnering with the HR Technology Conference to offer a special one-day HRevolution event on October 2nd, 2011 in Las Vegas! More details to come, but if you have been wanting to attend the event but you’re out in the western US, this is going to be your big shot! Stay tuned.

The posts

• Cathy Martin of Intellectual Capital Consulting shares why you should go to HRevolution
• Dwane Lay of the Lean HR Blog offers up the HRevolution speaker playlist and asks what we learned today
• Paul Hebert of Incentive Intelligence writes on his personal blog about why the event sucked
• Lisa Rosendahl of Simply Lisa tells us about passion, energy, and intention
• Mike Haberman of HR Observations reviews the session on managing virtual teams and talks about world class HR
• Krista Francis of AliveHR! brings us thoughts about this (f)unconference
• Benjamin McCall of Rethink HR shares his next steps after HRevolution
• China Gorman compares and contrasts events as two sides of the conference coin
• Donna Rogers, the HR Warrior, shares about her thoughts as a SHRM-ie at HRevolution
• April Kunzelman tells us why her first HRev won’t be her last
• Robin Schooling, one of the sweetest/nicest ladies I know, talks about cursing and HR(!)
• Mike Krupa, the only guy I know who is tech geekier than me, says that, by golly there was tech talk at HRevolution
• Joan Ginsberg offers two of her valuable insights into the event
• Kathy Duffy shares with us about supporting innovation through HR
• Paul Smith talks seriously (and not so seriously) about HRevolution sucking and even gets hijacked by Mike Krupa
• Shauna Moerke, the esteemed HR Minion, lets us know she needs a tardis (time machine, for the less geekily inclined)
• Mervyn Dinnen is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, and he’s from the UK, so you know I dig his accent; he wrote about the HRevolution love shack
• Gareth Jones talks about his views of the event in Brits Abroad
• Maren Hogan gives us a great view of the emotional/spiritual side of HRevolution by talking about building a history
• Matt Stollak of True Faith HR gives us three shots in Skullcrusher, Dubculture, and Blue Monday
• Tim Gardner, the no-longer-anonymous HR Introvert, talks about fear and influence in the ATL
• My own post, in case you missed it, was about HRevolution being exponentially better this year.
• Jon Ingham, one of our UK visitors, shared about love in HR and at HRev. Speaking of Jon, he also hosted an international HR carnival a few days back and it’s pretty interesting. We could all stand to be a little better rounded in HR, and looking at the international HR scene is a great way to start on that.
• The Monster team’s all star photographer Alana brings us a great helping of HRevolution photos
• Chris Havrilla of Recruiter Chicks tells us what HRevolution has for the recruiters out there

And that’s not all. We have videos from the event coming soon thanks to Maren Hogan and some more great stuff on the horizon. Remember, HRev isn’t your usual conference. We keep the good stuff coming all year long! Thanks again to our sponsors, facilitators, and attendees for making the event as successful as it is. We appreciate you all!