Part-time Conference Attendee
Pool view from ERE Expo
Pool view from ERE Expo
I attended portions of the Fall 2009 ERE Expo that was held at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood Florida last week. I had to miss quite a few of the sessions as I had other meetings to take care in the Miami area on this visit. This provided a bit of a different dynamic for this conference over some of the others I have recently attended. This was due to the fact that a lot of the connections and dialogue that I participated in at the conference was with small groups of people in informal settings, rather than following the bigger dialogue of speakers and groups in the sessions.
There was a large social media presence at the event with plenty of live blogging and tweeting going on. You can find a summary of the tweet stream here. Great reviews of the conference have been written by Jonathon Goodman, Leanne Chase , Sharlyn Lauby, my amazing friend Stephanie A. Lloyd, Jason Buss, Jason Buss, another “Jason” – my buddy Jason Blais, the swanky and eloquent Jennifer McClure, and the always scintilating Laurie Ruettimann
While I would have enjoyed watching the sessions, I still found the conference to be a very valuable event.
You can find the slide decks and video recording that are available in the same place I did, which is here. One of the most discussed presentations that I did get to see was given by the “2 Steve’s from Adidas”. You can see it below.
Employment Branding at Adidas
Here are my random thoughts on my personal highlights from the conference.
Breaking News in Recruiting
Laurie Ruettimann announced that she will be leading the session at the Social Recruiting Summit in New York City which will be held in on November 16.
Joel Cheesman of Cheezhead and Aaron Matos of Jobing announced the acquisition of the Cheesman Group by Jobing.
Cool stuff making for great cocktail party fodder!
Fabulous Networking Opportunities
The dudes at ERE Expo and their clients know how to rock a party!
Traci Deveau and Winnings at ERE
I only paid for one drink in three days, and was invited to at least half a dozen full on soirees over the span of the show.
The first conference networking event was a “near the pool/beach” reception with roving servers delivering canapes, a hot food bar, and a nice selection of liquor, wine and beer. I would estimate attendance at well over 150. I met many people for the first time, and enjoyed renewing long running conversations with many others.
We then moved upstairs for a marvelous networking opportunity that also offered an opportunity to donate to a charitable cause. This was a Texas Hold’em event put on by the ERE Foundation. I may have “lost” $35 dollars, but that was more than made up for with fun and awesome networking! Special thanks to Sarah White and Jeremy Langhans, who helped put the event together.
It was like being on the red carpet on Oscar night for evening number two. I started out at a reception on the main show floor, hanging out with a bunch of different people, including Christina Tierney from Bernard Hodes, Jason Blais from JobsintheUS, Shannon Seery Gude, Stephanie A Lloyd of Radiant Veracity, Jennifer McClure, and many others.
Then I moved to the NAS party that I had been invited to by the charming and gracious hostess, Tara Repucci where we enjoyed sushi and Kirin Ichiban beer and some great conversation.
Next it was off to Rivals for the Indeed.com party where there were so many people I can’t even count them all. It got wild and crazy. I spent a lot of time talking to new friends like Jenny DeVaughn, Miriam Salpeter, and Melyssa Berstein.
Then it was time to go off to the best event of the night, the Glass Half Full Wine Tasting event put together by Maren Hogan and Jason Davis of Recruiting Blogs and HCI. It was an amazing event in a suite overlooking the Atlantic Ocean from 23 stories and filled with smart and talented people like John Sumser, Gerry Crispin, and Kevin Wheeler, just to name a few. I felt privileged to be allowed to hang around and chat with them and all the others that were there.
Social Media and Twitter at ERE
Social media once again played a major role at an HR conference, despite sketchy wifi service. People were tweeting and blogging. This element totally changes the dynamic of a conference for those of us who can access the “hidden audience”. Show planners need to learn to factor this in and take advantage of it!
Here is a long list of people I knew before ERE or met for the first time while at the show. I know I left some out. Please ask to be added to the list if you are unintentionally ommitted!
Shannon Seery Gude @Seerysm
Jason Davis @callmeslouch
Robin Eads @imjustagoyle
Tracy Deveau @Devoted2HR
Jennifer McClure @CincyRecruiter
Sharlyn Lauby @HR Bartender
Glenn Gutmacher @gutmach
Irina Shamaeva @braingain
Tara Repucci @tararepucci
Lexy Thompson @lexythompson
Chris Hoyt @TheRecruiterGuy
Sarah White @sarahw79
Maren Hogan @marenhogan
Mike Quale @tall_geek
Jason Buss @jjbuss
Laurie Ruettimann @lruettimann
Mary Ellen Slayter @SBWorkforce
Eric Winegardner @ewmonster
Shally Steckerl @shally
Kevin Wheeler @kwheeler
John Sumser @sumser
Dave Pritchard @PritchATL
Gerry Crispin @GerryCrispin
Jason Blais @JasonCBlais
Amy Renz @AmyRenz
Aaron Matos @Jobing
Katie del Guercio @KODAus
Scott Baxt @ScottBaxt
Stephanie A Lloyd @StephanieALloyd
David Manaster @Dmanaster
Leanne Chase @Leanneclc
Melyssa Bernstein @MelShel99
Jenny Devaughn @Jenny DeVaughn
Miriam Salpeter @keppie_careers
My next post will be about Recruiting rising to the occasion and will discuss how the recruiting field is differentiating itself from the rest of Human Resources.
Related posts:
- Another ERE Shoutout Jenny Devaughn One of the big problems in generating any...
- ERE Expo – Day 1 ERE recruiting conference kicks off The ERE Expo recruiting event...
- Sunday shoutout: HR Florida State Conference and Expo Image via Wikipedia 2010 Event Planning season is now open...
- Eau de Social Recruiting Summit Image by birgerking via Flickr It stinks that I can’t...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 6 trackbacks }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great update! I dug the video… Hope to join your list soon!
Mike, I am always in AWE and filled with inspiration, after these events. It is simply an incredible set of minds to be surrounded by. The adidas TEAM, there is no I there! They have THE most compelling presnetations and vsiaulas I’ve ever seen…PERIOD. I look forward to following you and reading more of your ideas and observations.
@PritchATL
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Mike, I am always in AWE and filled with inspiration, after these events. It is simply an incredible set of minds to be surrounded by. The adidas TEAM, there is no I there! They have THE most compelling presentations and visuals I’ve ever seen…PERIOD. I look forward to following you and reading more of your ideas and observations.
@PritchATL
Twitter: sharlyn_lauby
September 16, 2009 at 7:05 am
Hi Mike. Thanks for the mention. It’s always great seeing you. Nice recap of the event.
Thanks for being a part of the show, Mike!
Twitter: MikeVanDervort
September 19, 2009 at 6:36 am
@AmandaHite – thanks for dropping by. Hope to see you on the list and at HRevolution!
@DavidManaster Thanks for inviting me (via @ScottBaxt)
@DavePritchard – it was realy a great conference
@sharlyn_lauby Gracias, mi amiga!