As we continue to prepare for the Illinois State Council’s 11th Annual Conference, we are pulling out all of the stops to get as much attention on the event as possible. In doing so, our public relations director contacted me and told me of an opportunity to get some coverage in my hometown newspaper for the event. The news outlet was curious how and why we were going to use social media to help promote the event. In fact, the reporter or his editor asked this question – What changed; when did you folks in Human Resources start embracing Facebook, Twitter and the like?
I hold the belief that there are less HR people who are afraid of using the Internet for business purposes, than have taken the time to try to learn, use and apply the tools that are out there. As in any new venture, there will be many opportunities for failure; some of them may fail spectacularly! Fear not though, just like any other business venture, if your idea doesn’t work out like you planned you re-tool and try again.
So if you have been sitting on the sidelines and need a little coaching on how to do this, we have a couple of sessions at #ILSHRM10 (our twitter hashtag) on Monday that may help you out. Lisa Callaway is leading a Monday morning session titled Embracing Social Media While Protecting Your Organization. Later in the day, there is a second session titled What HR Should Know About Social Media which is lead by Maureen Dorgan-Clemans. Hopefully, one or both of these sessions might provide a little clarity on the matters.
If you can’t attend, follow us on twitter, check out our guest bloggers Sarah White, Trish McFarlane and Mike VanDervort and their take on the event. And… we will be getting a first look at some new material from SHRM’s Social Media guy Curtiss Midkiff, as he eluded to on DriveThruHR earlier in the week.
Hope to see you there!
I plan to attend both of the aformentioned programs on the schedule. I am curious to know who started all the social networking in HR and a date of inception so to speak. Perhaps a research project in the near future could shed some light. My introduction has been slow as anything else new (especially as it relates to technology) but that's only because I lack the time to educate myself. Thanks to all my friends in HR since last November at SHRM Leadership 09, I have really learned alot from them a little at a time! Heck I didn't even know what a hash tag was till our SHRM North Central Regional Meeting in Phoenix last February. The whole blogging thing was quite a shock to me too in San Diego last month. Little did I know we had so many talented HR folks blogging, on blog talk radio, etc. I am learning every day. The biggest problem is I hear HR folks all the time say I don't have time. My thought is they better make time because they need to know what it is, how it works, what the benefits are as well as the concerns because employees already know. Just like I said in a Springfield Business Journal panel discussion a month or so ago...you're gonna be left behind. Social media is not a fad...it is here to stay!
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