Social Media Bootcamp

Do you know how to use social media effectively both in your career and in your job? You should because your colleagues are in it and you can bet your employees are using it. Understanding social media is important when crafting your personal and your company’s brand awareness as well as developing your company’s social media policy and recruiting strategy as well as doing any investigations into policy or security violations.

In order to help HR professionals understand social media and how to use it, the Illinois State Council of SHRM is sponsoring a Social Media Boot Camp, being held on Sunday, August 21 (the day before our Annual Conference) at the Drury Lane Theater in Oakbrook Terrace, the same location as the Conference. This how-to program was a highly requested item that came from our first presentations on social media at last year’s conference.

Participants will learn about social media from common terms, tools, tips and applications from an HR professional who literally has written the book. This 3.5 hour session (accredited for strategic HRCI credit) will help you move from novice to being on your way to becoming a Social Media Ninja.

Participants will refine their own social media accounts and learn about brand awareness, improper uses of social media, best practices in social media and how to use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and blogging to improve your networking ability and improve your ability on the job.

Participants are encouraged to bring laptops as wifi will be available. All we ask is that you have set up your accounts in whatever platform(s) you are planning to use prior to the event. Let us know if you need help with that. The cost for the workshop is $125 if you are registered for the conference and $150 if you are not. Remember, it is for STRATEGIC credit for certified HR pros.

PRESENTER: Jessica Miller-Merrell SPHR is a well known social media presence, CEO of Exceptional HR, the brains behind the Blogging 4 Jobs web site and new media assassin. In addition, she is the author of Tweet This! Twitter for Business. 

- John Jorgensen SPHR Immediate Past State Director ISC SHRM

Introducing WOWIE Wednesdays

The Illinois State Council of SHRM is again partnering with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, like last year  to present the WOWIE Awards at our state conference in August. The WOWIE Awards honor Illinois-based organizations or companies that take a creative approach to inspire employees to make healthy, active choices during working hours.

In an effort to promote the WOWIES we are introducitn WOWIE WEDNESDAYS. Every Wednesday until our state conference we will have a post about the WOWIES. Be watching for updates. In the meantime, here is an overview of the program.
The WOWIE Award program has Silver, Gold and Platinum categories.

The Silver award will be given to organizations that demonstrate a solid foundation for success.

The Gold award is given to select worksites/organizations that meet the Silver criteria, as well as organizations that develop comprehensive programs producing results. These programs are strategic and aligned with the organization’s mission, vision and values.

The Platinum award recognizes organizations with well-defined and well-executed worksite wellness programming, and who meet the following criteria:

• Offer employees physical activity support

• Increase health eating options at work

• Promote a wellness culture

• Employ a minimum of 5 people

• Offer a variety of physical activities for employees

Companies that achieve any level of WOWIE award recognition will receive:

• An official recognition letter from ILSHRM and BCBSIL

• A recognition plaque for display

• Recognition on ILSHRM and BCBSIL program Web site

• Recognition by ILSHRM and BCBSIL at local events and in communication materials supporting the recognition program.

Click here for an Applications

The Deadline for submission is June 1, 2011.

Content from CMPR & Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC - SHRM

2011 WOWIE Award Competition: Will the winners repeat?

The City of St. Charles Group with their 2010 Wowie

Will the winners repeat?  That is a common question many sports teams face immediately after winning a championship?  But in the employee wellness arena, that question is also germane to Robinson Engineering and The City of St. Charles, Ill. 

Not sure what those two progressive outfits have in common?  They were both Platinum winners of the 2010 WOWIE awards, sponsored by ILSHRM and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. 

In 2011, the WOWIEs are back and we’ll see if both Robinson and the City of St. Charles enter, not just to see if they can repeat, but to see if another year’s worth of data on their programs bolsters the notion that employers can play a positive role in improving their employee’s health. 

The City of St. Charles Wellness Program received a Platinum Award in the “More than 200 Employees” category, in part, because it was able to incent employees to adopt healthy behaviors in exchange for lower health care premiums.

The city’s program consisted of three goals: encouraging healthy lifestyles among employees, reducing health care costs for the city and providing an opportunity for employees to decrease their health insurance premiums by achieving one or more of six health goals: 

·         blood pressure less than 130/85

·         LDL cholesterol less than 130

·         weight/BMI within normal limits based on a physician certified chart

·         cardiovascular exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week

·         being tobacco free

·         completing the online Blue Cross and Blue Shield health risk assessment

South Holland, Ill.-based Robinson Engineering received a Platinum Award in the “200 Employees or Fewer” category with its “Robinson Employee Wellness program,” which was established in 2007.

The Robinson’s Employee Wellness Program provides a wide spectrum of health information and services, from monthly health topics to employee health fairs that all seek to improve employee health.  The program consisted of:

·         quarterly lunch and learns on health and nutrition topics

·         walking clinics

·         group activities such as ping pong and employee competitions

·         subsidizing health club memberships

·         healthy food choices at lunch meetings

·         health potluck meetings, ‘Fruit Fridays” and ”Healthy Snack Day”

·         pedometer challenges

·         CPR/first aide classes

If your company has a program that measures up to these 2010 WOWIE Winners, click here: and get your application.  Deadline for entries is June 1.  

- Dave Ryan ISC SHRM Director of Social Media

SHRM North Central Regional Student Conference Wrap-Up



The Winning Team From Purdue
L to R Jeffrey Brent Pett, Kijae Moonha Kim, Jo-Mei Wang, Robert R. Gee, Maricela Suarez Fuster and Matthew Olsen



(Click on the Picasa tab to view all of the pictures from the event.)

Right about now I am feeling really guilty.  I am volunteering at the SHRM North Central Student conference.  It is taking place at Lewis University in Romeoville, IL. Why am I feeling guilty? Because I am now realizing, that I have not done enough to help the younger folks and students in Human Resource, and that I am resolved to doing more.

These young folks they ALL LOOKED SHARP today, Guys and girls in suits, and ties with shinny shoes and awesome hair styling.  I don’t even know these kids and I am proud or them

The games are taking place on the weekend, so the students here have made a conscious choice to be here, forgoing their weekend.  Along with the students, I met and visited with some committed college educators like Matt Stollack from St. Norberts, Jeffrey Walls from Indiana Institute of Technology, Joseph Goodman from Illinois State University, and Donna Rogers form UIS who also have forgone their weekend to help educate these young folks.

As long as I am throwing out the accolades, I should mention the SHRM folks:  Pam Green, Chuck Salvetti, Maureen Flaherty, and Laurie McIntosh who have been giving up their weekends for several weeks in a row to get all of the regional sessions completed. And we owe a big  thank you to our own Martha Ramirez who is our North Central Region Representative.

It is so cool to these students studying and consuming the stuff that makes up the SHRM exams.  And they are learning it to apply it, just as I do everyday in my work.  As I write this my group is trying to understand whether or not an internship should be paid, and how they can defend their position.  This is a rather timely matter, given DOL’s new take on internships

I have enjoyed getting to be a part of the event and watching tomorrow’s HR Trencher’s slugging it out.  Having a chance to be around the “youngsters” is invigorating and exciting.  I have resolved to more work with the young folks, going forward and if you are passionate about HR you should too; they are our future!

Congratulations to all of the teams for a great event.

-Dave Ryan ISC SHRM Director of Social Media