I Am Thankful For.....

Well, it’s come and gone. I hope that most all attendees at the 12th annual Illinois SHRM Conference (ILSHRM11) had the amazing time I had. We had a record crowd, cutting edge speakers and very intense but invaluable networking and I hope a little fun. I sit here trying to write a thank you post but have so many to thank I don’t know where to start and if I can keep it the length of a post and not a book, because it would not be hard to do.

First let me start with our keynotes, pre-conference speaker and our emcee. Our opening keynote, Ryan Estes, kicked us off with a very motivating and moving presentation that set the tone for the entire conference. Talent Anarchy (Jason Lauritsen and Joe Gerstandt) did what many keynoters fail to do and that is took the tough after lunch spot and they OWNED it. Testify. China Gorman gave our final keynote as only China can, informative, entertaining and classy. As I said in introducing China, when I took on ILSHRM11, I had a short list of 3 keynoters I wanted and I was blessed enough to get all three, China being top of that list. Whew. Jessica Miller-Merrell came in and led our first ever pre-conference session and did everything I thought she would do and more. And what can I say about our first ever conference emcee, Charlie Judy, but WOW. (Already got him committed to ILSHRM12).

Next, I have to thank our concurrent presenters. I wish I could list all 30 of them but space does not allow it (we run into that book length problem). The only complaint I have heard so far is that we didn’t have bigger concurrent break out rooms (we are working on that). They engaged, entertained and educated all of you. If you attended one (or five) great session, I encourage you to reach out to the speaker and connect with them to thank them and network. They are easily findable on the internet and if not, let us know; we will try and hook you up.

Next, our Social Media folks who came in and shared the conference with the world in ways I never thought possible. The number of over 3.8 million internet impressions just staggers me. Thank you Robin, Geoff, Maren, Kristi, Bryan, William, Jennifer, Dwane, Mike, Jessica, Jason S, Jason L, Joe, China and Charlie.

Thank you to the staff at NIU, Drury Lane, MCS and Chris Martin Public Relations for support and your hard work.

Thank you to our exhibitors and sponsors. You help make this amazing event possible. Please check out the list on our web site. Special thanks to our conference sponsor, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois. They have been unbelievable in their support in the last few years.

Thanks to the SHRM staff at ILSHRM. Martha and Kristine, you support us all year long so thank you for sharing two days with us, I know how busy you are. Kattie from HRCI, it was so great to meet in person and thanks to your team for sponsoring our first tweet up and the ILSHRM All Acess video recaps. Curtis, thanks. Without your interest last year, our social media reach would not be anything compared to what it is.

Thank you to all of our Illinois SHRM Board and volunteers. You made this years’ event run as smooth as glass due to all your effort and work. Special thanks go to our officers (Donna, Amy and Marianne), our District Directors (Karen, Lenore, Janeane, Melissa, Connie and especially Pattie), our technology team of Rachel and Dave. Thanks to all the chapter members and SHRM members who pitched into help. Extra special thanks to Sabrina Baker, our exhibitor and sponsor chair and Cathy Plouzek, my Co-Director. You all are super heroes in my book.

Last but not least, thanks to each and every attendee who came and participated. Your energy, enthusiasm and excitement made ILSHRM11 a huge success.

See you at the Drury Lane on August 6-7, 2012.
-John Jorgensen Conference Director ISC SHRM

Talent Anarchy - You Love 'Em or You Hate 'EM

This year at the Illinois SHRM state conference we did things a little differently. We tried to shake things up, involve a lot of social media and just generally break the mold.  We did.  Donna Rogers our State Director castigated the Tuesday lunch audience for not being attentive enough as Charlie Judy tried to announce Wowie winners. She made reference to the book "The No Asshole Rule" -  need I say more?

But probably one of the most irreverent moments occurred during the Talent Anarchy presentation. If you are easily offended please do not watch the video. Fortunately when this occurred I just happened to be capturing video.  Enjoy!






-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

All Access Illinois from Curtis Midkiff

On Monday SHRM's social media guy Curtis Midkiff was with us all day long.  He talked to our keynoters and some of the guests.  You can check out his wrap up here.



We will have a wrap up from Tuesday later in the week. And for all of the full videos please visit our website.

- Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

ILSHRM11's Social Media Boot Camp

Dwane Lay checking out where the keynote sessions will be held

We’re off.  The exhibit hall opens Monday morning, and Ryan Estis is going to rock Illinois! So to the best of my knowledge all of the speakers are here – on site.  The theater hall, new to us this year (pictured left) looks FAB and will be ready  for our 800+ attendees on Monday.

The wireless seems to work throughout the facility.  The pass code, for the wireless access if you are on site is ISCSHRM2011 (all caps). I am not sure how the quality of the food will be, but if the quantity is represented by yesterday’s buffet there will be enough food to feed the entire metro area.

Out of the gate we held one session on Sunday.  It was the Social Media Boot Camp.  How did we (ILSHRM & Jessica Miller-Merrell) do?  To borrow a phrase from the military – the anecdotal evidence was that the program was very good and informative.  The effort was to introduce social media to those H.R. professionals who had no idea what social media is or how to use it.  We will get the reviews emailed to participants but my guess is you will see more Social Media Boot Camps at other state SHRM events.

Officially that ended the day’s activities – while tomorrow’s preparations continued.  There was a large contingent of speakers and Illinois SHRM volunteers who dined and socialized together at the end of the day’s events.  We discussed plans for tomorrow.  Be watching for tweets – posts and ILSHRM All Access – right here with SHRM's Curtis Midkiff.

-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

Final Thoughts Before the 2011 Illinois SHRM State Conference

The car is packed up, I am ready to go ride for about three hours up I-55 to the Chicago area for the show (I like that better than conference).

My toys that I am bringing to the show.

It is almost an emotional time.  I am going to get to see a number of folks whom I respect and like very much, a.k.a. the HR twitter gang. I am going to get to meet a number of folk face to face for the first time –folks I have interacted with for a long time in several instances. (Susan, Sabrian and Abe)

With the sessions that we have planned for the show, I am going to get to hear from a number of folks who know their stuff and get a bunch of HRCI credits as well.  Monday night we are having what I will call a tweet-up. This should be great too.

As the Director of Social Media for the Illinois SHRM State Council, the show gives me an opportunity to do my thing – tweet, take pictures, video, blog things I truly enjoy doing.  Along with some serious support from Curtis Midkff, we are going to post a daily wrap-up of events. I am all geeked up about this as well.

Best of all I get hang with about 800 people who tend to think and view things like I do.  It should be a great three days.  See you in Oak Brook!