SHRM Lobby Day

Today was really an amazing day.  I am this guy from a relatively small town in the mid-west.  But today I had an impact on the way our country is governed. While my impact may not alter the events of history, it might.  I was one of 900 people who are in Alexandria, VA attending the SHRM Leadership Conference.  Of the 900 more than 400 of us went to Capitol Hill (The US Senate and House of Representative) as citizens but also as members of the Society of Human Resources Management.

We had been coached in what to do, what to say and how to say it. Still, it takes just a little cache to put yourself in front of your elected official (or one of their staffers) and suggest to them how they should vote on a particular piece of legislation and why they should vote that way.  For me part of that process included telling our elected officials how this bill was going to impact me and my employer.

So after preparing us as best they could the SHRM Legislative Affairs gang put their members on buses and hoped for the best.

Rep Schock with Sandra Donelson

My first stop was Representative Aaron Schock's Office.  My partner in crime for this was Sandra Donelson. She too is represented by Rep. Schock.   We were welcomed into the office and spoke to one of Rep. Schock's staffers, Margie Almanza.  She was most cordial and allowed us to present our case on the H.R. 3094 and S 1843.  We made our case - I am not sure how eloquent, but we did our best.  Then we were introduced to Rep Schock.  We got to speak briefly with him, and talk about our concerns and then were offered a photo op with him.  We were happy to accept.

It was the noon hour and Sandra and I split up.  I headed over to the Hart Building where  I was to have a 1 PM meeting wth Senator Durbin or someone from his staff.   I grabbed some lunch in the basement (with the $10 bill provided to me by SHRM - Yes they were handing out money).

I headed up to the seventh floor to Sen Durbin's Office and hooked up with 7 more of my fellow lobbyists. We were invited in right at 1PM as was scheduled.  We did not meet with Sen. Durbin, which was not really much of a surprise.  We met wtih Nathan Sandals, a Legislative Assistant.  He listened to our concerns and allowed us to make our points.  He was extremely non-commital on everything we talked about.  He did ask a couple questions.  He also said he did not know much about SHRM. We educated him about the organization, its mission, its size and strength.  Our meeting wrapped up after about 30 minutes.  I don' t know that we secured any votes on the two measures, but again we did our best.

I feel proud to have done what I did. I feel fortunate to have had the opprotunity to do what I did. And I hope that our visits changed some minds.

I would like to thank the entire SHRM Legislative Affairs Staff: David Lusk, Michael Aitken, Michael Layman and Lisa Horn.  Thank you for putting this together and giving each of us the chance to feel like we are participating in the democratic process.

-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

JSTN and TNL Pairing Up for Chicago

This is another call to action for those of you out there who are still sitting on the fence about an upcoming event in the Chicago area.  TNLive is coming to the Chicago area. Please click the link then you can see a video about the upcoming event.  The video is the product of Job Search Television Network (JSTN). This is the actual location where the event will be taking place as well; JSTN Hdqrs. 2880 Vision Court Auroa, IL 60134.

Those of us in IL SHRM met the folks from JSTN last summer as they were in attendance at the 2011 State Conference.  You may having seen them working closely with Curtis Midkiff, while at the event. They were shooting video of the event and interviewing folks.

Now my question when I read about the location was this; so what's the connection TNL and JSTN.  A reasonable question, which I put forward to Lindsey Stanton Chief Client Officer with JSTN.  She responded that the two organization are both at the forefront of social media, technology, recruiting and building talent communities.   Mike France, Director of Sales for JSTN had hooked up with Geoff Webb (aka the Radical Recruit) at an unconference in Madison, WI , where Geoff in turn introduced Mike to Craig Fisher, who runs and is TNLLive. And viola, there it is - got all that?

Back to the event, where JSTN will be showcasing their unique video capabilities with a LIVE PRODUCTION shoot during the conference. Take advantage of special pricing offered to attendees who produce videos in conjunction with the event. Click here to learn more . . .

Hopefully you clicked the learn more link above and got an idea of how powerful of tool JSTN is offering up. They have an impressive client list, like Mc Donalds, Liberty Mutual, Verizon Wireless, Lowe's, U.S.Air and Macy's to name a few.  Not only have they figured out how to do video and do it well, they can also teach you and help you get your video in front of the people you want to view it.  When that is done they will report back to you - yes analytics!  They can tell you where your video traffic is coming from, even if it is mobile with some very sophisticated mechanism. 

So this would be a good chance to learn about JSTN because they won't be taking the show on the road for a while.  Lindsey tells me the next show they are doing is not until February where they will be attending an HR Conference in Sarasota, FL.  

Oh so let's not forget, while you will get to meet, greet and video with the JSTN gang the purpose in attending the even is to participate in the TNLLive Event, so you can register here.  I promise you this, TNLLive will be one of the best events you will attend in 2012 and without a doubt will be the cheapest.  Hope to see you there!

-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

SHRM Lobby Day

This week I will be starring in my own version of Mr. Smith goes to Washington.  I have the good fortune to be attending the SHRM Leadership Conference. This year there will be over 900 volunteer leaders at the Crystal Gateway Marriott. We will be hearing about the SHRM agenda,  sitting through sessions on agenda items, seeing the Pinnacle Awards being handed out, and networking with one and other.

I will be arriving on Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning I am having breakfast with over 400 other SHMR members and volunteer leaders,  who will be descending onto Capitol Hill as pseudo lobbyists.  Mr.Michael Layman, one of SHRM's official lobbyists has done some cursory preparations with the group last week. He presented an hour long webinar for attendees to hear what our mission was going to be. I have accepted the mission and am most excited about it.

We will be meeting with members from our House Districts in the morning and then with Senators in the afternoon.  While they have prepared us to expect to meet with Staffers in many instances, I am sure a number of folks will actually have a chance to speak to their elected representatives.  SHRM does have an official agenda for each of us, either as groups or individual, to present to our legislators. It is important that we do this.  As it was explained to me earlier in the week of the 535 Senators and House Members - 2 yes Two of them actually have practical experience in Human Resources. Expressed as a percentage 0.4% of our elected representative have HR experience - shocking!

We will have more than 20 attendees from Illinois at the conference.  Of those there will be at least three making the trip over to Captiol Hill . We will share with you our fledgling lobbying efforts later in the week, as well other goodies coming from the conference.  Stay tuned!

- Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM