ILSHRM on Drive Thru HR

Much has been written about #ILSHRM12, and now we have moved on to conversations.  So in case you missed this episode,  due to a scheduling snafoo ILSHRM12 became the subject on Drive Thru HR. Host William Tincup visits with Chris Fields and our own John Jorgensen; have a listen!

Listen to internet radio with Wempen and Tincup on Blog Talk Radio

SHRM Atlanta Ready-Set

Ok the build up has begun and it's all about THE BIG SHOW.  That's right I am talking about SHRM12 in Atlanta.  Yesterday was somwhat of a watershed event.  It has probably been out there for a while, but got my first took a look at the iphone and ipad apps for the event.  I downloaded both of them.  Now really think about that... a damn app for a conference that is over the top.
Also yesterday the boys over at DriveThruHR started a series talking about the upcoming event.

Listen to internet radio with Wempen and Tincup on Blog Talk Radio
You can give it a listen right here.  On this show, they said they were going to do 4 more programs about the conference.  

They are also going to have "The Hive."  This is going to be the center for social media at the event. Keep your eyes and ears open, there will be much more to come!

Strategy Equals Improved Bottom Line

Yes indeed!  In my professional opinion, strategic decision making, when it comes to company profit and how good or bad the bottom line is go hand in hand.  Having a military background I can appreciate the Wikipedia definition for strategy:

Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. How a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: the terms and conditions that it is fought on and whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy, which is part of the four levels of warfare: political goals or grand strategy, strategy, operations, and tactics. Building on the work of many thinkers on the subject, one can define strategy as "a comprehensive way to try to pursue political ends, including the threat or actual use of force, in a dialectic of wills – there have to be at least two sides to a conflict. These sides interact, and thus a Strategy will rarely be successful if it shows no adaptability."^[1] Strategy has been extended beyond its traditional fields, military and grand strategy, to business, economics, game theory and other fields. Reference Wikipedia.

So looking back at the definition above, I would consider words like: plan, goal, achievement, action, engagement, adaptability, and success.  Strategic success, from an business & HR perspective, if the majority of your overall operating expenses is payroll and benefits (which is typically more than half), would be more than advantageous to maintain a strategic staffing plan at the very minimum.  However, don’t take my word for it!  In a few short weeks you will be able to hear from Bill Conaty, Former Sr. VP of HR at GE, Jeffery Garten, Juan Trippe Professor in Practice of International Trade, Bridget van Kralingen, GM at IBM, and Don Tapscott, Thought Leader on the Strategic Value & Impact of IT.

To top it off one of ILSHRM11’s keynote speakers, Jason Lauritsen, of Talent Anarchy is one of the concurrent speakers.  Personally I’d go just to see him!  He was awesome at our conference!  That’s not the best part!  We at ILSHRM have partnered with SHRM to bring you an improved bottom line as well when you register for this conference today.  How, you ask?  By using the following promo code:  SHRMIL2011.  This code will save you several hundred dollars on your registration.  So register today to move your company toward improved bottom line results!

The SHRM Strategy Conference is a signature event for top-level HR professionals and other business leaders who want senior-level sessions that focus on developing and executing creative, effective and scalable strategies.

Donna Rogers, SPHR @DonnaRogersHR - Chair ISC SHRM

Just the right amount of FANTASTIC!

Today we have a guest post from China Gorman. China was a recent keynote speaker at our state conference.  These are her comments...

China Gorman speaking in the Drury Lane Theater at ILSHRM11

A new casino/hotel recently opened in Las Vegas.  Their marketing campaign was “Just the right amount of wrong.”  Clearly I wasn’t in their target demographic, because, as a consumer, no amount of wrong is right with me.

I feel the same way about conferences.  Especially HR conferences.  And I just attended one that was just the right amount of Fantastic! 

I was honored to have been asked to be the final keynote speaker at the recent 12^th Annual Illinois HR Conference.  With more than 800 attendees – from as far away as India! – this SHRM-affiliated conference really set the bar for excellence in every category! 

What makes this so noteworthy to me is that the conference was organized entirely by volunteers!  SHRM puts on 5 commercial conferences a year.  Only one SHRM event, the big annual conference, is bigger than the Illinois HR Conference.  And SHRM has a full-time staff of more than 9 meeting planning and marketing professionals organizing their conferences – including the 4 events that are much smaller than the Annual Illinois HR Conference!  This just puts into perspective the incredible achievement of the organizing team led by Conference Co-Directors, John Jorgensen and Cathy Plouzek.

From the other keynote speakers (Ryan Estis and Talent Anarchy, Joe Gerstandt and Jason Lauritsen), to the pre-conference Social Media Bootcamp led by Jessica Miller Merrill, to the incredible lineup of concurrent session speakers, to the venue, the food, the social media engagement and coverage – truly, everything about this conference was just the right amount of fantastic!

From someone who knows conferences – especially HR conferences – I offer my congratulations to the full conference planning team.  And I highly recommend that other SHRM state conference organizers contact John and Cathy for tips and lessons learned.  These folks are doing it right!

ILSHRM11's Social Media Press Corps

THIS JUST IN

We are pleased to announce one addition to the ILSHRM Social Media Press Corps.  Trish McFarlane (@TrishMcFarlane on Twitter) aka The HR Ringleader will be joining the social media group covering the Conference, giving her unique view on what to look for, what is being said there and her analysis after the event.  She was one of our original social media participants last year and we are thrilled to have Trish back this year.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Last year at the Illinois State SHRM Conference, we experimented with using social media by inviting some well known HR bloggers and social media personalities to attend and report on the Conference. It allowed letting those who couldn’t attend follow the excitement and what was happening at the Conference. It also allowed conference goers an opportunity to “hear” what was happening in other sessions that they couldn’t attend. We were one of the first state conferences to test out using social media as a tool and based on reports and comments it was a success.

This year, we are expanding our use of social media as far as numbers involved and hopefully in creating pre and post conference excitement as well as a method to document what happens at the Conference. Many of our speakers have a powerful presence in social media and we are taking advantage of that to create our Social Media Press Corps, while adding a few other social media reporters to the mix. In addition to the written blogs and tweets, we have several noted social media pros coming to video what goes on at the conference as well as interview speakers and attendees alike. Finally, the only daily internet talk radio show dealing with HR practitioners, Drive Thru HR, will be working from our Conference.

We have added a social media track to the conference to teach HR practitioners how to use these new tools and 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.

Below is the roster of our Social Media Press Corps, along with their blog/web site and Twitter handles:

Bloggers

Blogger                         Blog Site                                    Twitter Handle

Robin Schooling           The HR Schoolhouse                 @RobinSchooling

Jessica Miller-Merrill     Blogging 4 Jobs                          @blogging4jobs

Jennifer McClure           Unbridled Talent                         @cincyrecruiter

Joe Gerstandt                Joe Gerstandt                             @joegerstandt

                                    Also Talent Anarchy

China Gorman              China Gorman                            @chinagorman

Dwane Lay                  Lean HR                                       @dwanelay

Mike VanderVort        Human Race Horses                     @mikevandervort

Jason Seiden              Jason Seiden                                @seiden

Ryan Estis                  Passion on Purpose                      @ryanestis

William Tincup           Drive Thru HR                               @williamtincup

Charlie Judy              The HR Fishbowl                           @HRFishbowl

Video

Maren Hogan          Marenated                                    @marenhogan

Geoff Webb            Radical Events                                @radicalrecruit

Internet Radio

Bryan Wempen       Drive Thru HR                             @bryanwempen

William Tincup        Drive Thru HR                             @williamtincup

In addition, follow our "house" crew of social media folks of Dave Ryan (@DaveTheHRCzar), Donna Rogers (@DonnaRogersHR), John Jorgensen (@jkjhr), Cathy Plouzek (@smiling26.2), Jeff Williams (@_JeffWilliams) and Sabrina Baker (@Sabrina_PHR) among others who will be using the #ILSHRM11 hashtag.

For the Press Corps members pre-conference thoughts, on-site posts and post-conference wrap ups, follow their blogs and to follow what is happening at the Conference if you are on Twitter, follow our hashtag of #ILSHRM11.

- John Jorgensen SPHR Conference Director ISC SHRM

ILSHRM Speaker Preview - Dwane Lay

As one of the writers of this blog, I am afforded the opportunity to say pretty much what I want - within reason. (The ILSHRM execs do jerk my chain once in a while.)  Today I am excited to start a series of posts.  The series is going going to be an assembly of short videos from some of our speakers for the Illinois SHRM State Conference August 22 and 23.

This post is the first of these.  I would like to introduce you to Dwane Lay. Dwane lives is the St. Louis area and will be traveling to Oak Brook for our event.  Although Dwane and I live about 90 miles apart I had to travel to Atlanta to meet him recently.  He is (at least in my mind) a young man full of energy and creative ideas for Human Resources.  So meet Dwane Lay...



-Dave Ryan IS SHRM Director of Social Media

Drive Thru HR Live at ILSHRM 11

I know a secret. And what is the coolest thing about knowing a secret? Of course, telling somebody else. Here is my secret… although it really isn’t one.
Starting next year Illinois SHRM’s good friend Bryan Wempen who hosts the internet radio show Drive thru HR is going to be joined by a new co-host. That new co-host is none other than William J. Tincup. While I have not met Mr. Tincup we have been connected in cyberspace for many months. He contributes to Fistful of Talent (where he recently interviewed our on John Jorgensen). You might also find him attending or presenting at conferences and now you will be able to find him hanging out on an internet radio show focused on Human Resources matters.


(Left) William Tincup and Bryan Wempen (Right)  DTHR - Co Hosts

 
In addition to a new co-host, Bryan and the show are moving to a new time slot. Drive thru HR (#DTHR the twitter hashtag) is moving to a 12: noon Central time slot on blogtalk radio. Bryan and William are intent on focusing on trench HR issues.

Bryan is taking the radio show on the road next year, and will be in attendance at the Illinois SHRM state conference in August 2011, where he will be spinning his broadcasting magic letting the world know what is going on at the conference. We are excited to have Drive Thru HR on-board for our 2011 conference.

Oh and there is one more thing, Illinois SHRM’s Director of Social Media (me) is going to be a guest on the newly formatted DTHR show on Friday January 7, 2011 at 12 noon discussing some real trench HR issues. Tune in and give Bryan and William a listen it will be fabulous!