Changing of the SHRM MAC Guard

We have been a little quite over here at the ILSHRM blogging desk.  After getting our 2013 conference behinds us, many of had to put our nose to the grind stone and get back to doing those things that facilitate our volunteer efforts (our day jobs). The conference season is about wrapped up for 2013 and the folks in Alexandra on Duke Street are getting ready to close one chapter and open another.

The annual SHRM Leadership Conference is right around the corner. Traditionally, this is where year end awards are given and a figurative bow is put on the year, just as plans for the next year are announced.  Sadly, I will not be in attendance for this years event, although I have been able to attend more than my fair share of SHRM Leadership events.   The word on the street is that those who are allowed to attend may be changing.  We will have to see how this plays out.

Donna Rogers, MEd., SPHR

Another change that is taking place is some (perhaps all) of the MAC reps for SHRM will be moving on, turning in their jerseys. I am not sure about the status of all of the MAC reps, but I am aware of our own North Central Region.  Illinois' own Donna Rogers will have completed her one year term on the board.  We were proud to have her represent our region.  While we were not privy to all of their work I personally know that Donna poured her heart and soul into this effort and did all that she could to improve the process.  MAC reps are about as close as most of us SHRMies will get to the big guys.  So Kudos to Donna for a great job and making those of us from the Mid-West proud. Thus, I can safely say that Donna has set the bar high for the incoming North Central Region MAC rep.

Steve Browne (from his
twitter profile)

That person who will follow Donna is an enigma in Human Resources and here in the North Central Region. If you are active in this space you probably already know this.  Steve Browne a.k.a. @sbrownehr will be the new MAC rep from our region. I have no doubt that Steve will follow in Donna's path of challenging the powers that be and pushing for change and improvement. He's is not a bad guy, in fact he a great guy. He is just wired to push the envelope.

So from all of your friends (and there are a bunch of us) here in Illinois, we wish you the very best in your next endeavor with SHRM.  - Peace!!

- Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

The Pilgrimage to SHRMLead

While I did not see any turkey’s on this Pilgrimage it was one that I will remember for a lifetime.  If you were from any other state than Illinois at the annual SHRM Leadership Conference in National Harbor, MD last week you would have seen the sea of red shirts and thought it was a “wow-look at the masses that made the trip (Pilgrimage) from half way across the country too. Again this year (3^rd in a row) all attendees from the ILSHRM board and chapter board members were offered a red shirt to wear for two reason: 1) Take a group photo and 2) show our team/state spirit.  The latter was the more important of the two because no one felt alone.  They had others to turn to and felt included which is extremely important to me as a leader in this state.  In the “Strengths Finder” assessment one of my top five is “INCLUDER” and if this is the only legacy I leave for my time in a leadership role, I am ecstatic, because when I was a chapter leader, I had no idea what the State Council was let alone the massive amount of energy you feel at an event like #SHRMLead.

The ILSHRM Red Shirt brigade.

The red shirts, however, was not the thing that impressed me at all.  I was impressed by almost 40 individuals who gave up part of their week at work and with family to attend this event.  We had a little over 30 people who attended our now traditional Thursday night networking dinner.  

ILSHRM Networking Dinner

Here we introduce ourselves because often we communicate across the state via email but never have a chance to meet people in person (F2F or IRL).  Have a to a name means all the difference and for some who commit to multi-year roles they will see each other again at this conference and hopefully the ILSHRM leadership conference in January.  Having attended this conference now for twelve years as a chapter then state council I have had the opportunity to bond and long term relationships with people all over state as well as the country and with SHRM staff.

The ILSHRM gang ready to hit The Hill

While this pilgrimage was impressive, the most moving for me was the amount of representation Illinois had on Capitol Hill this year.  When I first started attending the SHRM A Team hill visits about five years ago, first at SHRM Leadership and at the annual SHRM Legislative Conference, we consistently had no more than a handful of visitors.  However, in the past few years the number of representatives has increased to the point that it put tears in my eyes as I looked around the room. 

This is the time for Thanksgiving and while I am definitely looking forward to passing the gavel, I cannot tell you how deeply thankful and humble I am to have had the opportunity to serve such a dedicated group of individuals who put their profession at the forefront and HaveAVoice for all those in our state.  It has been a fantastic honor and I know the future is in good hands with Cathy Plouzek and Connie Wolgemuth at the helm.

Donna, Cathy and Connie (L to R)

Happy Holidays to all and if you’re an HR pro in this great state, please join me in thanking those who attended this conference and the hill visit to make a difference for each of us on the job back home!  ILSHRM & SHRM Chapter Volunteers ROCK!

Donna Rogers Chair - ISC SHRM

SHRM Leadership If You're Going to Go, Go All In

Amy Dillman

If there's one thing I learned at the SHRM Leadership conference last week it's that these people, these wonderful volunteers, don't do anything half way. They're away from work but still check their emails on route to a session and tap their laptops like they're cracking code all while networking, learning and engaging for the betterment of their chapters and for SHRM. They know to take full advantage of the SHRM Leadership opportunity, so they meet, mingle and Tweet. Those from Illinois, even do it in matching red shirts. It's the ultimate show of supreme multi-tasking. It's also the absolute example of dedication.

And SHRM has dedication. Every year, the SHRM Open House continues to be an enjoyable, light-hearted kickoff to the weekend. These guys were ready for us and are ready for Atlanta 2012. There were Coke vs. Pepsi challenges, Atlanta trivia, an HRCI birthday party complete with cupcakes, and We Know Next swag.  Did you get your custom made luggage tag? The best moment, for me personally, was when I ran into those dedicated SHRMies, Lisa Horn and Michael Layman. Have you had either of these two to your chapter? You should. If you didn't go, you missed out. If you did go, and didn't feel a renewed energy and purpose, you still missed out. I would imagine it would be hard to find a SHRM volunteer who wasn't motivated to lead after that night.

But really folks, how can you not get motivated? With an entertaining and enlightening line-up, including my personal favorites RyanEstis, Pam Green and Joe Gerstandt, you have no choice but to get pulled in by their passion (that's for you, Ryan). All fluff and prose aside, there were sessions for everyone and for every purpose. Need guidance to lead your chapter? Check. Looking for ideas for membership development? Check. Want real, concrete methods and instruction on chapter practices? Check. Check. 

Now just so you don't think I'm a complete pom-pom wielding cheerleader, there was room for improvement. I love a good motivator, but the butterflies on the screen were a bit much for me, but that's just me (ask me about that off line). Many of us wanted a good, hands-on development lab for working on our chapter websites. There was no conference wi-fi (thank God for my mi-fi). And yes, there's just never enough time to ask every question and meet every person. Regardless, I am a crusader for the cause and of SHRM. I believe in HR. It's a strong, invaluable component to bottom-line results and of positive employee work life. And yes, it's a necessity to organizational success.

So, drink the SHRM Kool-Aid. Get on board. Learn your craft. Maximize your ability. Share what you know. Volunteer.

If you're going to go, go all in...and introduce yourself to someone in a red shirt.

Amy Dillman - President Elect for the Central Illinois Human Resources Group (Champaign. IL).  You can find Amy on twitter as @RhumbarFan and on LinkedIn.

Our State Council Leadership Meeting 2011

The Illinois State Council of SHRM held its fourth annual Leadership Conference on January 9 and 10th in Utica, on the fringes of Starved Rock State Park. Sunday was designed to be a planning session for the board and Monday included state council members as well as state-wide chapter officials. In total there were a little over 100 attendees.
The two day event was designed to bring volunteer leaders from all parts of Illinois together to help grow and improve their organizations.

We heard from author and speaker Clint Swindall on Monday. Clint spoke about employee engagement and working with volunteer leaders. Clint referenced several topics from his most recent book Engaged Leadership.

My Takeaways from the event were this.

• Ironically when you get a group of HR folks together to work on Mission, Vision and Values statements, they struggle just like most other groups.
• SHRM volunteers at all levels give a tremendous amount of their time and effort helping their respective organizations.
• To hold a successful conference these days, the host facility and hotel must have reliable wireless internet service through out the facility.
• A hotel bar is essential for conference networking, a hotel without a bar will stifle networking.
• It takes one heck of a commitment and a hell of a lot of time to be Director of a State Council of SHRM. Thanks to our friend John Jorgensen for all that he has done for this organization!

Pictured below are current IL SHRM State Director Donna Rogers with Immediate Past Director John Jorgensen at the conference.  To see more pictures from the event click the Picasa Tab at the top of the page.

SHRM Social Media Crowd Makes Up 1.57% of Conference

I am starting to get excited about an upcoming trip. I will be attending the SHRM Leadership Conference. This is an annual conference put on by the mothership in Arlington, VA.

I am excited because as I don't get to attend a lot of events as my Company does not have a huge unlimited conference/travel budget. So the times I get to travel and attend conferences are usually fulfilling, enlightening as well as invigorating. I have attended this conference in previous years. It sounds like the numbers are down for this year. The current count is 700. In previous years that I’ve attended it has hit 1300 or so.

So, one of the things that is fun about conferences for me is this; I enjoy getting to visit with my social media/twitter friends. Most of us look forward to meeting in IRL. Those of us who communicate on twitter/Facebook/Linkedin/Youtube etc. really get a kick out of this. It’s like meeting a pen pal, or long lost friend, or telephone business associate.

Now I have been one of the folks out front trying to promote this event, mainly because I am happy to be an attendee. Myself and fellow tweeter akabruno have worked to try and bring people together, those who will be attending. We (the social media enthusiast/SHRM members) have also been supported by Curtis Midkiff, and we appreciate all that he has done and is doing for us.

I have been working on keeping a list of my fellow tweeps who will be attending, and while I know that I do not have them all of the twitter crowd, so farI have 12 people on my list. So being the math wizard that I am that tells me our active tweeters currently comprise a whopping 1.57% of the attendees (ouch!).I thought the New Media tweeps were more of a force. Contact me if you are attending and I will add you to the list.

No matter, I will see  all 12 of you at the Friday night tweet-up – thanks for supporting us Curtis!





Uploaded Pictures from previous SHRM - related Tweet-Ups