Illinois SHRM Leadership 2014

Drury Lane - Home of the ILSHRM Conference

Tomorrow I am headed for a meeting in Northern Illinois - Tinley Park to be more specific. It is a meeting of the Illinois SHRM board and officials from, all of the SHRM chapters, within the state.  We are coming together to plan for 2014, discuss agendas, see how we can support one and other as well as (the old SHRM stand-by here)  advance the profession, and listen to Pam Green speak. Why?  Why do people who will attend this event do this?  While it is almost a rhetorical question I know a lot of people, many very smart people who simply just don’t get it, and I am really hard pressed to explain it to them.  I have  been questioned about this by bosses, relatives, spouses, neighbors and the list goes on.

In addition to the things mentioned above there are two things that most of us get on a personal level, that being networking and kindling friendships.   I must say that over the years I have come to consider many of my friends who are active within the community to be my very good friends, so my much so that  I know about their families, their outside interests (other than SHRM) and  who they area as a person.

As part of the ILSHRM  group,  two or three times a year we get together, attend some meetings, support our profession,  put together a conference or two, create and get some HRCI credits and really and truly enjoy ourselves immersed in our own little world of HR.  Those outside of the cult are left with bewilderment.  Perhaps that’s how it is supposed to be, for if they knew how much fun we have discussing employee engagement or emotional intelligence they would all want to come and crash our party.

So to all of my ILSHMies, old and new I am looking forward to seeing you, being with you and doing our cult thing!  ILSHRM Rock-on!

- Dave Ryan 

SHRM Leadership Conference 2010

As we move into the fall that means November is just around the corner. For anyone who has been active in SHRM they know that means the SHRM Leadership Conference. This year is no different with another return engagement at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Crystal City, VA.  The conference is largely directed toward new volunteer leaders.  These are local chapter and state council leaders and their staffs. In the years that I have attended the conference usually has 1000 to 1300 attendees.

If you are a new SHRM volunteer no doubt you would find it most beneficial to attend this conference.  Throughout the event you are immersed in what SHRM is all about and who they are as an organization.  You get to meet and hear from many of the key players within the organization.  You can see that people like Pam Green don’t take themselves all that seriously in this video clip 

 

And if you really want to get a long winded view of the conference you can read this story I wrote in The CIC-SHRM Jan/Feb 2008 newsletter,  a couple of years ago. Follow the link and scroll to page 5.

Now having talked a little bit about the conference, you may wonder why I would want to go back.  This year I am going with a mission.  Myself and several other folks who are advocates for Social Media/New Media are attending in hopes that SHRM will give us our due this year.  Many of the state councils as well as local chapters are using Social Media tools.  We want to show SHRM our support for these tools and SHRM’s need for continued support.

So if you are going to be there, and are a social media enthusiast, leave me a comment or find me on twitter or LinkedIn and we will look for you out there. Also be sure to add your name to the list of attendees on linkedin.l

-Dave Ryan IL SHRM Director of Socail Media