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!

Drawing Women into Social Media

I am a minority – at least in SHRM. I am a guy.  I did not get the official statistics from the mothership at Duke Street, as they were closed as I undertook to commit this post to hard drive.  The reason that this is important is this. This post is being written expressly to appeal to women (although men you are welcome to read on).

As we prepare for our annual conference we here at Illinois SHRM are working hard to make the event rich with Social Media.  But what is social media – really?  It is different things to different people.  It has many applications, uses, purposes and so on. Those of us in the HR space are seeing it as a recruiting tool, a way to change our Company’s image or culture, it is a way to message all of our employees in one fell swoop.  There is no shortage of ideas on how we can take Social Media and attempt to use it to our advantage.  However, my friends there are other things that people do with Social Media –as hard as that may be to believe.

Yesterday I saw this in an email from oldest son.  A fraternity brother of his just got engaged.  To share this wonderful announcement he used  social media to send out a Youtube video.  Take a look…

It took Joel let's say "a little while" to getting around to asking Holly to marry her.  So just another use of social media.

I wonder if anyone will get a proposal at ILSHRM11? If they do... we'll post it!

- Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

A Vendor's Prospective on a SHRM State Conference

Today's guest post is from Sabrina Baker, PHR,  who is working with ILSHRM on the Conference, helping to fill the exhibitors/sponsor rolls.  She also writes a great blog as the HR Chatterbox. You can also find Sabrina on twitter as Sabrina_PHR




Various Booths from the 2010 Exhibit Hall

 Sales and marketing teams have a tough job these days.  Between tons of competition, busy end users who do not answer their phone or have time for meetings and an economy that makes spending dollars a scarce commodity, the question of how to get their product in front of their targeted audience gets harder and harder to answer.  If you are an HR vendor, then Illinois SHRM has a solution for you.  A solution that puts over 600 HR professionals in the same room.  A solution that allows you to present your product or service at a minimal cost.  A solution that only happens once a year and fills up fast.  It’s the Illinois State SHRM Conference.

This year’s conference being held in August in Oak Brook at the Drury Lane, and is going to be amazing.  With the new addition of our Social Media Bootcamp session which is sure to draw more and more HR professionals than ever before, we are raising the bar on state conferences.  We are dedicated to ensuring that every HR professional walks away feeling enriched and empowered to return to their jobs and make an immediate impact in the lives of their employee’s and the bottom line of their businesses – and I bet you have a product to help them do just that. 

Exhibiting at the IL State SHRM Conference provides a unique opportunity to join professionals from all over the state, hear first hand what challenges they are facing and find out how you and your business may be able to partner with them on a solution.  Many of the HR professionals who attend the state conference each year are the decision maker within their team and have direct access to the financial decision makers in their company.

Want even more access to human resource professionals?  Sign up as an exhibitor or to place promotion materials in each attendee’s bag.  If you really want to impress the masses, sign up to be a conference sponsor and enjoy all of the perks that go along with having your name literally everywhere that an attendee looks.

So get your pens, highlighter’s, squeeze toys, candy jars and notepads ready with your company logo and sign up to exhibit at the 2011 Illinois State SHRM Conference.  Sign up quickly as early bird discounts end June 1, 2011.

2011 IL SHRM Conference Agenda Is Out

My wife and her new Cadillac.

Last year my wife and I purchased a new automobile. We looked at a lot of different manufacturers, styles and price ranges before settling on a Cadillac SRX. Quite frankly I never saw myself as a Cadillac owner.  However after looking at all of the vehicles that we thought would fit our lifestyle and were within our price range I was truly dumbfounded to find my wife and I purchasing this car.  My point is this, one needs to look closely when making a buying decision. Sometime the particulars are not always what you think they are, 

Now late last week I was contacted by some of my ILSHRM buds letting me know that the agenda for our State Conference was complete.  I had heard some of the topics and presenter names that were on the docket.  I knew they would be thought-provoking and the leading edge HR, but when I saw the whole listing in a matrix format I was amazed.  

When I look at our conference offering, I liken this to my Cadillac purchase.  Given what Illinois SHRM has put forth I feel like we are offering a Cadillac at an affordable price. The programs are cutting edge, out front subject matter presented by some of the most well known folks in our industry.  While you might think that a conference with this caliber of talent and subject matter would be unaffordable, or somehow out of your grasp, such is not the case.  For the early registration fee $350 you can attend both days August 22 and 23.

Over the next few weeks we will be visiting with our presenters in this space, so you can get to know them better and see if you would be interested to hear what they have to say at this year’s  Illinois State Council of SHRM 12^th Annual Conference.

- Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

Third Keynote Address For 2011 Illinois SHRM State Conference

The Illinois State Council of SHRM is pleased to announce our third keynote address for our 2011 State Conference. The presentation is titled “Strategic Relationship Management: The Breakthrough HR Competency” and will be presented by Talent Anarchy.

Who is Talent Anarchy?

Jason Lauritsen is the corporate guy, the man on the inside. He spends his days in the belly of the beast as a corporate Human Resources leader where he has to actually “walk the talk” each day. Since his first management job as a corn detasseling team leader at age 13, Jason has been studying people and why they do what they do. Classically impatient, curious and well groomed, Jason’s early career was a rapid progression of sales and management roles including launching, leading and ultimately selling a small business in his mid-twenties. He’s a leader, sales guy, entrepreneur and corporate executive–all rolled up in one. You can find Jason on Twitter or on Linkedin 

Joe Gerstandt is the sage consultant. He’s a middle-aged white guy who is a national thought-leader on issues of diversity and inclusion–need we say more? He brings a unique and powerful perspective to everything he does. The core of Joe’s work is to help organizations solve issues of diversity, culture and innovation through consulting, training and speaking. Listening to Joe speak, you will hear tales of his days as a U.S. Marine and Gulf War veteran blended with his experience in sales, education, and community-building. To say that Joe is intense and passionate about his work would be an understatement. He is one part professor, one part philosopher, and one part “not quite right.” Be prepared. This is not your average HR guy. Find Joe on Twitter or on Linkedin.

About the Program

In summing up the program, Joe and Jason express to their audience that it’s not enough for an HR professional to just get the basics right. Becoming a strategic business partner in your organization is also about knowing the right people and being able to establish and manage key relationships. The most effective HR leaders understand the importance of alliances in influencing behavior and overcoming resistance. Could you use more influence? Join Talent Anarchy for this examination of relationships and take away practical approaches for Strategic Relationship Management.

Second Keynote Added for 2011 Illinois State Conference

China Gorman

The Illinois State Council of SHRM is thrilled to announce that China Miner Gorman has agreed to be a keynote speaker at our 2011 12th Annual State Conference. The Conference will be held on August 22-23, 2011 at Drury Lane Theater in Oakbrook Terrace, IL.
For more than 25 years, China has held strategic leadership roles in the human capital management industry. Her expertise in business strategy, market-share growth and new business development together with her people and results oriented leadership style have enabled her to successfully lead global organizations through turnarounds and rapid growth cycles, as well as through business slowdowns, with exceptional results.

China is the former Chief Operating Officer for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The Society represents nearly 250,000 individual members in over 140 countries, and has a network of more than 1,000 affiliated chapters in the U.S., as well as operations in India and China.

Prior to joining SHRM in 2007 as COO, China was President of DBM North America, and President of Lee Hecht Harrison, the $250 million global consulting division of Adecco, which became the performance leader in its industry under her leadership.

China has traveled extensively—throughout the United States and abroad—addressing business, professional, corporate and academic groups on topics related to the strategic value of HR, culture, career management and implementing effective people management strategies. She currently serves on the boards of the Chicago-based Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG).

A native Midwesterner, China earned a bachelor’s degree from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois and has completed significant post-graduate work in Organizational Development.

- John Jorgensen - Director ISC-SHRM

Illinois SHRM State Conferencce Keynote Speaker for 2011

We have some exciting news from the Illinois State Council of SHRM. As the planning process continues for next year’s conference continues, we are pleased to announce our keynote speaker for the Conference.

Ryan Estis will be our opening speaker on Monday August 22, 2011 at the Drury Lane in Oak Brook, IL as we kick off the event. If you are not familiar with Ryan you are in for a treat. We had a chance to speak to Ryan at the SHRM 2010 Leadership Conference, and he had this to say about our upcoming event.


Ryan Estis: Keynote Speaker 2011 IL State SHRM Conference from Illinois SHRM on Vimeo.

You can also learn more about Ryan at his website http://www.ryanestis.com/ and at his blogsite http://www.passiononpurposeblog.com/.

We will have more announcements upcoming about more speaker and sessions, Check back often.

Here is another recent interview that was done with Ryan’s in the SHRM SM lounge


http://vimeo.com/17007925 from SHRMSocMedGuy on Vimeo.

Social Media Perfect Storm

I have been looking for the best analogy for this post and I have been unable to come up with it, so I will go with an over-used trite and glib analogy. Watch out for the impending Social Media Perfect Storm. With the recently concluded SHRM Annual Conference, there is no doubt that all aspects of Social Media took at least two giant steps forward coming out of the conference, at least as it relates to those of us in Human Resources.

In another time, video taping an interview and distributing your video took a lot of equipment and expertise, just to get it done. Then it took even more resources to distribute or make it available to others. Today, you can shoot video on an iphone or with a flip cam (both around $200) and with internet access you can post it on youtube and with that you have the video imagery of your interview distributed to the world. This has been a huge change making video accessible for the masses, and easy to use.

Video was used on a grand scale at the SHRM 2010 Conference. In addition to video, there were many bloggers and tweeters who put out a large volume of excellent content during the conference. There was many other watershed moments as a result of the conference but suffice it to say, SM is now here to stay and will continue to grow like a giant snowball rolling down the mountainside.

Going forward from this point, how will SHRM, SHRM Chapters, State Councils and Human Resources communities build on the use of social media? The Illinois State Council of SHRM is going to do our part by elevating the presence of Social Media at this year's Illinois State Conference. As noted in Blog Post #1, we have a group of well-known bloggers and SHRM's own Social Media Guy all on our list of attendees. We have a committed State Council Director, Director Elect and Social Media Director who are all going to do the utmost to get our efforts to make the 2010 ISC Conference one to remember, not only as a great conference but for bringing social media to the event.

I will speculate that the HR community will see this continue. Coming up after Illinois, is the HR Florida Conference. There will be over 1200 attendees at HR Florida, in Orlando beginning on August 30. HR Florida already has a huge presence within the SM community. They were the first state council to have a social media director. Steven Harrison, with HR Florida, says 2010 will be the third year they have been using SM to promote HR Florida. Steve says they have even engaged conference attendees and exhibitors by running contest on twitter. HR Florida is on Curtis Midkiff's blogapolooza tour. I look for Steve and his Florida posse to really show us how it is done.

The blogapolooza tour continues, for SHRMsocmeguy in September starting on September 15 in Sandusky, OH. I know that there are many SM leaders and advocates in Ohio, so look for their State Council meeting to be another ground breaking event. Ohio currently has about 500 attendees signed up just about the same as Illinois.

And lookout in October, because on October 6 the Wisconsin State Council will host their annual convention and know at least one advocate of SM in WI, I am sure he will bring SM to the conference.

So watch and see how we do here in Illinois, and also see how SM becomes a part of the conferences in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin.

You can view an entire list of State Conferences for 2010 on SHRM’s website.