Last year about this time I published a kind of whiny, (hopefully) slightly amusing recount of the possible reasons I was not selected to present at the 2011 SHRM National Conference. Long story short, I had submitted a session proposal that involved the staging of a live HR Happy Hour Show from the SHRM event, incorporating a live guest panel, in-person audience questions, and questions and comments from the show listeners and the Twitter backchannel.
It would have been epic. And a real pain in the neck to stage properly, to get the audio and internet connections sorted, and execute the live show effectively. Plus, there would have been the added challenge of explaining what the heck the HR Happy Hour Show is to the average SHRM conference attendee, probably ensuring low interest in the session. So looking back on it now, SHRM probably made the right call in passing on the session proposal.
Fast forward about one year, and in the interests of fairness and openness, I am pleased to report that next year, at the 2012 SHRM Annual Conference in June, I actually will be speaking, or more accurately participating on a panel discussion on Social Recruiting along with Robert Hohman, Glassdoor.com Co-founder and CEO; John Sumser, Industry thought leader from HRxAnalysts; and Chris Hoyt, the Recruiter Guy from PepsiCo.
Our session is called 'Is Social Recruiting Really Working?', and during the session we will take a closer look at the changes and influences on recruiting brought on by the rise in importance of social networks, how behaviors and approaches by job seekers and organizations are changing with respect to social, and some thoughts on the direction and future of social recruiting. It should be a fantastic session and I am really pleased that it was selected, and that I will get a chance to share the stage with such an esteemed group of experts.
So back to this post's title, and a closer look at the possible reasons that the session was selected?
Well, first and foremost it was mostly due to the excellent work and ideas from the team at Glassdoor.com who had the idea for the session, and kindly offerered me the chance to participate. No doubt their professionalism and demonstrated domain expertise was far superior compared to the sad attempt I made at presenting at SHRM in 2011. Second, I think with each passing year 'mainstream' Human Resources and SHRM move more and more to embracing and addressing the impact and importance of social networking and social media in the HR and recruiting functions. Our topic, Social Recruiting, fits well with this emerging area of interest to SHRM and its members. And finally, the ability to assemble such a solid panel of varied backgrounds and expertise all but ensures a diversity of thought, wide range of perspectives, and hopefully lots of insight and actionable advice for attendees next June.
So big thanks to SHRM, Glassdoor, and to my fellow session co-participants. I am looking forward to the event and to seeing lots of old friends and meeting many new ones.