The season of HR conferencing

As we enter late summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the season in the North Central region of SHRM turns not to autumn, but to conference.  This week, both the Illinois and Missouri State Councils held their state conferences and other states, including the largest one in my own state of Indiana, follow suit over the next couple of months.

I had the honor this year of attending the Illinois state HR conference in the lovely Chicago suburb of Oakbrook.  This was my 3^rd state conference within a year as both Indiana and Ohio were on my schedule last year.  However, this experience was different as I was attending as a concurrent session speaker for the first time at a state conference.

Although my session was not the most highly attended (I was scheduled simultaneously with the likes of powerhouses Paul Hebert, Trish McFarlane, and Steve Boese and their standing room only crowds!) of the concurrent session, I was pleased that my first time presenting this material worked out without any major blunders and that the session was certified by HRCI for that SPHR sought business and strategic credit.  I appreciate the kind comments I heard after the presentation and send a special shout out to Buzz Rooney and Dr. Daniel Crosby for being in there to live tweet while I rambled on!

All of our state conferences provide great education opportunity, time with vendors who can provide products and services to the HR market, and good food (kudos to Illinois for what has been among the best food I’ve ever had at a large conference!) the best part for me is the networking with other HR professionals from around the state and country.  Meeting some HR social media colleagues for the first time in real life (IRL) was great and reconnecting with those I already know provides me with energy and a renewed enthusiasm for the work we do.  Keynotes by Talent Anarchy and Cy Wakeman were highlights for me and I hope it’s not the last time I have the opportunity to hear them.

I encourage everyone to check out the Twitter stream from #ILSHRM and have gotten some good informational tweets by watching the #MOSHRM hashtag too.  It’s not too late to register to attend HR Indiana (#INSHRM) on the 27th of this month or the conferences being hosted by #WISHRM, #OHSHRM, and #MNSHRM.  Two unconferences are also occurring with TalentNet and HRevolution.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a public thank you to John Jorgensen and Sabrina Baker for allowing me to be small part of your great conference.  Thank you!