If you asked me how OnRec/Kennedy went last week (Nov 2nd-3rd) I'd have responded with mixed feelings. Heck, I'm still a bit confused as to if I'm terribly fired up to attend again. After all, with ERE and SocialRecruiting Summits (also ERE) being knocked out with more polish and frequency it's tough not to compare the two side by side. It certainly wasn't the Kennedy I remembered attending two years ago - both based on attendance levels and participation, but there were also some great takeaways.
I know that the folks at Onrec are pushing through an interesting time since this was the first combo event of Kennedy and Onrec. So there are bound to be a few hiccups. But my feelings about what could have went better for this group weren't tied up so much in the small organizational or logistic items (award winners still can't be (easily?) found at onrec.com as of this publication) as much as the separation of church and state that I felt could have taken place with vendors and speakers. I believe that I can say with complete confidence that it was the attendees that made this event a success on every level. There were good people in attendance with good questions for speakers as well as for their peers.
Without a doubt I think that my favorite moment at the event was when two concurrent sessions were cancelled and the idea struck a few of us to take advantage of the wayward attendees and hold our own session... an un-session, if you will. Shannon Seery Gude of Bernard Hodes, Geoff Peterson from General Lead and myself simply tweeted out that we'd sit on an open and unfiltered panel to be hosted by Laurie Ruettimann of PunkRockHR. The topic we chose was "Social Media For Real" and I'd guess that roughly 40 were in attendance. With no slides or preparation I think that this was the session where I saw one of the longest lines to connect with speakers afterwards . (to be clear, I give full credit to the topic and format as opposed to the panel/presentors, as awesome and gracious as they were.)
Along the lines of speaking, I had the pleasure of addressing topics at the pre-conference summit related to mobile and social recruiting. My participation also included taking part in an open panel led by Joel Cheezman of Jobing.com on the topic of Mobile recruiting. Also on the panel were Carmen Hudson of Tweetajob, Cydi Peterson Hash of KFC, Steven Rothberg from CollegeRecruiter.com, and Geoff Peterson of General Lead.
All in all, the event was good. With great networking opportunities and attendees more social and connected than ever, these types of conferences are doubtfully ever going to be a complete failure for anyone interested in learning and staying connected within the industry. It's expecially made easier to justify your travel or expenses when people like Jason Seiden, author of 'how to Self-Destruct', and Laurie Ruettimann throw a networking party for everyone to exclaim in open mic format how they've Failed Spectacularly in HR.
So here are just a few things to share.. including the slides from the presentation that I gave along with two quick lists.
Some of the better sessions based on buzz as well as my opinion:
Comments
Posted On
Nov 08, 2009Posted By
Afton FunkThe un-session session was one of my favorite parts of the conference for two reasons:
1.) The responses of the panel were much more useful since they were real - they were not prepared responses to a presentation (though Eric Winegardner's presentation was great in spite of being a pre-prepared pres. @ewmonster), rather they actually required the panel to think on their feet and work through topics together.
2.) The audience drove most of the session. Laurie (@punkrockhr), the moderator, had a few prompting questions, however the questions and insights alike from the audience kept the energy level very high - we knew when a topic was getting a little weary and drove it in another direction.
What did this all mean? Instead of 40 minutes spent listening to the see-spot-run equivalent of an HR presentation, as many of the sessions were, we covered significant and meaningful territory in a short period of time through the miracle of crowd-sourcing the sessions.
This is why I am so excited for the Social Recruiting Summit next week - hope to see you there.
Thanks for the being on some good panels and for the good wrap-up.
Posted On
Nov 08, 2009Posted By
Karla PorterPosted On
Nov 08, 2009Posted By
Geoff PetersonPosted On
Nov 08, 2009Posted By
Leanneclc - Leanne ChaseI'm torn, too. I think for me it's really who will be attending. If most of that group gets together anywhere...I'm in!
Also, you were absolutely part of the un-conference session's success. Because both in that session and in the mobile one you're not afraid to talk about real life examples that have worked or not worked for your company. So many others hold their cards in too close and won't share.
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