Well, it’s hard to believe that another SHRM Annual Conference has come and gone. And like last year’s event, we witnessed some of the same challenges and opportunities. But before I offer my thoughts on this year’s gala, let me suggest a few of the wonderful bloggers who provided fantastic coverage of SHRM 2010:
- Charlie Judy offered terrific coverage, including, What (the ‘f) were you thinking? A new calling for HR.
- Monster.com had a terrific team on the ground this year, so be sure to check out posts such as Jennifer McClure’s, What HR Wants to Know About Social Media CAN HR Them, and Ben Eubanks’, Creating a Culture of Engagement: HR Leader’s New Strategic Role.
- Mary Ellen Slayter of SmartBrief partnered with Monster to produce a wonderful series of SHRM 2010 interviews for the Monster Thinking Series.
- Laurie Ruettimann used to offer fantastic hotel-cam observations of her world travels, and this year she’s back! Be sure to check out her fashion insights from the show.
Ok, let’s get down to business:
The Venue/Location
I’m a big fan of San Diego and the convention center really did offer a terrific venue for the event. There were plenty of places for exhausted, swag-laden HR pros to find a little corner to relax and even catch a brief nap (I saw more than a few sleepers). Although San Diego was geographically too distant (and therefore costly) for many, the convention center was conveniently located within walking distance of several hotels, dozens of restaurants and nightlife, as well as on the shore for those who needed to get away from the chaos of the expo hall. My only nit is that there were not enough coffee shops as the lines were very, very long. If there’s one thing to know about HR, we love our java.
SHRM’s Organization/Speakers
I said this last year and I’ll say it again – I really can’t imagine the difficultly in hosting more than 11,000 attendees, coordinating hundreds of sponsors, securing hundreds of volunteers and making it look relatively effortless. My hat goes off to the organizing committee for another terrific job. Moreover, this year we saw some new offerings including the introduction of a social media lounge and what I felt was a much more comfortable press room. With plenty of power strips, good high-speed internet, pre-configured laptops and desktops and all the beverages and snacks you could handle, our merry band of misfits were connected, caffeinated and ready to roll. A personal “thank you” to SHRM’s new social media guru Curtis Midkiff for doing a great job in his inaugural appearance.
Now let’s talk about presenters. Regardless of your political views, nearly all attendees I spoke with were thrilled with Al Gore having spent the time and effort to truly tailor his speech to human resources. It wasn’t just a casual mention but a full-blown call to action. My suggestion is that SHRM work with Michael J. Fox and Sir Richard Branson (SHRM ’11 keynoters) to ensure that their presentations are similarly on point. It is member dollars that are funding these speaker fees and they deserve to walk away with something relevant.
My last point on speakers is this – where is the diversity?? I’m hoping someone kept score but it appeared that only white males were available for a trip to San Diego in late June. Of course I’m exaggerating, but I did not see a proper representation on stage. Hell, SHRM itself only has one female executive leader in the hopper, and she hasn’t started her job yet. In an industry dominated by women, we need to do a better job of lifting them up and celebrating their contributions and accomplishments. This picture does not do the membership justice (and people really do take notice).
Executive Presence
I want to hit this on two fronts.
First, SHRM rolled out their entire leadership team and we witnessed some (unfortunate) dancing from a few of them. Much to my surprise, CEO Lon O’Neil even launched his Twitter account (although he had some phantom tweets appear while he was on stage). However, I did not walk away feeling the level of transparency and openness that we saw under prior leaders such as Sue Meisinger. Where’s the annual financial report? Where are those heartfelt and unscripted moments? And Lon, where in the hell is your SPHR certification? You can’t claim that it’s a tremendous asset to HR leaders while never having secured it yourself. It’s been almost two years, so either acknowledge that it’s not important (which will never happen) or make this a top priority. Pot, meet kettle…
Second, I was sadly disappointed by the attendee reaction to a keynote featuring a panel of HR leaders, including Google, Northrop Grumman, Kaiser Permanente and Deutsche Bank. SHRM’s membership is generally not comprised of the senior-most HR professionals from the world’s largest firms, so when they actually take the time to show up, share best practices and offer advice, you damn well better pay attention. Attendees swarmed from the session, first in 2′s and 3′s and then by the dozens. Are you there to listen to Steve Forbes and Al Gore or should you perhaps learn from those who have theoretically arrived at your career destination? And if you did walk out early, you missed a gem from Deutsche Bank’s Conrad Venter when he predicated that HR will be obsolete in ten years if we stay on our current course. I tend to agree.
Attendee Behavior
The oddity began the moment I arrived on Sunday. While walking through the expo hall, a senior VP of HR locked eyes with me from fifty yards away. She was trashed on free margaritas from one of the vendor booths. Swaying down the red carpet, she made her way toward me as I looked over my shoulder to assess who in the hell she was looking at. When she grabbed me by the shoulder, I realized I was her target. Holding my shoulder with her left hand, she then silently stroked my cheek with her right. (Yeah, this really happened.) Then gravity took over, she swayed around me to the left and continued her bumper-car journey of bliss.
She never said a word.
I know, you’re thinking this must be one out-of-control attendee from a sea of well-behaved professionals. But let me tell you something. I have been to well over one hundred HR conferences in my career and this is more “normal” than you might expect. HR people get shit-faced, misbehave, rant, party, dance and flirt to excess at these shows. My theory is this – all year long they have to model behavior as the dream corporate citizen. So, when the opportunity arises to hang out with their peers and finally let their hair down, they take full advantage. In some respects, I can’t blame them, but I would ask that people get their act together and maintain some dignity. While walking to my car last evening, I saw two thirty-something SHRM 2010 attendees, one rubbing the back of the other while she threw up in an alley. Both were still wearing their badges.
Engagement
This continues to be SHRM’s number one challenge. Many attendees came for the party, others came for the HRCI credits, and others probably realized they needed pens, dolls, stuffed animals, notepads and bags of other bizarre tchotchkes. I saw droves of attendees just sitting around, doing crossword puzzles, checking email, walking in and out of sessions and generally moving listlessly through the convention center. Some were just simply overwhelmed by the sheer size and scope of the event, and that really concerns me. I suggested to some SHRM staffers that they consider a pre-event orientation (via video) that can be viewed remotely and help prepare first-time attendees for the experience. Heck, this would even help the veterans understand the venue, logistics and surrounding areas. Or, how about a mentor/protege program where more experienced attendees would help their newer peers?
Although this is SHRM’s biggest revenue generator, something needs to change. Attendance does not guarantee learning or action, and if SHRM truly intends to use this event to advance the profession, the issue of engagement must be addressed. I know, I know… it’s difficult to meet the specific needs of 250,000 members and over 10,000 live attendees. But when dozens of people say to me, “maybe SHRM is just too big?”, you know that there is a groundswell of discontent and a questioning of value.
And this brings me to my last point – member voice. I am very concerned that SHRM is no longer capturing the true needs of its constituency. For example, I asked at least twenty SHRM staffers how the legislative agenda is set. No one knew. So when millions of dollars are being poured into lobbying and policy changes, is SHRM confident that it’s voice is truly that of it’s constituents, or is this an educated guess made by a sequestered committee? I’d like to know.
What Do You Think?
Whether you attended or not, I’d love your thoughts. My goal with this 1,500+ word post is not to rant and complain, but instead to bubble up some of the systemic issues facing our industry. I implore SHRM – the largest, most influential body in our industry – to read these words with an eye toward member value (versus top line revenues), engagement (over sponsorship) and the future needs of the profession (over certification credentials). We’re all in this together, and we must keep an open and honest dialogue going. I’ll look forward to your comments.
Mark – You are dead on in every aspect of your summary !! I didn’t get to attend SHRM10 this year, but your observations are the bane of every HR Conference.
At the Ohio HR Conference, we do our best to engage attendees and are even offering an “orientation” to kick off the conference, but some folks just come to fill seats.
I get concerned and wonder how they practice HR at their company if they are using these venues for professional development.
However, I do think that there is a way to engage people, but it will happen at Grass Roots levels by engaged HR pros who don’t want to see HR fail. It can work if passionate folks, such as yourself, keep us on task and see how we can move forward.
Thanks for this. Loved every bit of it !!
So, what did you learn? Was looking forward to some key take-aways. What was the best session or the best impromptu networking opportunity? What was your ROI for attending?
If you’re going to SHRM to get blasted and party, at least have the decency to take off your name tag. Both for yourself and whatever company you’re representing. Maybe that was just NOLA…
Woosh – and the point of the discussion whizzes right past the station, looking for the point of the of the post
The key take-away might be that ….HR and SHRM need to engage in aggressive transformation.
“Was looking forward to some key take-aways”
If you want a more traditional list:
the best party was the Monster Tweetup, after that – Beyond, LinkedIn, and Careerbuilder thrw nice bashes….
Session comments can be found on the twitter feed #monsterlive – go read that
I don’t think following live twitter coverage is incredibly useful for getting key takeaways from sessions. Partitioning 60-75 minute chunks of content into 140 character blurbs is next to impossible live. I don’t think it is natural to present in that way either.
Even as someone who is used to the pace and timeliness of twitter, I get much more from long form posts. Twitter is a better supplement than replacement for real coverage.
Believe it or not, I wasn’t the senior HR executive who grabbed Mark’s face.
Looking from the outside, I did feel there was positive vibe from last year, which is good.
That being said, I agree on your first half of executive presence. There was no women in that picture and hate to say this, but two white guys were on stage with Lon and Chairman of the Board, Robb Van Cleve. I don’t think it says anything, but it was on the back of my mind.
On the engagement part, I remember in your HREvolution review that the event was getting bigger and it was hard to engage. In a grander scale of things, this is the same result. I agree posting a video before the conference would help educate how to find people to network, but it’s up to the attendee what they want to do during the conference since they forked up $1000+ on this. We can try to help and guide them, but it’s their time and if they want to be left alone, so be it, their lost.
BTW, on attendee behavior, this is Spring Break for HR and understand that behavior, but next year is in Vegas. That might be tough and if they misbehave, ask Mayor Goodman to cut off every HR attendee’s thumb.
@Steve – You make some great points and I agree with the “grass roots” aspect, but how do we also bring that groundswell to member-based organizations?
@Kim – Great question. My ROI for attending always comes in the form of deep and meaningful relationships. When you share a common experience (good or bad), it’s always easy to pick up the phone and take the relationship forward. Insofar as content, Al Gore really stole the show (in my opinion) and Gerry Crispin did a bang-up job, as usual, although not enough people attended his session on “mystery shopping” your recruiting function.
@Lance – Two great points: 1) Why can’t people just take off the badges at night??, and 2) The Twitter stream is tough for this type of event b/c you have so many conversations happening at once. Almost need sub-hashtags for each session so that you can follow one thread to completion.
@Mike – Where do you think SHRM’s “aggressive transformation” should begin?
@Laurie – True, but you did order me around like the soft cheese mafia.
@Tracy – I think you’re right in that people need to want to be engaged. It’s a push/pull issue in that you’re not sure whether to blame the organizers, the speakers or the attendees themselves. And yes, Vegas is going to be “interesting”.
I agree with Lance, in-depth review of sessions and concepts should be left to serious posts. Drunkenness, debauchery, and vomiting simply must be live tweeted.
Great recap and set of observations Mark.
Because I didn’t attend, I have been trying hard to keep up with all of the tweets and all of the blogs.
I agree that you can’t get a lot of substance from tweets, but they are great devices to feel a little atmosphere. The blogs are where the real meat is, and your blog has been the meatiest yet, Mark. Thanks for your insights, and I hope to see some more comments about the points you have raised. I continue to think that SHRM is seriously out of touch, but how does this problem get fixed?
Laurie did tell me to stop wearing panty hose in her vlog, at least.
Mark, great conference review. I definitely got more of a flavor of the conference, than I did following the stream on twitter. Admittedly, the twitter stream was fun and exciting to read. People tend to tweet the same quote, which indicates that something is resonating. In my experience, take-aways, are subjective. Each person may take-away something different, and that’s a good thing. After a conference, I need time to process, think about what was said, and come to my own conclusions. Those thoughts can’t all be expressed in a blog post (I’m speaking to the person who left the previous comment).
The take I got from reading the stream, the posts, and watching the videos is that the conference had excellent moments, people learned, and had fun.
Anytime I can tip a glass with the folks at monster.com is take-away for me. I like them so much, and no company could possibly be more gracious, and generous.
Thanks for writing this Mark. Good job.
Great post. Really great post. It is so good, I would rather write some comments here than blog elsewhere. Your post should be read by every SHRM staffer as well as the HR practitioners and hundreds of our profession’s experts that make up SHRM’s national leadership who were present at (part but not necessarily all of) the conference
Some observations:
- Logistics. No one in the world is better at organizing the HR conference platform than the SHRM education staff. Their efforts to minimize glitches and smooth a logistic nightmare into a fabulous experience for 11,000 paid attendees, thousand of vendors and hundreds of speakers is extra-ordinary. They are so good it is easy to overlook.
- Diversity. The photo you link to and the contrast it suggests is a serious PR land mine at the very least. SHRM leadership needs to acknowledge it as a gap and speak up about their efforts to rectify a serious gender imbalance. The SHRM board is accountable. If we don’t walk the talk…who will.
- Frivolity. I have no problem with, or concern about the “normal” but relatively small percentage of totally out of control attendees who behave stupidly. I’ve been to engineering, marketing, scientific and medical professional conferences and seen more idiocy there than a lifetime among our HR colleagues. However, I do expect the leaders (that’s us) who show up and are present to pitch in and make some effort to engage, confront, chide and/or “out” if necessary the behaviors that go beyond the individual and embarrass the profession…not just observe and report. (I’ve no doubt if it were Laurie and not a no name HR VP, you would have whisked her safely out of harm’s way.) I’m not suggesting we become our brother’s keeper but I’ve taken Lance’s suggestion more than once – pulling their name and affiliation off and suggesting they put it back on when they can represent it properly. This is one we all own. Moving on.
- Content/Is Leaving Rude or Is It Preferred. I feel bad for folks on stage who have something to say but for whatever reason it doesn’t resonate…but not that bad. The world has changed. People vote with their feet these days and if they were not ready to hear what some very wise and experienced folks had to say then they wouldn’t have gotten it by staying. Their comments about how boring it was will dilute the extraordinary value a few will get. Maybe if by leaving they can find some content that fits their learning stage or find some entertainment they will eventually manage their own learning with a broader repertoire or find success in some other profession.
Panels have always been a tough sell but even if they don’t hit the mark with lots of folks looking for a more punchy presentation, I’m in favor of 80% walking out so 20% can move up closer.
I personally struggle with the balance of how to meet the needs of a first time inexperienced person you want to inspire and, at the same time challenge those who can really execute on an idea now. Maybe 20% are going to do something but the ratings of 80% will determine whether you can come back. This year for example, I spoke at the Staffing Conference on a tough subject -Source of Hire, drew a pretty good crowd but didn’t reach 80% of them and the ratings reflected it. I should have had a smaller venue or changed the topic. Here I drew a very small crowd but one that was engaged and capable of doing something…including adding to the Twitter stream. (I agree with the comments that one or two people tweeting doesn’t give much of a flavor but 10 or more working together begins to develop interesting perspective). Not satisfied in both cases but life is too short to do anything but learn from it.
I think the idea of offering a video about how to learn in different types of sessions would be an excellent idea but, at the same time we need to experiment to integrate technology tools to jack up the conversation. Texting for instant surveys, video streaming, more lively panels of people who actually use the tools the consultants are talking about. I think we should challenge ourselves in the audience to collaborate in using Twitter more creatively to reflect the content or draw in distant observers. I’ve made several notes about how I might be able to better partner with folks in the audience to change the conversation in the room. ERE has been pioneering lots of new ideas and while SHRM is a bit behind, they are adapting…more rapidly each year.
Outliers and Missed Opportunities- The conference isn’t just the sessions. Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning literally hundreds of this countries top HR professionals in dozens of specialty areas were engaged in developing and commenting on trends, the body of knowledge, standards of excellence, alignment to the business of HR and much much more. It was here that you could see the reach, the results and the unfinished business of our profession. We fail miserably in bringing that conversation to the attendees IMHO. I crash it each year…because I can and it engages me to stay the course. All the bloggers and tweeps should have been invited to observe and comment. That would be transparency!
I also note which of those hundreds stick around and actually show up, attend sessions as learners, have conversations and engage the thousands of attendees…not nearly enough. But certainly some…like Sue and Libby and Elaine and…a few more whose names are not so well known – just not nearly enough. We need to take Lance’s suggestion and make another video for them about paying it forward by showing up.
So, again Mark, thanks for you commitment to push the envelope and encourage the conversation.
Gerry Crispin, sphr
It’s all about the conversation
For those of us who strive to remain engaged while working abroad, I thank everyone for their reflections on the conference. Just a couple of quick hits, particularly on the tweets and engagement in the sessions. I actually checked via linkedin all of Gerry’s updates/tweets; not to get content, but to get Gerry’s vibe. After travelling to China with Gerry, I quickly determined that I might never find another professional who had the pulse of the market. His tweets capture the immediate thoughts of what he sees; and they in turn give me the inspiration to follow-up on my own needs. During the Washington DC Conference, I helped to coordinate several rooms/sessions ranging from a max capacity of 50 to a huge 1500 person hall. The small room started over capacity, but within the first 10 minutes had dwindled to 21 (Yes I counted!). But as Gerry pointed out, those 21 were just so focused on the speaker/topic and I felt it was one of the strongest sessions due to everyone being engaged, so much so, I wrote a couple of pages to the review committee and delivered it with a verbal recap. I wish I could have managed this one, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Next year cannot come too soon! Best Regards to all! Greg Komarow
Mark – Hate to “double dip” but – I can give you some examples of grass roots movements w/ member based orgs.
The HR Net, which you just started to receive, is one of those things. It started w/ 100 people and now has over 5,700 across the globe.
Our Ohio State Conf. is VERY intentional and our “core” of engaged HR folks is growing.
Your Job Angels is an amazing grass roots movement !!
I have others too. The one thing I’ve come to terms with in HR is that i will be engaged and model that to others no matter what. It works and it allows me to connect with great people like you !!
I just wanted to be encouraging because I think your passion and insight are going to make HR people choose to be engaged – or not.
The ones that just linger will be the ones who become obsolete, but that will be their choice.
Wish I could have been at SHRM with you and the others. Hope that one day we’ll meet in person.
Peace – Steve
I was going to create a blog entry recap of the event but you have said it all! I really enjoyed the tweets of attendees throughout the conference. So refreshing to have real insight in real time.
The aforementioned reporting, addition of the Blog team, and the first annual Tweet Up added an attendee empowerment that has not been realized at shows past. So much better to access to comments on presentations as they happen as opposed to filling out a survey card to be processed in 6 months and not shared.
Mark – we need you to create guidelines for aspiring presenters to get their talks accept to the SHRM11 course material. How can we break down the walls and get our names on the agenda…?
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Great post. Makes me want to go to the next HREvolution even more than I already did. Seems you and I are like-minded on what we want conferences to be for us and for the indsutry.
I haven’t been to the large SHRM conference ever – too large, too pricey. But EMA (or whatever they’ve changed it’s name to) was always a good one – and as it’s full of recruiters (think the sales people of HR) – it’s definitely more productive…after all, time is money.
Thanks for this…helps me convince myself I’m glad I wasn’t in San Diego with so many of my friends/colleagues
@Boese – “Drunkenness, debauchery, and vomiting simply must be live tweeted.” Well done Steve.
@Joan – Thanks for the thoughts. It’s funny because I’ve been trying to read all the posts and tweets and something feels a bit flat this year (my own coverage included). Not sure if it’s low energy but a certain *pop* is missing from the coverage. Have to think about it further…
@Margo – You’re right in that Monster and SmartBrief did an amazing job this year. Something you said struck me – it’s interesting to note how different people cite the same quote/statement from the same session via Twitter. This shows how we always filter what we see and hear through our own biased lens. Something to ponder. Thanks for the comment.
@Gerry – Not sure where to begin here Gerry but let me say “thank you” for such a glowing review and terrific commentary. Among dozens of great points I think you’re statement that, “Maybe 20% are going to do something but the ratings of 80% will determine whether you can come back” is an important point. I also neglected to call out the criticality of informal learning and networking, as that’s my number one takeaway year after year. Thanks again for your thoughtful response.
@Greg – Great perspective and thanks for sharing it. The challenge (as I see it) is one of quantity over quality. Is it acceptable when only a few dozen attendees see value in a session? Should we be pre-screening topics/presenters to pre-narrow their interests and ensure topical alignment? More food for thought.
@Steve – Thanks for the follow up comment and glad to see the grassroots examples. I’d like to create sustainable encouragement for those who want to participate in a meaningful way. I’m just concerned that we’ll arrive at SHRM ’11 next year for more of the same.
@David – Curtis Midkiff (@shrmsocmedguy) really hit the ground running this year and his presence was palpable. And I’m really thinking about your challenge to create guidelines for aspiring SHRM ’11 speakers. Unfortunately we have about a week to pull this together.
@Leanne – Thanks for your thoughts Leanne. I’m torn on some of this because I do think voting with your feet is critical, but I also wonder how great things could be if more of us were engaged the process. Stuck in chicken/egg land today I’m afraid.
Aggressive Transformation #1 – take the adviceI got from @GerryCrispin
I am going to get more involved personally so that I can be there for what he cites below.
Aggressive Transformation #2 – work the angles from inside and outside to continue to push this group
Aggressive Transformation #3 – build our voice so it is even louder than it is now. SHRM is listening to the soft core dissidents that are us.
We need to keep the “pressure” on through commentary,commitment and contributing. We need to own our organization. If the rules weren’t stacked against it, I’dsay we should be leading our organization.
Outliers and Missed Opportunities- The conference isn’t just the sessions. Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning literally hundreds of this countries top HR professionals in dozens of specialty areas were engaged in developing and commenting on trends, the body of knowledge, standards of excellence, alignment to the business of HR and much much more. It was here that you could see the reach, the results and the unfinished business of our profession. We fail miserably in bringing that conversation to the attendees IMHO. I crash it each year…because I can and it engages me to stay the course. All the bloggers and tweeps should have been invited to observe and comment. That would be transparency!
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Hi Mark,
Thanks for the thought-provoking post. Since I’m kind of new to all this, I’ve been trying to figure out what organizations to join, now that I’d stepped over from higher ed administrator to being a career coach. SHRM is definitely an organization I’m familiar with and interested in exploring. So I read your posts to learn more about the HR professional side of things.
So now that I have the downside of the conference, can you tell me some “upsides” as well?
I’m looking to get more involved in the conventional avenues and organizations and build my network and my competencies. I’d appreciate any advice you or other readers/commenters could offer.
What do you get out of SHRM and how could someone like me benefit?
@Mike V – I agree with a lot of what you’ve said but I also feel we need to do a better job of NOT treating non-social media users like morons. The more we act like those who “don’t get it” are behind or intellectually inferior, the less they will want to embrace new media tools. It’s semantics but I believe it’s important.
@Sean – Great question and I’m glad you posed it. SHRM’s Annual Conference offers incredible personal and professional networking opportunities. Whether with vendors, practitioners, pundits, thought leaders, consultants or SHRM staffers, this is the one place where they congregate annually. So long as you plan your time effectively (and well in advance) you can derive an incredible amount of value for a relatively small investment in time and resources. Hope that helps.
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My only nit is that there were not enough coffee shops as the lines were very, very long. If there’s one thing to know about HR, we love our java.
That’s the truth. I love my coffee and it was a challenge.