Welcome to this special edition of the HR Carnival.  This edition is dedicated to examples of how you are incorporating social media and new tools into your work.  The idea for this carnival was one take away from HRevolution.  Many of the discussions revolved around the need to showcase how we’re using social media in our day-to-day jobs so that we can spread the word to more mainstream HR pros and recruiters.  This carnival is only the tip of the iceberg and can be a resource of people you can use as examples as you think of ways to incorporate new ways of communicating into your organizational strategy.

I want to start off this carnival with a post from Kevin Grossman of the HR Marketer blog because his post sets the tone.  Kevin shares with us the secret of keeping it real with ‘Don’t Over-think Your Social Media Efforts.  Keep It Simple, Real, and Human.’

Steve Browne, a HR practitioner from Cincinnati shares his case study from LaRosa, a pizzeria who is embracing new tools to communicate with customers.  He challenges you in his post, Are You Old Fashioned ?, a look at how you can bring your company into the future of marketing.

Lyn Hoyt of Fusion Frames shares her case study of how her business took marketing online with the use of social media tools.  It’s a good example of the process a company can use to make the transition.  Check out her post Our Slow Move Online and Discovery of Social Media.

What do you do when your organization is living in the Stone Age and  is resistant to adding in social media to the communication strategy?  Check out Ben Eubanks’ entry ‘That Social Media Thing‘ to find out.

Bill Boorman cuts through the clutter of fighting the use of social media terminology with Stop the Social Recruiting BS.  Bill talks about focusing on the business outcomes you need and how to achieve them rather than publicizing the platforms or tools you’re using.

Gary Franklin also brings us the global flavor in this edition with his discussion about how networking through social media can bring extraordinary opportunities.  He shares his experience at The Firm, the forum for in-house recruitment managers.  Check out ‘With the Help of Social Media I Met Some Fab People‘ by Gary.

Gireesh Kumar from the Grasp e-Marketing blog shares ‘Social Media Works! Not only in Marketing but HR, customer service, word of mouth marketing, socializing….‘    His story about India’s second largest bank and how Twitter impacted an experience there is a must read.

And, to wrap it up, we have a great video presentation from Jessica Miller-Merrell.  Jessica, from Blogging4jobs.com,  recently spoke at Ignite Dallas and shares her short video with us that pokes fun at and shares information about all this “new media” craze.  Be sure to read/ watch ‘7.2 Ways to Get Fired with Social Media.‘  It’s well worth your time.

Thank you all for sharing how you are finding success incorporating news communication methods into your business and your day-to-day work.  If you’re a practitioner who uses social media in your organization, be sure to share your information or a link to your post in the comments.

Want to be inspired?  Just read the blogs posted by people in the HR community.  Here’s an example:  I went to Mike VanDervort’s blog (the Human Race Horses) and see that he posted about the upcoming Carnival of HR he is hosting on November 25th.  I  was excited to see that not only is he collecting great posts for the carnival, he is asking each blogger to give the name of their favorite charity.  Mike will personally donate money to one charity, selected from all those submitted for the Carnival.

I encourage you to head over to Mike’s blog right now if you haven’t already been there today.  Then, start thinking of a post you can submit to the Carnival along with your favorite charity.

Here’s a little glimpse of my favorite charity, the March of Dimes, and why it is special to me.

As most of you who read my blog know, I am the mom of twins.  They are the loves of my life.  They are now happy, healthy six year olds.  But, we were not always this lucky.  My story is that by the time I was 25 weeks along in my pregnancy, I was measuring as big as an “average” woman at full-term with a single baby.  Hard to believe, I know.  I went into pre-term labor and didn’t even know it.  I thought I was just uncomfortable because I was already so big.

Luckily, when you’re having multiples, you have extra doctor appointments and I was actually at the hospital for an ultrasound when they told me I was 5 cm diallated.  The doctor told me it would not be easy to keep the babies inside for very long, even with heavy medication.  He told me that my time as a strong mother would be starting right then.  I was all alone at the time and I just broke down.  I have never had worse news in my life.  I thought my babies would die because when children are born at 25 weeks, the chances are not good for them.

The next 48 hours was a blur of doctors, nurses, family, and friends. I was so heavily drugged I really don’t remember much.  After two days, my doctor told me that they thought they had it under control and that I had to do my best to keep them inside, one day at a time.  They wheeled me to the NICU to see some of the babies born at 25- 26 weeks.  They were on average about a pound and a half.  Their skin was transparent, they could not breathe on their own.  They were covered in wires and tubes.  It was then that I learned that the March of Dimes provides the research that made the special beds, treatments, and medicines possible to keep these children alive.  I prayed to God to not let me have my babies too early.

The next nine weeks were a roller coaster of the the worst kind.  I stayed medicated most of the time and endured contractions every hour for the entire eight weeks.  By the time I reached 34 weeks in the pregnancy, I could no longer get out of bed on my own because I was so large and could barely walk because I had been on bed rest for so long.  I begged to go home, if only for a few days.  Since I was far enough along at that point, the doctors let me go home.  When I reached 35 weeks in the pregnancy, I knew it was time.  I headed to the hospital around noon, walked around the hospital for about an hour to start the labor back up, then walked directly to the labor and delivery floor that I lived on for so long and told the nurse, “today, I’m having BABIES!“.

Jack- 3 Days Old

Having them was the easy part.  After so many months of contractions, I deserved an easy labor.  Jack was born weighing in at 5 lbs. 4 oz.  Carleigh was born seven minutes later weighing in at 4 lbs. 4 oz.  There has never been a happier moment in my entire life, and I am certain that there will never be another that will match it.  They are my miracle babies.  They were born naturally and only needed a few weeks in the NICU so they could finish developing in their own time.

The first time I went to see them in the NICU, each baby had a stuffed animal next to them.  The little bears were lying on pillows that said “March of Dimes”.  I knew at that moment I had a mission.  To work to raise money to help other families never have to go through what I went through.  And, for families who do have babies too early, to have the research available to discover new treatments, therapies, and medications.

Carleigh- 3 Days Old (Notice how small she is compared to my hand)

Since then, I have served as the Chairperson of Family Teams for the MO chapter of the March of Dimes.  My family was also the Ambassador family in St. Louis for 2008.   My children, my family, and I have raised money to help ensure that every baby is born healthy.

So, that is my story.  I’ll be participating in the Carnival of HR on 11/25.  Won’t you?  What charity inspires you?

Welcome! Welcome! One and all.  It’s time for a special edition of the Carnival of HR!

What could be more thrilling than to put together a carnival around a topic near-and-dear to my heart?  HRevolution generated over thirty posts and they keep on coming.  Thanks to Shauna Moerke (@HR_Minion on Twitter) for being the woman who keeps this whole project going.  Now, go on and get to the carnival!

TICKETS! Step on up.

What do you do when you arrive at a carnival?  We’ll, it’s first things first.  Before HRevolution started, Lyn Hoyt of Fusion Frames gave us a story of why she was sponsoring and what she hoped to accomplish in ‘See You at HRevolution Friday‘. Once we wrapped, Joan Ginsburg called class to session at HR University with ‘HRevolution Beginnings’.

As you walk along the midway, there are so many sights to see.

Take in ‘Outside the Social Media Bubble‘ by our friend, the Red Recruiter, Michael Long.  He puts out a special challenge to HR to reach out beyond the group currently involved via social media.  Matt Stollak at True Faith HR gave us ‘The Perfect Kiss’ which talks about group polarization.

Let’s ride the Tilt-A-Whirl!

HRevolution was one wild ride for the participants and for those who watched from afar.  Some great summary pieces came out that ride.  They are ‘HR Unconference‘ by Ben Eubanks at Upstart HR, ‘HRevolution and the Wonder That is Social Media‘ by Lisa Rosendahl at Simply Lisa, ‘Celebrating HRevolution‘ by Bryon Abramowitz (the HR Technologist), and ‘And Now for Something Completely HRevolutionary‘ by John, the BKRecruiter.

It’s time for a stop at the Funhouse!

So what would a carnival be without some fun.  Head over to check out Shauna Moerke’s post at the HR Minion ‘HRevolution- Way too Much Fun‘.   She is someone who always delivers the fun side of the issues.

Have you seen Sideshow Bob yet?

Every good carnival has sideshows, and this one is no different.  Of course there was a HR Happy Hour live at HRevolution.  Be sure to check out the show and hear hosts Steve Boese and Shauna Moerke work their magic in person.  Then, check out the clips I shared on YouTube of HR Happy Hour.  You can even see Ben Eubanks walking on his hands during the HR Happy Hour show.  There were several other posts that took in the strangeness of the day.  They were: HR Margo talking about HRevolution and dancing, Debbie J. Brown and her post ‘Outliers and an Unconference‘, and Steve Harrison’s HR Gumbo with the ‘HR vs. IT Deathmatch‘ and Top 20 list for HRevolution.

Now for the serious part of the carnival- visiting the Fortune Teller.  Dare you look into her crystal ball?

Sit down for a thoughtful look at the event with Mark Stelzner’s ‘HR- Evolution or Revolution?‘.  My contribution at HR Ringleader  ‘Putting the Pieces Together‘, Lance Haun’s ‘You Say You Want a Revolution‘, Steve Boese’s ‘Notes from a Revolution‘ and Bonita Martin’s ‘We Are the Future of HR‘.

Feeling hungry?  Better run over to a food booth.

Serving up some bacon for you over at Fusion Frames.  Lyn Hoyt offers up ‘The History of Bacon and HR’.

What do you do when your ride shuts down?

Well, you check out some posts that explore destruction and not getting exactly what you want.  Lois Melbourne tells us ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, Jessica Miller-Merrell shares ‘HR’s Berlin Wall’, Michael Haberman challenges us with ‘Revolution- Breaking Down the Wall of Old HR’, and Wendy Tandon gives a vendor perspective as a guest blogger on Steve Boese’s blog.

Heading Home- What a fun carnival.

For some great final thoughts on HRevolution, give Paul Hebert’s post ‘HRevolution Brought to You by John Madden’ April Dowling’s ‘ post at Pseudo HR ‘Decompressing from HRevolution‘, Tammy at Junkyard HR’s ‘HRevolution in Real Life’, and Crystal Peterson’s post ‘It’s Over‘.

So that’s all for this session of HRevolution.  Hope you enjoyed the carnival.  It has sure been a fun experience.

I never dreamed that there would be so many things to write about coming out of HRevolution.  My fellow bloggers are doing an outstanding job of helping cover HRevolution from every different angle.  Be sure to check back here on November 18th (even though you should be checking here daily) because on that day I will be hosting the Carnival of HR: Hrevolution Edition.

Also, there were a few video clips I have of the Advanced Blogging session and the HR 2.0 session.  Be sure to check them out and subscribe to the channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75TwGZ6RZkM

As all the information from the two days at HRevolution swirls around in my head, some items are starting to come to the top.  I’ll post more on that later today.

If you’d like to have a post about HRevolution included in the upcoming Carnival of HR, e-mail me at trisham89@hotmail.com.

What’s the best thing about today?  It’s Carnival of HR time again!  I always look forward to the carnival because I find several new blogs to follow, ideas on human resource practices I may not have thought about, and nice recognition for my HR blogger friends who deserve to have their writing celebrated.

When I saw the picture I’m using in this post, it reminded me of the BEST part of the Carnival of HR, in my opinion: the diversity.  So, take a moment and head over to the HR Maven’s blog where she has brought togehter HR thoughts from a diverse group of professionals. 

Thanks to the HR Maven for hosting and for including me in the mix.  Also to the HR Minion for keeping the carnival on track month after month. 

Happy Wednesday!