It’s almost time for this year’s HR Technology Conference. I’ve studied up on all the technologies I want to check out at the expo, made notes of all the great sessions I am going to, and talked with my organization about the technology needs of our HR department.  The one thing that remains is the social aspect of the conference.  There will be numerous vendor parties and gatherings to choose from and I’d like to invite you all to one this Thursday night.

Jay Goldman and Dan Debow from Rypple are sponsoring a HRevolution Tweetup.  Here are the details:

Thursday, September 30th

9:00- 11:00 pm

SushiSamba Rio

504 N. Wells

Rooftop lounge

Bryon Abramowitz and I will be your hosts and we hope you’ll stop by for some networking and drinks.

My friends at Rypple are doing great things to help organizations like yours build a culture where feedback is the norm.  That’s a HUGE thing to accomplish because you and I both know that there are many great companies out there that don’t give employees enough feedback.  We all think it should be something that we do, then we make excuses as to why we don’t do it.  We don’t have time, it doesn’t feel natural, or we want to but other “fires” come up and coaching takes a back seat.  This is when you need to reach out to Rypple.

Rypple is social software that makes feedback easy.  EASY.  It can help you manage goals for your staff and give feedback that can be used in a variety of ways.  And, it’s accessible via iPhone and Blackberry so you can do it anytime, anywhere.  Click HERE to check out what companies like Panera, Mozilla, and others have to say about the benefits of using Rypple.  Then, try it for yourself for free.  This is the opportunity you’ve been looking for.

Thank you to Jay Goldman and Dan DeBow for all your continued support of HRevolution and for partnering with us on this tweetup!

Closing Session

The HRevolution has not ended.

Sure, the 2010 event may be in the history books, but the spirit of evolving an industry that has been one predominantly etched as an administrative function is just beginning.  Since only one day has passed, my mind is still reeling and thoughts about HRevolution are still so conceptual that I’m not quite ready to share.  In the meantime, I will share some observations and thank yous:

• HRevolution is a spirit of change.  The participants and facilitators bring it alive in the way they interact.  There was not one session that did not have key learning points and take aways.  The facilitators did a great job of making sure that they took the step of challenging the group to use techniques and tools once they returned to their organizations.
• The HR Happy Hour show creates amazing energy when all the guests are in person. It’s like capturing magic in a bottle.
• Monster, Ceridian, Pinstripe, Rypple, and SHRM made the event possible.  Many thanks to them for providing the funds for the venue, catering, transportation, and tweetups.  The Pinstripe Tweetup and Sue Marks made our closing tweetup the perfect way to end on a high note.  HUB 51 was an amazing venue and special thanks to Bryon Abramowitz for arranging the tweetup.  Monster also threw the biggest, best opening of HRevolution and the participants were grateful. From the blinking beverage glasses to the iPad/ Kindle/ Flip/ Camera/ iTouch give aways to the numerous Monster goodies for us all,  they outdid themselves. Special thank you to Eric Winegardner for believing in us and making greatness happen.  We love you for all the energy and insight you bring to us.
• It takes EACH participant’s actions to make the event what it is. The planning committee pours our hearts and souls into the event.  The companies that sponsor individuals to come to the event are instrumental (Whiting Consulting and Nobscot Corporation).  The facilitators who work very hard to start interesting and thought provoking conversations.  The participants who become actual teachers to the group.  Having a mix of HR pros, recruiters, consultants, professors, CEO’s, journalists, marketers, and pundits make it a great learning opportunity.
• HR people CAN have fun!
• You do not need to be a day-to-day HR practitioner to bring value to HRevolution. I learned so much from many people who are not HR practitioners.  These ideas will challenge me to continue to go beyond HR and truly be a business partner in my organization.  Thanks to all who shared business information on culture, finance, marketing, influence, communications, and technology.  You’re helping us find challenge so we can grow.
• Mark Stelzner does a great impersonation of Donald Trump and being #2 sometimes means you’re the winner. (You’ll have to wait for my Apprentice session post for the back story on that one).
• Jason Seiden, Ben Eubanks, Steve Boese, Crystal Peterson, Joan Ginsberg, and Mark Stelzner are the finest teammates I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Their dedication to HRevolution is truly amazing and I sincerely thank them each for the HUGE contribution of time and skills.  I’m honored to know you all and call you friends.
• You really can make solid relationships using the internet to network. ‘Nuff said.

I’m going to do some heavy-duty thinking about some of the learning points and calls to action and will share them in the coming days and weeks.  Thank you all for supporting HRevolution.   If you have any observations to share, let me know in the comments.

HRevolution, the un-conference that will bring HR, recruiting, and other business professionals together in Chicago later this week is inspiring some great things.  The messages I’m seeing and the spark that has been ignited is showing up in many forms.  Most recently in the form of videos.  I’d like to share a couple that two of the HRevolution session facilitators created for the event.  While they are both very different, the common theme is that they are excited to come be part of something that is nebulous.  We may not know at this point what the take away from HRevolution will be, but it’s going to be quite an exciting ride getting there!

The first video is from Benjamin McCall at RethinkHR.org:

The next video is one that my friend Bill Boorman created.  I love it because I’ve never had a Trish avatar before.  I think he did a great job mixing humor with some great information about HRevolution.

I also want to thank the HRevolution sponsors for making this year’s event possible. If it weren’t for the innovation in these companies, HRevolution may not exist.  Be sure to check out their sites for some outstanding HR and business solutions:

Unbridled Talent, LLC

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