Archive for May, 2010

Lance Haun and Laurie Reuittmann

Every now and then a person has to take a stand, be willing to be unfollowed on twitter, and lose friends on facebook. That is exactly what happened yesterday when I critiqued the unconference, HRevolution. First, I want to make an open apology to the conference planners.

The hundreds of hours you spent planning, and working tirelessly to produce this event was not lost on me. In fact, I respect, appreciate each of you, and the unique contribution that each of you make to our industry. I genuinely regret that I hurt your feelings. I now realized that I did so, which is why I am retracting what you perceived as a personal attack.

TheRedRecruiter, Michael Long admired my bravery to tilt at the HR windmill, and state honestly my thoughts, and feelings. While he did not agree with me 100% he encouraged me to put my post back up. He was concerned I was being censored. Indeed, that is not the case. I was not being censored. Rather, I realized that I was personally attacking one person. This blog is not the place for that.

In hindsight, what I should have done is pick up the phone, and tell her what I thought about her comments. Instead, I used my blog as a bully pulpit.  It was the wrong way to going about it.  I apologize to everyone who felt hurt by the thoughts expressed here.

A wise man once said, praise publicly, and criticize privately. Attacking someone in public reflects poorly on my brand, not theirs.    Only 69 people read the post before I pulled it.  Fellow attendees read it, and only a handful of my followers.  In the larger scheme of the universe, my opinion is not that important.

Here’s my stance and I’m sticking to it: I am a fierce advocate for the little guy, for the unheard voice, and for the downtrodden.  My dear colleague, Jennifer McClure spoke up for the underdog, and the unemployed people in the room. She extolled their virtues and their ability to have influence. You see, that is why I admire Jennifer. She has a sensitivity to the unemployed population in America that few others have.

There are countless others that are also underdogs for those in transition. In all fairness, my colleagues that planned HRevolution garnered funds to offer scholarships for people in transition. I applaud their action.

Now a word about the conference. It wasn’t the planning that I was criticizing. The sponsors were incredibly generous, and I have no doubt that he organization efforts were solid. I just did not learn anything during the sessions. As I stated in my previous post, the learning took place between the sessions. That is not uncommon. The relationships and alliances that are formed at national events are where the real value is derived.

I had the distinct pleasure of attending the first HRevolution event in 2009. In my opinion, there was no comparison. The first version of the unconference was uniquely structured to accommodate the needs and interests of people either new to the occupation, or new to the social media, blogging scene. The tracks catered to advanced bloggers, and techno geeks, and geeks in training. That is what I loved.

There was what I considered real tactical knowledge shared during each and every session.  I took home, experienced, and mastered new skills as a direct result. That experience was invaluable. The access I gained to the thought leaders in the HR community was beyond compare. The ability to pick their brains, and really learn from them was worth every moment I invested.

In addition, after the first HRevolution, I was able to pick up the phone, ask and receive great advice from those in attended. What I appreciate about the people in our industry is the generosity of spirit, and comraderie that is inherent within most of the leaders in Human Resources, and Recruiting.

What disappointed me about this conference is that I did not learn anything new during this conference. That is not a reflection of the planners or facilitators. It could be because I read voraciously, and when I set out to learn and master a new skill, I take it upon myself to do so. Maybe I read all of your articles, posts and derive value. Maybe it is because I read news, and articles outside of our industry to stay current on business practices. Perhaps it is because during the sessions I perceived that the same old issues were being rehashed, and very little new practices were discussed.

Here’s what I’d like to see happen at the next HRevolution:

1. Conduct pre-assessments for the tracks.  Give the information gathered to the track leaders so that they can address the professional needs of the attendees.
2. Conduct post-conference evaluations. Act on the feedback that you find valid, and include that information during the planning process for the next unconference.
3. Return to offering two tracks. One for new bloggers, one for advanced bloggers.  Provide tactical best practices, and new tools that the attendees can take back to their offices for experimentation.
4. Provide a track or two for those professionals new to the occupation to nurture their professional development goals.
5. Offer tracks designed for people who’ve been in the field for many years, and offer them an opportunity to bench mark best practices.
6. Give people homework.  That’s right-after evaluating and learning about new technology, give people sample templates whereby they can practice the new skills, and report back with their experience in their blogs or the newly formed linkedin group.
7. Pair an intern, or a person new to the occupation with an experienced mentor.  For those who have the time to nurture the mind of another human being, this is an experience not to be missed.  HRevolution is a phenomenal opportunity for professionals to cherry pick experts they would like to learn from.  Granted, not all leaders have the time to mentor, but for those who do, what better way to use an unconference.  Unconferences are unstructured, yet provide an opportunity for deep dish learning.
8. Execute post-unconference webinars to continue the learning. This can be divided in sub-topic areas of interest.  A lot of people would pay for these webinars, I know I would.  For instance, I would like to learn more about 2.0, emerging technologies, and advanced blogging, mobile recruiting, health care, compliance, employer/employee brand development, andemployee relations..  I’d love to be able to continue my studies with the track leaders in attendance at HRevolution.
9. Have smaller tracks where people can really probe the minds of the brilliant track leaders, and get their questions answered.
10. Deliver a final session where attendees can share their take-aways, and what they are going to do when they get home.  Allow time for a healthy debate and discussion about these next steps, and give participants a chance to get unanswered questions addressed.

That is my wish list for the next HRevolution, and Tru Unconference.  There may be those who say, this is a tall order, and cannot be addressed in 1 day.  To that, I push back and suggest a 2 to 3 day event.  I see the unconference movement in Human Resources and Recruiting filling a gap that the large, established organizations are not chiseling.  The ground swell of professional experts who are demonstrating leadership in the unconference movement have a unique opportunity to provide professional development, benchmarking, and networking for participants around the world.  I encourage my colleagues to keep the spirit alive.

I’m not a big fan of titles, or influencers, and people with an inflated sense of self importance.  Nor am I a fan of conferences that rehash the same old-same old with no new learning, or tactical take-aways. With that said, I know for a fact that the majority of those who attended HRevolution 2010 received tremendous value.

Maybe my take-away is that I need to break out of the HR echo chamber by attending conferences outside my industry.  If I really want to deep dive into new information that peaks my interest in the social media sphere, that is where I should focus my future attention.

Yesterday,  I caused personal injury to a select few individuals.  On the other hand, I believe it is important to tilt at the wind mills, the big well oiled machines, and directly confront the titans when I think they are dead wrong.

I work for lawyers.  My boss is a former litigator.  He is still a fierce advocate for the down trodden.  He is my professional mentor.  He attacks opposing counsel each and every day.  I love working with the feisty advocates.  I belong in the legal industry, and I thank the heavens above that I finally found my niche.  The managing partner of my firm loved yesterday’s post.

He thought is was good, and courageous.  If he had told me, do not post this, I wouldn’t have.   To the contrary, he told me he would defend my right to free speech. His parting words to me were, “Sometimes it’s cathartic to go after the titans, I do it every day.”

You may agree to disagree with me.  That is your choice.  Please know that I write this blog as much for me as I do for you.  Someone told me yesterday, my blog is not a good place to vent because it is a permanent record.  I concur, and I agree, but my answer remains the same.  So be it.  Social media must be a place where we can freely express our opinions, debate those opinions, and push back against one another’s viewpoints.  That is how we learn and grow.

I appreciate your readership.

Sincerely,

@HRMargo