Fine, I’ll admit it. I had some fun at SHRM. Just a little fun. Not too much fun because that wouldn’t be all cynical & growly & punk & stuff.
One quick SHRM-related observation: I haven’t found a single person who has told me that the SHRM sessions were personally helpful or meaningful. Everyone I’ve talked to has said almost the same thing — the conference was expensive and that the best times were spent with other HR folks at the fun events (the exhibition hall, the parties, and the dinners).
I’m not surprised to hear this feedback because conferences are often about networking, moving books, and selling products — and HR isn’t the most compelling subject, either. It’s just too bad that the most common thread I heard, today, was meh.
If you attended a session that was great, please represent and let us know. What did you like? What did we miss?
Laurie, I got the same response from attendees I spoke with there. While the overall opinion of the conference was positive, no one seemed particularly impressed by any of the sessions, which I too found disappointing, if not surprising. Most of the people I talked to did, in fact, mention that they were there to network, get ideas and “just take it all in.”
Hi, Mary, thanks for the comment. (You initially went to my SPAM folder. D’oh).
It’s too bad that no one seemed passionate about the speakers. Maybe we need to shake up the system and push for a different SHRM speaker platform in 2009??