Archive for the ‘Professional Development’ Category

What a whirlwind of a week it has been here in Orlando, FL.  I’m beginning to get used to a 5:00 am wake-up call, although this one seemed like it came in even earlier after the Vegas Night festivities!  Up and out the door by 6:00 am to meet up with my buddy Michael Long of Red Recruiting to set up for his “rise and shine” session “Twitter for HR and Recruiting.”  It was awesome to see such a large group of attendees for such an early session.  Michael touched on the basics of Twitter like retweets and direct messages and then went on to discuss search capabilities perfect for recruiting.  The audience was fully engaged and asked lots of excellent questions.  A big shout out to Michael for giving us some face time as he was pulling double duty – attending the HR Florida State Conference as well as the Disney Institute.  Check his blog out for full coverage. 

The last general session began with the announcement of the 2009 HR Florida Volunteer of the Year, Lori Goldsmith, SPHR.  Lori has tirelessly been the voice of certification since her early days in HR Tampa, and has continued to be the face of certification for HR Florida. Along with volunteering her time serving the HR Florida State Council in that role, she volunteered to step in as the program chair for the 2009 Conference when the previous program chair stepped down.  Lori is a professional. She embraces the HR Florida State Council mission and values while continuing to improve on her skills and assisting others in improving theirs.  Congratulations Lori!

Following the award we welcomed Battlestar Galactica’s Admiral William Adama (aka Edward James Olmos) to the stage for a keynote address on diversity/race relations.    After joking with the audience he launced into one of the most intense presentations I have ever witnessed.  Everyone watched intently as Olmos described “race” throughout history.  “There is only ONE race – the human race.”  He also referenced his lively presentation at the United Nations on the same subject.

As this was the last day of the conference, it was the shortest with sessions ending at noon.  While attendees were checking out of the hotel and traveling back to their homes across the state our conference team was debriefing and beginning plans for the 2010 conference.  In a year that has been so troublesome for so many we did not know what to expect when it came to meeting our goals as an organization.  Countless organizations across the country have had to cancel their conferences due to projected poor attendance and financial difficulties.  With this in mind the council made an effort to be optimistic – and I am sure glad we did.  As one person put it, “We are in spitting distance of reaching our goal!”  Not only did our team sell out the expo hall, we also secured sponsors who went above and beyond to make this event such a success.  On top of that our attendees were amazing.  I had multiple conversations with exhibitors and sponsors who echoed the same sentiment – the attendees this year were the best they have ever seen.  Engaged and invested, not here just for the swag.

2009 HR Florida Conference Team

What began as distant goal last year ended today with one of the best conferences the HR Florida State Council has ever put on.  From a behind the scenes perspective this has been one of the largest and most demanding events that I have ever been a part of.   So much goes on that the average attendee is unaware of.  I have to give kudos to an amazing conference team led by an incredible leader.  Without them we may have faced similar hardships as many other organizations.  We stepped up to the plate and hit a home run!  It has been an honor to work with each and every one of them.  Until next time…

5:00 am…Why do you haunt me so?  Thank goodness the Rosen Shingle Creek, one of the nicest places I have ever stayed in by the way, is equipped with a coffee shop serving Starbucks – thank you coffee gods! 

Up early for an 8:15 am general session with a keynote by the Honorable Alexis Herman.  I worked with her backstage to make sure she was set for her speech and didn’t trip on any wires.  What a sweet, intelligent and prolific woman.  Most remember her as the 23rd United States Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton but as she described, her story has much more to offer.  Her address touched on how she incorporated her interest in non-profits, government and the private sector into an amazing career.  Herman also stressed the importance of mentoring, especially in the workplace.

As the last attendee exited the general session hall our amazing team from PSAV and the Rosen began resetting for our Tuesday night event – Vegas Night! (more on that later)  I quickly exited backstage and checked up on the tweets for #SHRMFL.  Everything was turning out great – lots of tweets from inside sessions and lots of tweets from those HR pros who couldn’t make it this year.  To take advantage of the massive exposure we were getting on Twitter I ran into the expo hall with my camera and started to snap shots of some of our incredible sponsors and exhibitors who went above and beyond to help us pull of this conference.  Later that afternoon attendees gathered back in the expo hall for all of the fantastic giveaways.  The fun doesn’t end here!

Friends from SeaWorld Orlando

Next up members of the HR Florida State Council held our quarterly meeting with special guest Dorothy Hill, Field Services Director for SHRM.  Dorothy touched on the changes coming to SHRM and how they would impact the state and regional level.  She also announced SHRM India – WOW!  In addition 2009 HR Florida State Council President Kitty Fields announced the 2009 HR Florida STP/ATP (Serve the Professional/Advance the Profession) awards.  I am happy to report that Big Bend SHRM won for Membership and Workforce Readiness.  What makes me even more ecstatic is that this is the 3rd consecutive year that our chapter has one for our membership efforts! 

From our council meeting we all made our way to Vegas Night with Dr. Scott’s Outrageous Hypnosis Comedy - who was by far a huge hit!  Participants volunteered to take part in this hilarious show impersonating famous musical acts like Britney Spears, KISS and Michael Jackson.  Following the hypnotist attendees flooded the dance floor and made their way to the casino tables for an evening of fun with friends new and old.  A big shout out to the 2009 HR Florida State Conference Entertainment Chair Marc Grad – this is the most fun I’ve had at a conference to date!

BEEP…BEEP…BEEEEEP! Snooze. 

That would be the sound of my 5:00 am wake-up call and me not wanting to get up!  Luckily our rooms were equipped with a coffee pot and supplies – just enough to get my caffeine fix before starting another long day.  After getting the #SHRMFL hashtag started with some early morning tweets I dragged myself to the conference center.

I made my way through the hustle and bustle to a session I have been waiting for for quite a while – “Blogging and HR:  Can the two peacefully coexist?” – where I finally met a few idols of mine for the first time:   Kris Dunn, Jessica Lee, Michael VanDervort, Laurie Ruettimann and Michael Long.  The coolest part of all of this is that they knew exactly who I was thanks to my presence on Twitter and Facebook – quite an honor.  Next up – general session.

As the doors opened at 10:00 am sharp for the first general session, attendees were greeted by members of ZANCOS, a stilt walking and power skipping percussion ensemble from SeaWorld Orlando.  These guys rocked the audience who remained on their feet cheering throughout the entire performance.  It was truly spectacular.  Attendees were welcomed by the conference emcee, Wendy Chioji, former anchor of NBC’s WESH 2 News in Orlando, FL.  Her debut as conference emcee last year was a huge success and it is great to have her back for a second go-around with HR Florida.  After a message from Carol McDaniel, 2009 Conference Chair, HR Florida President, Kitty Fields introduced a recorded welcome message from Governor Charlie Crist, whose poignant message regarding the economic impact of the recession on the state of Florida was well received. 

Next up was  a keynote presentation by Dr. Christine Dumas, a lifestyle, consumer health and fitness reporter, and author whose stories are featured regularly on NBC, Weekend Live on Fox News, the Sirius Stars Network, Oprah and The View.  Dr. Dumas kept her audience engaged as she spoke about transformational health care and its impact on the workplace.  At the conclusion of the general session attendees were ushered to the sold out expo hall for lunch and networking with over 150 exhibitors and sponsors.

Later on that afternoon was the official “Grand Opening Reception” for the expo hall – complete with live entertainment, drinks and tasty hors d’oeuvres!  If you didn’t get a chance to try some beef wellington, you don’t know what you were missing (as I drool thinking about it).  Onlookers watched as Jeff Civillico performed a vegas style act, complete with juggling and audience participation.  Jeff did an awesome job!

Bloggers: (L-R) Kris Dunn, Mike VanDervort, Michael Long, Laurie Ruettimann, Jessica Lee

Last but not least I made a stop at my favorite conference event so far - the official HR Florida State Conference TweetUP!  A big shout out to Mike VanDervort of The Human Race Horses for setting it up for us.  At last count we had over 30 attendees, including our celebrity blogging panel and a few new friends.  I had a blast meeting fans of HR Gumbo and sharing experiences with them.  It was pure gratification to see all the hard work I have put in developing a social media presence for  Big Bend SHRM, HR Gumbo and HR Florida pay off.