Did you hear the sonic boom the evening of November 6^th?  I did, but that was only because I was on hour 10 of my 12 hour drive from home in Tallahassee, FL to HRevolution in Louisville, KY.  Fifty or so HR bloggers and social media advocates came together for a two day event to share, discuss, eat, drink and be merry.  My experience was truly amazing.  I plan to have more details of the happenings in a later post, but first a self-indulgent top 20 list of things I learned about fellow HR bloggers.

1.   @sexythinker can eat a mad breakfast is both sexy and a thinker!
2.   Do not give @HR_Minion replicas of Louisville sluggers, your laptop will never be the same.
3.   @BenEubanks has Diet Mt. Dew coursing through his veins and can walk on his hands.
4.   @ADowling sees dead people, specifically “ladies in white” that haunt the Seelbach.
5.   @SteveBoese is seriously concerned about the ROI of wearing pants!
6.   The airlines have been saved by @MarenHogan – she purposely misses flights.
7.   @TheLance pays members of the audience to shout out that he is the “smartest man in the room.”
8.   Did you know that @lruettimann is a bifurcating trophy wife? @kenruet is one lucky guy!
9.   @ewmonster will in fact cut a b*$@!.
10.   Apparently @blogging4jobs is an extrovert – who knew?
11.   @tlcolson may wear steel toed work boots to work but she will look damn good in them!
12.   @joanginsberg IS taller than her avatar.
13.   Don’t worry, according to @stelzner, he really is a man.
14.   You can place blame on @akaBruno, he’ll accept.
15.   The Ultimate Twitter Lurker is @logicwriter.
16.   @TrishMcFarlane is a freak wrangler.
17.   @theredrecruiter gladly takes requests to sing Kumbaya.
18.   Shh, @BKRecruiter is secretly THE Burger King!
19.   @designtwit is an enabler of our need for bacon love. I think someone ate their bacon pin!
20.   I @SteveMGHarrison enjoy driving…A LOT.  Next time can HRevolution be in Europe? I will take a canoe!

Enjoy HRevolutionaries and feel free to add your own in the comments!

Honestly, I’m not sure if I remember what my life was like before my iPhone or if I even want to.  I have access to maps, internet search engines, social networks, and a variety of applications to fulfill almost every want, need, and desire.  A recent study by Ball State and the Institute for Mobile Media Research found that college students are the fastest growing smart phone market segment.  Not surprisingly students are using these powerful mini-computers for both their personal and academic needs.  While I’m far from being a college student, these smart phones like the iPhone have made connecting, managing work and family, and networking even easier.

The ability of smartphones to link users to popular social networking sites may be another major reason college students are buying the devices in large numbers.   The survey found that about 65 percent of respondents use their smartphones to access social networking sites.  Oddly enough, the fastest growing age segment on Facebook is not college students at all. InsideFaceBook.com reports that while Facebook is still the fastest growing social media platform in the United States, almost half (50%) of U.S. Facebook users are older than 35, and nearly one-fifth top 45.

So when and how are these experienced business professionals accessing these sites?  Well, it is certainly not from their work PC.  A recent survey commissioned by Robert Half found that over fifty percent of workplaces in the United States block these social networking websites while another 19% only permit their employees to visit social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Ning sites, and Myspace but only for business purposes.  And with more than 3 out of 4 people owning cell phones, chances are these experienced professionals are surfing their favorite social network and catching up but not from their work computer.  Your star professionals are accessing blocked websites from their smartphone computer without restriction or monitoring.

Lost Productivity. Decision makers develop a social media and internet policy and disallow workers from viewing risky content and non-business related social media platforms.  Employees work hard to stay informed on the dos and don’ts around the office and use smartphones as a way to work around.  Nucleus Research reports that banning Facebook costs businesses 1.5% of lost productivity in the workplace.  Don’t even get me started on the number of hours wasted by decision makers and HR professionals who sit in committee meetings discussing what sites to include, not to include, and verbiage of their internet and social media policy.

Proxies. These are sneaky little ways to get around blocked websites.  Google boasts almost 7 million websites that list the word proxy.  For as little as $9.95 a month (and sometimes even free), job seekers can purchase proxy access to access company restricted websites through a proxy website.  Don’t believe me, look at the Google search results for yourself.  Not sure if your IT guy is up to snuff?  Ask him his opinions about proxies.

A Relevant Business Need. If more than half of the U.S. users on Facebook are of the age 35 or older, chances are these professionals are using the site for legitimate business purposes.  I often use my Facebook network as a way to give me a quick answer to a question almost like my online Phone-a-Friend option for everything from sales leads, to phone numbers, to the latest basketball scores because my morale is directly tied to my productivity in the office.

Stay Current. With market trends, business news, and just information in general.  Several years ago I learned about a large layoff that was occurring via an email before the layoff was announced to the public.  This email was sent to my personal email account which I had access to on my smart phone.  My team and I were able to react quickly and before our competition.  Situations like these have happened more than once.  Do you want your team to miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity for your business?

A major pet peeve of mine is people getting or taking credit for things they do not deserve.  Think Dunder Mifflin regional manager Michael Scott giving himself the “World’s Best Boss” mug.  Unfortunately this shameful self-promotion is pretty common, especially with the advent of social media as an aid to personal branding.  Think about it, social media provides a way for individuals to build a reputation without ever physically meeting anyone.  Some may say the concept is pure genius.

Too frequently I see people claiming they are subject matter experts when they have no more experience than the average person.  Ben Eubanks of UpstartHR knows what I’m talking about, as illustrated in his post on Jobacle.com! Yet for some reason these individuals win over fans by commenting on blog posts, making public comments in an open forum or getting quoted in an article.  Guess what?  The people you interact with online may not be the same people if you ever meet them in person.  An online persona can be much more grandiose due to the lack of interpersonal communication.  Think online dating sites like eHarmony!  Some take advantage of electronic communication, knowing full well of how different one can portray themselves in an electronic versus in-person format.  His or her commentary may be nothing but a baseless attempt to garnish some form of credit for personal and/or professional gain.

My love of writing and obsession with technology are what ultimately led to the creation of HR Gumbo.  I am not here to get you to buy something from my company or claim that you must hire me to come speak at your next event.  In blogging my goal is to give a different perspective on the human resource industry, that of a Millennial.  I hope to be able to inspire others to recognize areas of improvement and engage in conversation aimed at making change in the workplace. 

I would say that a good number of bloggers are interested in developing their personal/professional brands, including myself.  That’s not a bad thing.  We offer our posts to initiate conversation, to share valuable information, to educate and learn from colleagues.  Unfortunately, there are some out there who would do or say anything to come out on top. 

Now to get to my point…I urge those involved with social media for professional purposes to heed to their gut.  I believe I am a good judge of character but I cannot speak for all you readers out there as I’ve never met most of you.  In that respect I want to share some suggestions with you regarding developing trust in those bloggers you choose to follow.

First, please don’t take everything I say at face value.  Unless I cite something, the content is based on my opinion.  It needs to be said that you will not necessarily know if you agree with something or if it applies to you until you try it out for yourself. 

Second, I urge you to get to know someone you follow on Twitter or someone whose blog you frequently read.  Engage him or her in discussion to make sure you really do want to follow that person and respect their opinion.

Third, know that some people have ulterior motives and what they say or do may be hogwash and designed to inflate their egos and/or their wallet.  It almost seems as if there should be a reference check in the process of whose blog you decide to trust.

Lastly, have fun.  This is an ever-changing interactive process.  Your thoughts and comments frequently create some of the most fascinating conversations among peers across the globe.  We really appreciate the feedback!

[For interest’s sake, if you are a blogger, answer me this one loaded question:  “Why do you blog?”  Share your answers in the comment section along with your name and blog address.]