RCEuro Member Blogs

10 days to go before I get on the big bird to Chicago and then a bus to Madison to join the TruCrew and a great line-up of track leaders  and participants to share knowledge at TruUsa .  I am leading some tracks (Job Board 2020, Culture Clash, JIT Sourcing)  and hope to pile into many others while there.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the future of traditional conferences, the Unconference movement and the more ad hoc ‘conferences' that we have on social media gatherings on Twitter with #hashtags like #TNL. Check out the radio show that Tru co-founder Bill Boorman and I conducted on Tuesday this week on hashtags and a range of Twitter tips from #mrbill

I was one of 3 speakers at a ‘traditional' event today, hosted by Recruitment Consultant Magazine , in Manchester (that is England, not New Hampshire). We ran the same event a couple of weeks ago in London (England, not Ontario) Recruitment Conference IT and Technology 2010 #recconfit2010  You might have seen my exciting effort at breaking the ice with audience in London.

Targert audience for both events was professional recruitment consultants (agencies), along with a smattering of technology suppliers and media types.  

I had the pleasure of leading off with a presentation on Social Media (a recurring theme, as I had the same slot at this conference a year ago). Raymond Pennie (@rpennie) of Kamanchi followed talking about creating effective strategies (with some focus on the impact of technology) and Felix Wetzel (@FelixWetzel) of Jobsite (a major #TruLondon sponsor) discussed candidate and advertiser behaviours (now and future) along with sharing some interesting research

Why do I bring this up when I am supposed to be writing about #TruUsa?  In one word: Engagement

I have spoken at, chaired or led more than 200 conferences, workshops or events over the last 10 years or so.  Which ones have given me the most buzz, the most satisfaction?  Other than Global Recruitment Conference 2008 , which I organised and chaired in Amsterdam, with an outstanding group of global thought leaders and delegates, I have to say that it has been those events where I set up or ran workshops/breakout groups. Why? Because in that environment, you get the engagement of every delegate/attendee - either with you as a session leader or with the others in the room.

In a sense, today confirmed that. We had an excellent group of delegates, professional and committed to their industry and their business, eager to learn from the 3 Talking Heads and the hosts.  All 3 of us tried to engage with the delegates (none of us are what might be considered wallflowers when it comes to speaking to an audience).  We had a few in the audience who were willing to discuss their company, strategy, questions and experiences. Feedback from delegates at the breaks and the post event drinks was excellent, delegates were happy, had learned and gathered real value from the day. The organisers (Jim and Gary) had two successful events and the sponsors/exhibitors did well.  But for Felix, Raymond and I, it felt a bit like an opportunity lost - for the delegates to engage in real debate and discussion with each other throughout the afternoon (although it did happen during the breaks).

That brings me full circle to Engagement - the real essence of an Unconference.  Track leaders start a conversation, hoping to guide it a bit and sometimes act as a referee if required.  The participants in the track drive the discussion/debate -its direction may go places other discussions just cannot reach.  In any session, the engagement of individuals - with each other, with a track leader or two (if we are lucky) is exhilarating.  Learning what challenges others have (Hey, look at me, I'm not so far behind) or successes someone is experiencing (Hey, if he/she can do that, we sure can!) - make it worthwhile flying 4,000 miles and taking a 3 hour bus ride to get to Madison. As it was worth it for the North Americans who flew over for #truLondon.

I can't wait. See you all there - or on video feeds on RCEURO, hashtag #TruUsa, twitter posts @rceuro, @alanwhitford or whatever means we come up with to share the experience.

As #mrbill says, it isn't just about the conference, it is about the conversations that happen for weeks leading up to an event and months afterwards. That is what I call: Engagement.

Comment (0) Read More...

Wow, less than 4 weeks to go and the Bill Boorman phenomena takes on its latest iteration with TruLondon II and TruSource 17-19 February.

Inspired by RecruitFest in Toronto last year, Bill has grasped the Unconference model with both hands and taken it into places and worlds unknown. We have all gratefully jumped on board, giving us a chance to share knowledge and learning with colleagues and strangers on a level playing field.

No more are we seen as just 'talking heads', but as session Track Leaders. But. to me, even that is a misnomer. We are active participants, learning as much as we teach.

The only downside? I want to sit in on every session, itch to put in my $.02 with other leaders, learn from the delegates, ask them what they really want to see happen in recruitment and share in their triumphs as well as sympathise with their disappointments.

What will I be doing?
Talking about Job Boards 2020 with long time collaborator Keith Robinson and online marketing expert Simon Lewis.

Looking at the Cultural Clash of cross border recruitment (as a Yank abroad for over 30 years, I have experienced this first hand in many countries) with Brit Jon Ingham, American Laurie Reuttimann, Canadian Geoff Webb and Dee Allan from Singapore.

Discussing Bill Boorman's pet topic (one of many), Phoenix Recruiting with blogger and thinker extraordinaire, Andy Headworth.

Linking up with Shane McClusker to explore my own Talent Puddle principle; hoping to extend and question this concept.

Oh, and while this is going on, RCEURO will be there to conduct interviews, report on the action, broadcast online radio with our European Thought Leaders track and the Bill Boorman shows.

Come one, come all and enjoy a great three days. Click for Registration:

Comment (0) Read More...

Geoff Webb from Toronto, Radical Recruiter and session leader at TruLondon I in November has added to his many outlets with Tru Blogs , which should grow to include content from many of the proposed Tru events, including Tru London II in London in February and possible Tru North and Tru USA.

Spreading the gospel of Bill Boorman and many many thought leaders in all aspects of recruitment from around the world.

RCEuro.com is happy to be a sponsor of the London series and I am personally looking forward to travelling to North America (back near my roots of upstate NY, only 85 miles or so from Torornto) to share learning and knowledge with so many individuals I have met on Twitter and the various recruitment blogs.

Geoff has just posted a terrific wrap up video from TruLondon I, with original content, video from Andy and Sarah Headworth and stills from our onsite reporter, twitterer and all around good egg, Jill Elswick, which you can watch from the Audio/Video player on the home page.

 

 

Comment (0) Read More...

What the hell is an Unconference? Is Unconference even a real word? The organiser @BillBoorman told me it was a conference where the audience participated and set the agenda. I was not really sure how that would work, but I felt that hearing what other people wanted to talk about was going to be very interesting.

The event was informal, yet structured, with 6 or so small breakout sessions for attendees to sit down and join.  In the first one I found myself on a white leather sofa making up a large square with about 20 other people and @MattAlder running the discussion, mainly around LinkedIn and Twitter. Each individual was encouraged to talk, question, debate or state what he or she felt suitable. Matt encouraged and answered questions but others with experience engaged frequently.

This informal approach was refreshing and resulted in me taking away an insight into 20 different people’s views, opinions and experience surrounding Twitter and recruitment. Additionally I learnt people’s fears, hopes and frustrations. It was a fantastic 90 minutes! Thank you to everyone in the session for your participation; I enjoyed it!

I sat in 3 different track sessions; the last session I was in was great, unfortunately there were fewer people- only 6, with @AlanWhitford running it. The conversation was honest and debate reasonably fierce. Very enjoyable and rewarding.

The downside was the middle session. The expert running it was very knowledgeable, and the shared interesting experience. But it was not UN-conference. There was little or no debate, the topic was less audience-lead. I feel some guidelines to those running the sessions would help, @MattAlder’s technique going round the room with many tangents and discussions after each individual spoke worked great. @AlanWhitford’s session was smaller and he did really well pinpointing topics to individual’s experiences to drive more conversation.

Comment (0) Read More...