Another conference in the books. The Talent Management Alliance’s Social Recruiting Summit was a huge success and not just due to the emcee skills of yours truly (thanks Amanda Lewis). This is a conference where each year you learn, make new friends and build relationships with people who are willing to help other succeed.
It’s not just about a track title or certain speakers, it’s the intimate connections of like minded individuals (professionally) from completely different backgrounds who within 48 hours grow personally and professionally.
My professional takeaways this year included Ryan Batchelor’s Facebook sourcing, Brian Fink’s Slack demo, Derek Zeller’s storytelling or anything Steve Levy (pronounced LEE-VEE) says. Snap chatters Carlos Gil and Saba Sedighi blew our minds with SnapChat info! Of course no conference is the same without Matt Charney, as usual his data was remarkable! Rounding it out was Gerry Crispin with the usual wealth of knowledge and Michael Goldberg’s infectious authenticity and real results!
Personally I met some awesome new people including Jenifer Smith (new to the field), Sondra Maher (she has a cool boss), Pete Radloff and Brittany Rasmussen. Conversations ranged from nipple creams for nursing mothers, growing up in NYC to southernisms, life in Dublin, Ireland and life in rural Louisiana.
My takeaways were more than powerpoint slides, they included;
- 25 new friends going to Rodeo Goat for great burgers, beverages and laughs.
- A millennial waitress (see above) doing a selfie photobomb and validating one of Derek’s points about why you should recruit bartenders and waitresses for recruiters
- Realizing there is always one person who will get offended and go all “political Facebook comment rant” because they were offended and 117 other people where not.
- Holding a door open for a Vouge-esque model type and receiving a “wow, it’s 2016 and men just don’t do that anymore….thank you” to which I reply “real men do”…she had the biggest smile ever.
- Knowing that when I travel to Dublin, Ireland a new friend was made that would truly enjoy showing us the town.
- Finally hearing speakers tell attendees “let me stay around and help you”, “here is a sourcing string” or “yes, I am happy to chat anytime you need assistance, anytime in the future” AND TRULY MEAN IT!
Life and relationships are what you make of them….I witnessed people in the same professional realm from all walks of life and personal beliefs bond over 48 hours. This group will help each other and most may or may not see each other in real life again, which is why social media can be a wonderful and positive thing.
Thank you, to everyone at TMA and look forward to next year.
Happy Snapping!
