Those of you that follow this blog (all 3 of you), know that I was a bit skeptical about this year’s Annual SHRM Conference which was held in Chicago this past week. Many of us felt that the current economic cycle coupled with the fact that Chicago just doesn’t hold the same cache as a Vegas or San Diego led me to believe that we were in for a real dud. I couldn’t have been more wrong (it happens a lot, just ask my wife).
This year’s conference was an absolute gem! Paid attendance was over 13,000 HR professionals and from the perspective of an exhibitor, they were truly engaged. From the time the exhibit hall opened on Sunday night until closing on Tuesday, the floor was packed. People were genuinely interested in finding partners who could make their processes more efficient and cost effective. That’s not to say that they were looking for the cheapest prices. They were looking for consultation and expertise.
As far as employeescreenIQ was concerned, we had more meaningful conversations with more HR professionals than at any other SHRM Conference. We gave away employeescreen University T-Shirts and Tote Bags as well as a chance to win a 42″ Toshiba LCD Television. However, it was clear that they were far more interested in learning about developing effective, efficient and compliant employment background screening programs. In fact, we were interview by Workforce Management about the overall mood of conference attendees. Check out the story that was published yesterday morning: Economic Downturn Doesn’t Slow SHRM Conference
We also conducting PodCast interviews with many attendees about their attitudes about background screening and industry experts and insiders who gave their POV’s about a multitude of topics. Interviewees included:
- China Miner Gorman, Chief Operating Officer of SHRM
- Joel Cheesman, Head Cheese of Cheezhead
- Jonathan Goodman, Vice President of Membership and Business Development at HRMarketer
- W. Barry Nixon, Executive Director of the PreEmployment Directory
- Jennifer Borgee, Product Development Manager at MyStaffingPro and finally
- Matthew Lesko of Ask Lesko fame (boy was this an experience)
All of our podcasts will be posted on employeescreen University in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Lastly, for the 2nd year in a row we chose to announce our 10 Trends in Employment Background Screening in the Coming Year (for 2009)
Needless to say, we’re proud to announce that we’ll definitely be back for the conference next year in New Orleans!
