SHRM 2010: Through The Keyhole

There doesn't seem to be any memorable songs about San Diego.

There are plenty about San Francisco though. There's even one about San Jose. Heck, even the Santa Ana winds get more coverage in my mind via the Steely Dan song, "Babylon Sisters." But I can't think of one about San Diego. 

Which is really too bad.  In lieu of the annual SHRM conference in San Diego, I was really hoping to think of one.  Maybe you had to be there, as they say, for one to pop into my head. For me, I had to remain at home in Philadelphia and watch from the sidelines. The only song floating through my head this week is another Steely Dan song, "Through with Buzz." Don't ask me what this means; I never know.

As I watched from the sidelines this year, I thought the conference would be a little more exciting due to the increased influx of social media at the conference.  Or at least, a little more memorable.

Here's What I Do Know

I was glad to see the creation of a blog squad and that my pals, Matt Stollack and April Dowling were part of it. As an admirer of her work, I think the inclusion of Jessica Miller-Merrell was also a wise choice. But quite frankly, I couldn't find the blog until mid-day (EST) on Monday.  I searched on SHRM's website and the page with the conference information but I could not find it.  It was not until Lance Haun posted this that I knew where the blog was. I guess I could've googled it. But does that seem logical? What would have been logical was to have a banner on your home page: "Follow the SHRM10 Blog!" or something. Anything.

Here's another thing I know. I was busy up to my eyeballs this week. I tried to pay attention to all the goings on.  But I was swept up in the dailies of my job.  In the evening I was caught up with some personal matters. What I did see were a number of #SHRM10 tweets from Eric Winegardner and Jennifer McClure.  And some great posts from John Hollon from TLNT. Aside from that, I have to be frank, if it had not been for my efforts to keep sticking my nose into the fray, I would have never known there was a SHRM conference going on. And because it was not in my face enough or enough of a distraction (or attraction), my interest dropped. By Wednesday, I was not sticking my nose much into it at all.

What I Suggest

The conference is huge, so add more bloggers to your blog squad. Ask them to write shorter articles or maybe some v-logs (see Ben Eubanks on how this is done). This would've created a constant buzz.  And post these all over your website.  My understanding that conference attendance is down. If you plaster these posts all over the front page of your website, you're going to make members feel like they're missing something.

Also if you want to make members feel like they're missing something, film the sessions and immediately edit out some pieces and post them. Consider skipping the dancing flash mobs and the promotional films.

Lastly, lower the price of the conference fee. Try doing a early-early-early bird special at a very reduced price. I bet there's a lot of HR professionals that get the stink-eye from the powers-that-sign-off when they present the conference fee on a request-for-travel form. Thus they never get the opportunity to attend.

One More Thing

SHRM's Annual Conference is a big show to put together and I'm just a small voice in the HR wilderness.  So take my suggestions for what they're worth. I realize that putting on such a production takes an enormous amount of time and effort.  But what's the point of going through all that effort if it's not going to be memorable? I hope those that attended found it memorable.  But if you want the rest of us who were peering in through the keyhole to consider coming through the door, you have to make it memorable for us as well. I see that SHRM really tried this year. Here's to next year.