The CareerXroads Annex: Learning Opportunities Abound at 2008 Fall Conferences

Learning Opportunities Abound at 2008 Fall Conferences

Mark and I were going over this fall's conference season and I was struck at the number and quality of the conferences available...and these are just the ones where we are doing a session, moderating a panel (or just playing poker):

In September we are looking to connect with friends at Sourcecon in Atlanta...essentially the only conference of its kind devoted totally to the sourcing community. The contrasts here are fascinating to observe.

A Recruiters Network Group conference (RNG) in Toronto the following week is in its second year and offers a bit of flavor north of the border.

I'll head back to Toronto shortly afterward for Jason Davis' Recruiting Blog- Recruitfest. I'm thrilled to see Jason's community of recruiting iconoclasts grow and conbtribute to the voices that are out there.

In between weâ€™ll manage to participate in a webinar with HR Executive Online.

In October is the HR-XML annual meeting in Chicago...the same week as the HR Technology Conference & Exposition- but the two groups could not be more different.

The former is on a mission to become the standard bearer for HR technology standards while the latter offers organized insights into HR & Staffing technologies & applications that are changing the game. This conference may offer us the most controversial platform for us this year- to discuss the future of social networks. (We never speak to the same topic twice)

October is also an opportunity to enjoy the fall ERE Expo 2008 in still sunny Florida where we have hijacked three mystery panelists to help us assess new recruiter tools and apps. We'll also be running a small pre-conference workshop based on the methods we use in our CareerXroads Colloquium that we facilitate 6 times each year with invited staffing leaders.

November finishes the season with (still talking) a session at Amsterdamâ€™s Global Recruitment Conference and, last but not least we''ll be going back to Florida to moderatea a great panel on Sourcing: A view from the trenches at the Kennedy Informationâ€™s Recruiting Conference.

As a student of the space, I hope to learn a great deal from my colleagues, eat well, enjoy deep conversations (or those that seem deep depending on the time of day) and perhaps...if I'm lucky, win a few hands.

Please support your favorite conferences this fall and stop by and say hi to Mark or myself. Take in an extra one if you can or send your team...you just never know when the budget for travel might get hijacked.

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Gerry Crispin

Principal

CareerXroads