ERE Expo - Day 2

Started the day very early (which typically happens when I travel to the Left Coast). This was OK because I had a 7AM conference call anyway. After the call, I headed down to the conference where Jason Goldberg kicked things off once again, this time with his review of Web 2.0 and what it's implications are for recruiting, including a brief sales pitch on Jobster. Towards the end of the event, he invited Joel Cheeseman up for what was promoted as the "Main Event". Joel had some very direct, biting questions, and Jason was very smooth and 'political' with his responses. Turned out to be quite tame actually, no blood was spilled, and honestly, there were likely many in the room who probably didn't even know what the feud was about anyway.

After some helpful hints from the Conference Chairman, Jeremy Eskenazi, Arte Nathan took the stage and wowed the crowd with his energy, colorful humor and 'cut-through-the-BS' attitude. He was a true pleasure to listen to, and repeatedly made the point that what we do in recruiting is all about the people. IMO, I think he undervalues the importance of technology, especially as it relates to Gen X and Y, but his overall point of valuing personal relationships over technology was well made.

I was able to catch up a little work thanks the the free wifi access here, then headed off to the Exhibit Hall for lunch and to chat with some vendors. Dennis Smith and I then trolled the hall with an interest in chatting with a few specific vendors. Got to see the new premium product that The Ladders will be rolling out soon too. Looked very interesting. I plan to spend more time in the Exhibit Hall today.

The afternoon sessions were interesting, I took in the Google Staffing Analytics session (oh my, to have the resources they do to do what they do). They are truly making the selection process a science over there. Following the Google session, I took in some of Shally's International Sourcing training, then headed next door where I was to be a facilitator during the 'Speed Brainstorming' session on the topic of Direct Sourcing. We had a group of 11 recruiters, including Microsoft sourcing-guru, Glenn Gutmacher. We had a lively discussion around what sourcing was, what techniques we were using, what sourcing resources are available, and issues around connecting with sourced, passive candidates. Oh, and we will all be getting 'LinkedIn' with each other now too :-)

Had a great evening out with The Newman Group, who took a group of us to the Padres game. Huge thanks to Ed, Kelly and Elaine for a great night at a great ballpark. Finished the evening back at the hotel where I sat in at the ERE Charity Poker Tournament. A great time was had for a great cause. Pictures from the ball game and the Poker Tourney will be up by this weekend.

Time to get ready for the final day of the conference. Michael McNeal and John Sullivan presenting on the same day, should be fun!