ERE Expo – The best HR Conference I have been to yet – Behind the Scene's

Did I really just say that?  I did and it’s true.  There was an amazing beach, a wonderful pool, fantastic networking, a great steakhouse, a few surprises and some REALLY knowledgeable and fun speakers along the way.  To top it off, the ERE team was WAY more fun in person than I could have ever imagined. I will have a full week of blogs dedicated to the conference next week along with lots of photos, but before I forget – I wanted to mention some of my highlights of the week that likely weren’t tweeted about during the sessions…Given the bulk of that time was a BFZ (Blog Free Zone) everyone is referred to as a generic “somone” – and truly it doesn’t mean me.

Tuesday

• 2, yes 2 people jumped into the Intercoastal for $250 each at dinner fully clothed
• At the same dinner “someone” laid on a picnic table playing with the leaves on a tree and forgot others were around
• Had a impromptu pool party with recruitingblogs.com and ere.com folks

Wednesday

• Slept at the pool until someone yelled my twitter handle and scared me.
• “Someone” fell backwards (heels over head) at the ERE Poker Game while at the final table.  Needless to say he didn’t win.
• Learned that the golf courses have 4 foot iguanas that like the tee boxes – the boys were scared and tee’d off the girls tee
• Someone almost stepped on my head when I was looking under a table for Maren’s room key
• Raised more than $10k for the EREFoundation Charity at EREPoker

Thursday

• The Steve’s of Adidas kicked off the formal Conference with a standing room only (and some floor sitting) session
• I learned that when I tweet conference sessions my iPhone has HORRIBLE battery life
• Was interviewed by a guy that gets paid to wear tshirts and was a part of a live feed internet show for a few hours
• Had a contest to see who could lean a blow up chair back the farthest.  Hirevue lost when his attempt completely flipped the chair over.
• NAS cocktail hour hosted by the lovely Miss Tara – BEST FOOD!!
• Indeed.com Party – Had a blast with the Gen Y’ers of ERE – Including Ryan’s party trick and a super hero shirt wearer.
• Accidentally ignored a competitive vendor until they finally threw a giant pillow at me in the hotel lobby
• Recruitingblogs.com wine tasting party with the recruiting “elite.”  Seriously, that room was full of really, really smart people.  And me.
• Jumped a fence to sit on beach and watch a cool lightning storm after the beach was closed
• Made friends with a vendor who always “forgets” to call me back
• Took way too many photo’s

Friday

• Got to sit with my favorite Dallas Recruiters (except Tweetless) and watch Mike Grennier from Walmart’s presentation amongst others
• Was cold and borrowed a sweatshirt that smelled like CK1
• Won an inflatable chair
• Did a video interview with Jason Davis for Recruitingblogs.com
• Had a brilliant tweet during a session
• Had a really awkward goodbye hug when someone didn’t go to the right
• Finally ate a proper meal – Pizza at airport
• Got nominated for Conference Rockstar on Twitter
• Taught someone to use Tweetdeck
• Headed home

Believe it or not – there was a TON more that I could have brought up – but let me assure you – we all had a great time.  AND to top all of that off, I got a ton of work done, met with a number of potential partners and clients and a learned a lot along the way.   That is the difference between a conference and watching the virtual stream – I can not understate the value of person to person networking.

A special thanks to all of the people who really helped make it a blast for my first ERE conference   @therecruiterguy @jennydevaughn @marenhogan @lruettimann @tararepucci @mgrennier @jrl2002 @kevinplantan @jobing @cheezhead @callmeslouch @davemendoza @gerrycrispin @stephaniealloyd @devoted2HR @leanneclc @iwearyourshirt  @dmanaster and the rest of you that I don’t know twitter accounts for off the top of my head – Brendan Shields, Ryan Frazier, Hasbro Guy, The Hirevue Team, Don Ramer of Arbita, Chris Dominguez from SilkRoad, John Sumsner and so many many more!!!

Want to see some of the fun pics?