Day Two of the 2011 SHRM Annual Conference has come to an end (at least for me...thousands are likely still out taking in the Vegas nightlife).   Here are a few impressions from Day 2.

Meet the New Boss...Same as the Old Boss.  This The Who lyric came to mind as Hank Jackson had the "interim" part of his CEO title removed, as was widely speculated.   He shared his rags to riches story, and its nice to know than a failed NBA player can live the dream and become CEO of SHRM.  It'll be interesting to see what moves he will make and whether he will take a more active role in social media than his predecessors.

#HRThisandThat with Sir Richard Branson - The opening session with Richard Branson did not live up to a man of his stature, and the format was as deflated as one of Branson's failed balloon trips.  While he had a lot of valuable information, the Q and A format was not as successful as one hoped with questions like "Is your success the result of genius or luck."   The questions texted to him from the audience made me wonder if that was truly the cream of the crop that were asked.

Rule #1 of the Exhibit Hall was violated several times.   As noted previously in this blog, my one piece of advice to SHRM 2011 attendees was to not stop in the middle of an aisle to have a conversation, thereby slowing traffic and inconveniencing others.  Alas, several did not follow this simple rule of courtesy, making the exhibit hall much more difficult to navigate. 

The TLNT Tweetup.  As expected, this was the highlight of the day, as good food, good drinks, laughter, and seeing @HRFishbowl cut a rug made the party quite the success

No Discussion of the Flaws of the Student Case Competition.  Several chapter advisors were hoping to discuss the many flaws of the student case solving competition that replaced the Regional HR Games this year at some point during the day and a half student conference.  Unfortunately, such discussion did not take place.  One hopes that the three page letter I sent in April regarding the flaws will be addressed soon.

My Dogs are Barking.   I checked the Fitbit as I typed this, and it indicated I had walked 26, 901 steps and 14.09 miles today.   The emphasis on comfortable shoes cannot be stressed enough.

Onto Day 3 in the morning.