The Conference truly kicked off in full gear on Day 3, with sessions starting at 7:00 a.m., and parties lasting into the night.   Here is the recap of the day:

*Arianna delivered the goods.  Opening keynote Arianna Huffington provided an inspiring talk, and it was wonderful to hear a speaker advocating the appropriate use of social media.   She told a few jokes, advocated a sleep policy, encouraged the audience to write her (arianna@huffingtonpost.com), and answered audience questions with aplomb.

*SRO.  With an estimated 18,000 attendees, it was not surprising to discover that many rooms were filled to capacity, and people were turned away at the door.  At least two sessions, I wanted to attend at 10:45 A.M. were full.

*Vendors - use your booth numbers.  While every vendor I spoke with seemed eager to talk about their product, it was often difficult to locate a particular booth because the booth number was either obscured by the fancy set-up, or the vendor simply took down the identifying number.   Make sure your booth number is visible, please.

*The Social Media Lounge was hopping.  SHRM's PR and Social Media Director Curtis Midkiff's effort to enhance the Social Media efforts of SHRM certainly paid off with the Social Media Lounge sponsored by BranchOut.  It was a continual hub of activity with a bevy of individuals writing their blog, tweeting, and conversing in person.  It has been THE place to be at the 2011 SHRM Annual Conference.

*HREvolution planning continues unabated.   Given the mileage that separates many of us, coming together at SHRM allows for greater collaboration.  Today provided an excellent opportunity to get together with HREvolution founders Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane to discuss speakers, agenda, and other HREvolution activities.   If you are liking SHRM in Vegas in June, you are going to LOVE the 4th iteration of HREvolution in October with the HR Tech Conference.  Tickets are available now.

Parties - It was great to meet up with all the Wisconsin attendees at the Badger Bash at Blondies in Planet Hollywood.   The festivities continued at the wonderful SHRM Tweetup at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.   Some of the resemblances of the figures were uncanny.

*Dogs are still barking.   The Fitbit tells me I walked 23,945 steps for a total of 13.57 miles.   The bottom of my feet are killing me, but with the day's events, it was worth it