Showing posts with label Ben Eubanks. Show all posts

One Month Until #HRevolution

by Matthew Stollak on Wednesday, October 8, 2014






On November 8, one month from today, leading HR professionals will be heading to Grapevine, TX and Symbolist HQ to have a little BBQ and discuss the latest HR issues at the 7th iteration of HRevolution.  The full agenda can be found here, but I wanted to give you a taste of what to expect from a couple of sessions.

 Bold HR with Broc Edwards


We all know what bad HR looks like. Bad HR hides behind policy, embraces mediocrity, creates bureaucratic fiefdoms, and becomes a barrier for managers and employees alike. But HR has a bigger vision for itself – we want to be recognized as a player in the business, not just an administrative check box. So we strive to be a strategic business partner with a seat at the table (whatever that all means), but we get bogged down in clichés, “best” practices, and infighting that holds the field back rather than moving it forward.

What if we tossed all that aside and just decided to be Bold?  Easier said than done. Boldness exists as a virtue in myth and legend, but in the everyday it’s easier and safer to say “no” than “yes”. It’s more prudent to replicate the past than create the future. We choose safe over meaningful, stable over fulfilling, secure over interesting, known over opportunity, and comfort over making a difference. And it’s keeping us trapped in mediocre sameness. Enough.

In this highly interactive session we’ll take a look at what Bold HR is and what it isn’t. We’ll explore what it would mean for our employees and managers, for our companies, and for us if we drew a line and started practicing Bold HR. And we’ll come away with practical ideas and plans to put into action when we get back to the office on Monday.

HR Half-Baked Ideas with Matt Stollak & Sir William Tincup

The problem - everyone loves having an office refrigerator to store their drinks and food, and a microwave to cook their meal.  It's both a cost and a time saver for those constantly on the go.  However, after a few weeks, no one wants to open up that brown bag containing a mystery meat with a fresh coating of mold, or clean the crusted tomato sauce off of the roof of the microwave from an unprotected Lean Cuisine.

The Half-Baked Idea: "Mom's Got This," a company that will come in once a month to clean the refrigerator and microwave. 

That's a HR Half-Baked Idea....an idea that is not quite complete.   Will "Mom's Got This" work?  Is it a viable business?  Come to the session to find out this, and 20+ other half-baked ideas, as well as bring your own.

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If these kind of sessions appeal to you, the planning team of Steve Boese, Ben Eubanks, Trish McFarlane, and Matt Stollak would love to have you attend.

Good tickets are still available here.

Thank you to all our sponsors for helping us make the dream a reality. With the help of Mercer, Symbolist, Small Improvements and personal contribution from Lois and Ross Melbourne, this will be a great event.

Hope to see you in a month.


#HREvolution No. 5 Recap

by Matthew Stollak on Thursday, October 11, 2012

Last Sunday, the fifth iteration of HRevolution took place in the West Wing of the McCormick Place with over 100 attendees and guests in place.  Already, reviews have come in fast and furious - check out:

After attending all five events, speaking and presenting at the last three, and co-planning the last two, here are my impressions from Chicago.

 The Good
  • High-Quality Content - We'll have to wait for the conference evaluation survey to go out, but I heard few complaints about the sessions were offered.  At each breakout time, attendees were offered at least two quality breakout sessions.
  • Cost - Given the quality provided, the registration fee still feels like a bargain compared to many SHRM day long conferences
  • Many New Attendees - Nearly 50% of attendees had not been to a previous HRevolution event.  It's always great to see fresh faces and new perspectives.
  • Sponsors - Aquire, Ceridian, Pinstripe, and SilkRoad were helpful in keeping attendee costs down.
  • McCormick Place - While it is an expansive locale, we only needed a small number of rooms in a confined space, and McCormick Place fit the bill (other than having no Diet Coke and being far away from coffee)
  • The planning team - As always, Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane, and Ben Eubanks were dedicated to making sure the event was a success and were wonderful to work with.
The Not-So-Good
  • Chicago - As much as I like the city, putting the event on the same day of the Chicago Marathon made travel to McCormick Place difficult, as well as hotel cost prohibitive.
  • Missing Friends - While I loved seeing many new attendees, I missed seeing some usual attendees as well as there input.
  • Combative Conversation - Perhaps it was the quality of sessions, but for the ones I attended, there was a lot more one-way presentations with questions than discussion about the HR issues of today and tomorrow.
The Future
We are no sure what the future of HRevolution will be, but here are a few items I wouldn't mind seeing if a sixth event comes to fruition:
  • New speakers and content - While our sessions and speakers were great, there were many familiar faces who have spoken at HRevolution before.  Then again, the 1997 NBC campaign for reruns comes to mind - "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you."  With so many new faces, it was great for those attendees to see some of the best in the business.
  • Sponsored Bloody Mary Bar - I don't know why we haven't seen it before, but given the inevitable Tweetup the night before, providing Bloody Mary's the next morning seems apropos...and I believe at least one potential sponsor has already been identified.
With this in mind...Whether you attended or not, what would bring you back for a sixth HRevolution? What would you like to see differently?

60 Miles an Hour

by Matthew Stollak on Monday, October 11, 2010


Last week, I finally got to meet the HR Capitali$t himself, Mr. Kris Dunn, as he was the keynote speaker to close out the WI SHRM State Conference. We were able to chat before his presentation, and the conversation turned to the many individuals we have been able to meet over social media. It occurred to me that there is no one I haven't met and maintained a relationship with on the various social media mediums that I haven't liked. So, it begs the following question:

Is likeability a necessary precondition to success in social media?

Anyone who is reasonably successful and gains a lot of followers on Twitter and/or Facebook must be worthy of being followed. We rarely maintain a relationship or follow someone who ends up being mean, hateful, etc.

So, it follows that if likeability is a necessary precondition to success in social media, why, then, are people reluctant to get involved in social media (beyond the artificial barriers placed on social media tools by employers)? Do people feel that the Social Media world is much like Heathers and they feel like they will be picked on like Martha Dumptruck? Where does the fear derive from?

This is all prologue to the plug I am making for the Social Mentoring project being put together by Ben Eubanks and Victorio Milian. If you fear getting involved in social media, or need help getting started, this project is for you! Don't hesitate in joining, either as a mentor or a mentee, as everyone involved is truly likeable.