While the SHRM Annual Conference just ended, the SHRM Housing Office gave attendees a sneak peek into the prices for the 2018 Conference being held in Chicago, IL, June 17-20.  You, too, can make your early reservation for next year's conference (only good until 6/23...otherwise you'll have to wait until November) by clicking here. 

So, how expensive will hotels cost and how does it relate to previous years? To examine this question, I look at selected SHRM conference brochures (i.e., the ones that I still possessed) over the past 17 years to see what it would cost a person to book a single room on a per night average.  Clearly, prices in 2001 will be different than in 2018, so I use an inflation calculator to adjust costs to today's dollars.  

What do the results tell us? 


Cost of an Average SHRM-Affiliated Hotel (per night: 6/17-6/20; 1 room, 2 persons) 


San Francisco (2001): $276.64 (standard deviation of $60.99)
Chicago (2008): $276.62 (standard deviation of $31.85)
Washington DC (2016): $274.99 (standard deviation of $32.49)
Chicago (2018): $272.47 (sd of $17.47)
San Diego (2010): $264.39 (sd of $45.41)
Chicago (2013): $260.91 (sd of $21.61)
Washington DC (2006): $250.57 (sd of $43.05)
Philadelphia (2002): $235.02 (sd of $62.84)
New Orleans (2017): $221.39 (sd of $35.56)
San Diego (2005): $220.80 (sd of $53.84)
Atlanta (2012): $212.25 (sd of $23.68)
Las Vegas (2007): $180.73 (sd of $34.83)  
Orlando(2014): $168.55 (sd of $37.51)
Las Vegas (2015): $147.07 (sd of $23.54)
Las Vegas (2011): $138.8 (sd of $19.26)

SHRM 2018 looks to one of the more expensive options compared to previous years.   Rooms, on average, will cost approximately $51 (+ tax) MORE per night than this year's conference in New Orleans.  Add in the expensive hotel tax rate, and that's about the cost of two large Deep Dish pizzas at Gino's East per night you could have had as an alternative.   

Complicating matters is the very low standard deviation (out of 53 hotel options).  This means there is not a lot of variation in hotel prices from that average, regardless of hotel quality. There are not bargains to be had currently (there could be more hotels added in November).  The five number summary also bears this out:

Maximum: $305 (plus tax)
3rd Quartile: $285
Median: $274
1st Quartile: $264.75
Minimum: $235

Seventy-five (75) percent of the options are more that $264.75.

What does this mean?  Start saving your pennies.  The silver lining?  SHRM is in Las Vegas in 2019, and as the list above demonstrates, three of the four cheapest hotel options are located there.  You'll be able to stay at 5-hotels at a lower rate than most of the options in Chicago next year.

See you in June 2019.

You know it is effective, because you will have "Hot Drinks" in your head for the rest of the day.

I'm hoping that DJ Jazzy Jeff will be spinning a remix at the 80s themed  #SHRM13 Tweetup Monday night (RSVP Now: http://shrm13tweetup.eventbrite.com/)

Hope to see you at the SHRM Annual Conference.  Off to Chicago.

With the news today that hotel reservations are now being accepted for the 2012 SHRM Annual Conference, I bring you my 4th annual expose of SHRM hotel costs.

I look at selected SHRM conference brochures (i.e., the ones that I still possessed) over the past 13 years to see what it would cost a person to book a single room on a per night average.  Clearly, prices in 2001 will be different than in 2013, so I use an inflation calculator to adjust costs to today's dollars.  So, how does the 2013 Conference in Chicago compare to years past?

Cost of an Average SHRM-Affiliated Hotel (per night)
San Francisco (2001): $258.73 (standard deviation of $57.04)
Chicago (2008): $257.38 (sd of $29.63)
CHICAGO (2013): 248.49 (sd of 20.58)
San Diego (2010): $247.86 (sd of $42.66)
Washington DC (2006): $234.27 (sd of $40.25)
Philadelphia (2002): $219.58 (sd of $58.71)
San Diego (2005): $206.89 (sd of $50.45)
Atlanta (2012): $198.36 (sd of $22.13)
Las Vegas (2007): $168.68 (sd of $32.51)
Las Vegas (2011): $130.04 (sd of $18.04)

I ran a simple one-way ANOVA (i.e., a fancy way of comparing multiple means simultaneously) to see if there was a significant difference across the means of these 10 sampled years.  The results showed a statistically significant difference overall with F = 23.58 (p=.0000) with an R-squared of 38.48% (hence, nearly 39% of the variation in hotel costs can be explained by location).  The result is not surprising, given that San Francisco and Chicago is nearly twice as expensive as Las Vegas.

I also looked at hotel minimums (i.e., what is the cheapest hotel available through SHRM).  For 2013, the cheapest hotel is $195.  This is the 2nd most expensive minimum in these 10 years of data (only Chicago in 2008 outpaced it with a minimum cost of $202.23).

Clearly, attending the SHRM Annual Conference in 2013 will be a much more expensive proposition than in 2012.   Hotel costs in Chicago are approximately $50 a night more expensive than in Atlanta (and approximately $119 a night more expensive than in Vegas 2011).  The one saving grace? Given the 2nd smallest standard deviation in the sample, you will be able to find higher quality/higher rated hotels for not much more than the overall average/median.

With the conference tagline being "Bigger!"...SHRM really meant it when it comes to hotel costs!

See you in Chicago.

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:

• Ben Eubanks: HRevolution 2012 - What Just Happened
• Bonnie Titgemeyer: No Nudie Pictures on LinkedIn & Other Tips from HRevolution
• Robin Schooling: Communal Collaboration
• Robin Schooling: The Pushback on the Push-Pull

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?

A suggested gift for a fifth anniversary is wood.  It represents strength and a solidified relationship; its strong and long-lasting.  One recommended way to celebrate a fifth anniversary is to purchase tickets to a show, movie, sports event, concert, theatre, etc.

Well, HRevolution will be celebrating its fifth iteration October 7th with a return engagement to Chicago (home of the 2nd HRevolution unconference).  Like wood, the HRevolution event has grown from a small kernel of an idea to become one of the must attend HR conferences of the year; one whose branches extend far beyond the one day happening.   Its the little acorn that became the oak.   It is not only a great way to be on the cutting edge of HR knowledge, but it also provides an excellent opportunity to grow your professional network.  

In addition, as with the previous incarnation, the HRevolution crew are once again partnering with the HR Technology Conference.   By purchasing a ticket to HREvolution, you can get a $600 discount to attend HR Tech, which begins October 8.

So, come celebrate our 5th anniversary by joining us on October 7.  Details can be found here.  And, for the first 25 attendees who sign up, you can get a $50 discount off the already small registration fee.

Hope to see you in Chicago!