I would love to attend the 2011 Illinois HR Conference on August 22-24 and/or the 2011 Ohio SHRM State Conference on September 21-23.   John Jorgensen (Illinois) and Steve Browne (Ohio) have put together a really stellar program for each of these states.

Check out the agenda for Illinois here
Check out the agenda for Ohio here

The quality of line-ups alone justifies attending.  Add the networking, entertainment, and food, and it a must-see event.

So, why am I not going?  I'm conferenced out.

One of my best friends says I am one of the luckiest people in the world.  My job gives me a really flexible schedule, I get to teach 18-22 year olds, and I get to do a lot of traveling.  Looking over the past 12 months, I have attended the following conferences:

August 5-6, 2010 - WI SHRM State Leadership Conference in Sturgeon Bay
September 23-26, 2010 - AABRI Conference in Orlando, FL
October 6-8, 2010 - WI SHRM State Conference in Appleton, WI
November 18-20, 2010 - SHRM Leadership Conference in Arlington, VA
February 24-27, 2011 - ASBBS Conference in Las Vegas, NV
March 4-5, 2011 - WI SHRM Student Conference and HR Games in Fond du Lac, WI
April 8-10, 2011 - SHRM North Central Region Student Conference in Romeoville, IL
April 29-May 1, 2011 - HREvolution in Atlanta, GA
June 24-29, 2011 - SHRM Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV

Intermingled with the above is travel for family, weddings, sporting events (Brewers baseball, NFC Championship, Super Bowl, Final Four) as well as other work and volunteer related functions.

Looking ahead, I already have the following conferences scheduled:
August 4-5, 2011 - WI SHRM State Leadership Conference in Green Lake, WI
August 12-16, 2011 - Academy of Management Meetings in San Antonio, CA
September 30 - October 5, 2011 - HREvolution/HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas, NV
October 12-14, 2011 - WI SHRM State Conference in Madison, WI
November 17-20, 2011 - SHRM Leadership Conference in Arlington, VA
January 5-7, 2012 - AABRI Conference in Orlando, FL
March 2-3, 2012 - WI SHRM Student Conference and HR Games in Platteville, WI
June 22-27, 2012 - SHRM Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA

and....who knows, there might be another conference or two in that time frame.

So, yes, I am lucky.  I get to do a lot of traveling and attend a lot of conferences.  However, while I would love to be in Illinois and Ohio over the next two months, I am not sure I have the time, energy, or resources to make it there.

However, on behalf of John and Steve, I highly encourage you to go to those great events.  And, if you can't, come join us in Madison, WI, on October 12-14.  Check out the Learning Sessions here and early bird registration ends July 15.

These have not been the best of times for SHRM. Departures from the C-Suite. Blogger peanut gallery. Rival factions. SHRM is so under siege, I half expect Steven Seagal to be elected next CEO.

Yet, the highlight of the SHRM year (at least that is what they have said at each of the previous 10 opening sessions) is the descent of the SHRM volunteer army attending the SHRM Leadership Conference. Presidents, President Elects, Core Leaders, and District Directors will be at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington developing professionally, networking and sharing best practices.

So, what will be the reaction to the recent SHRM hubbub? I have two theories:

1. It will be the centerpiece of the conference and SHRM will attack it full force. A defensive tone will be taken by Robb Van Cleave in his opening remarks at Thursday's opening session. An agitated volunteer group (already hypersensitive after passing through a series of TSA agents to get to DC) will take out their frustration by prodding and poking the SHRM staff demanding satsifaction. An uprising will occur at the SHRM Breakfast and Annual Meeting as concerned constituencies want more transparency. Jose Berrios will wonder what he got himself into as his presents his closing remarks.

2. Mere murmurs in the corners. There will be silence on the issues on the part of SHRM . There will be some at the hotel bar pontificating into the late hours, but all of this intrigue is too "Inside SHRM" for many. But, most of the volunteers attending will be ignorant or apathetic about the issues being discussed and simply want to know how to do their volunteer job better.

While #1 would be much more interesting, my hypothesis is that #2 will be a more likely outcome.

This past Monday, I was fortunate to appear on Bryan Wempen's daily blog talk radio show, "Drive Thru HR," to promote the Wisconsin SHRM State Conference, currently going on in Appleton, WI. The conversation turned to the topic of social media.

Of late, social media has become a growing component of the conference experience. The 2010 SHRM Annual Conference had their first annual blog squad to highlight conference activities, and a social media lounge. Illinois SHRM, HRFlorida, and Ohio SHRM had bloggers and heavy activity on the Twitter stream. As expected the HR Technology Conference was rife with social media experience with a number of bloggers and the HR Happy Hour. HR Southwest is starting up soon and it, too, will take a stab at carving up a part of the social media pie. You even see wonderful companies staking out a claim in this area, such as the Stelzner/Ruettimann powerhouse, "Voice of HR."

However, two major state HR conferences are going on this week, with relatively little fanfare: the 2010 Michigan SHRM Conference and the aforementioned 2010 WISHRM conference. While I can't speak for Michigan, WISHRM10 has over 1100 attendees, exhibitors, speakers, and guests....all with limited promotion on social media avenues. No major bloggers....no social media sessions....a relatively quiet Twitter stream.

So, I posed a number of HR bingo-type questions on Bryan's show: What is the return on all this social media activity? Is it creating a buzz? And is this buzz creating increased revenue to the state council? Are more people attending? Is it creating interest for future years of the conference? What is the bottom line of this activity?

Wisconsin SHRM enters its first full day of conference activity today. 1100 individuals will be busy enjoying the activities and learning, oblivious to the social media world's comments.