Laurie Ruettimann and I love Human Resources in very different ways.  She is a consultant and disaffected practitioner.  I am a professor.  We have very different  messages for our chosen profession.

One of the frustrating things that I came across in the expo hall was that many of the vendors did not want to talk to us because we are students.  You would lose their attention immediately after saying "I'm a student."

One thing I noticed about the vendors was that many of them were turned off once I mentioned that I was a student, with the exception of a few.  They didn't seem as willing to try and sell their business to me.

Once the booth found out that we did not work for a company that could use their services, but rather that we were lowly, lowly students, we were sent on our way.  I figured this would be a one or two time occurrence, but that ended up being a misconception very quickly.  Over and over, we revealed our status as students and were quickly ushered out of the way to get the next attendee scanned and entered into a drawing for a vacation or an iPad Mini.

I was expecting more students to be at the conference and exposition hall and I think the companies were not expecting students at all.  I could tell in their tones sometimes that they did not want to be talking to a student, but rather selling their products or services to someone who did.  Many were surprised and happy to see students while others were looking past us.

I was a little disappointed in some of the companies within the hall.  Now it was not too many of them, but there were a little over a handful of booths that did not take me seriously due to the fact that I was a student.  For example, when I was approached by a representative, he or she was very friendly and began the conversation by presenting me with a question about the company I worked for.  However, once I told him or her that I was a student, they immediately changed their tome.  They simply pushed me on my way and acted as though they did not have the time of day to explain to me their company.....I think it would have been very helpful for many of those vendors to attend the sessions themselves.  Many of the sessions I attended emphasized repeatedly the importance of meeting the needs of people, creating fulfillment, and showing respect; many behaviors that these booths did not show. It truly made me question their company's credibility and their performance.

Southern California real estate agents recruiters are using reconnaissance and back-channel networks to find houses applicants that haven't yet hit the market. Some even offer bizarre gifts.
Southern California housing prices employee salaries are rising sharply, and there's a shortage of houses available for sale skilled employees available.
So agents recruiters like Mathys are resorting to reconnaissance and back-channel networks to find homes applicants that haven't yet hit the market. They're cold-calling homeowners passive applicants with offers and targeting specific neighborhoods employers with direct mail. Some come bearing bizarre gifts in return for a listing referral. One agent offered a seller potential employee the use of his exotic car; one of his clients offered free dogs.
And they're chasing so-called pocket listings, homes an applicant database privately marketed among those in the know. The low-profile nature of the listings makes them hard to quantify. But agents recruiters and other real estate hiring experts say they've become common in the booming Southland market, where the median home price salary shot up nearly 25% in the last year.

• Both events were "free" - One simply had to register at Eventbrite to attend the DJ Jazzy Jeff party.  Meanwhile, the Kelly Clarkson ticket was included as a benefit of attending the SHRM Conference.  Its not a tipping point on the conference attendance decision. No one is saying "I would have attended SHRM Annual, but Kelly Clarkson is the entertainer, so I'm not going."  I've been to SHRM Annual 13 times, and have attended the Tuesday night entertainment only three times.
• Seating is general admission - For DJ Jazzy Jeff, it was an open floor concept - no seating whatsoever.  For Kelly Clarkson, it was first come, first served.  People were lining up hours in advance so that they could grab a chance to sit as close to the front as possible.

• Hillary Clinton - didn't get to see her.  Closed to press.
• Blake Mycoskie - Nice inspirational message.  Hard to screw up a talk about shoes at a HR conference.  Definitely fit category 1 of Tim Sackett's 3 categories of HR speakers
• Jennifer McClure - Talked on the Future of HR and knocked it out of the park.  Definitely book her for your future HR conference.
• Steve Boese - Excellent presentation on harnessing social tools.  

• I probably have spent less time there then in any previous conference.  As a professor, I'm not likely to be a customer of whatever product is being hawked.  My name is not going to be drawn for a booth prize.  And, I learned long ago that SWAG remorse is never a good thing.  
• I felt bad for the booths in the 3500-4300 range.  It seemed like they were the discount casinos in "Vegas Vacation" where games such as "Pick a Number Between 1 and 10" and "Flip a Coin" were being played 
• I was disappointed to hear from students, yet again, that some booths treated their visit with disdain.  These are your future customers.  Treat them that way.

• It is still a heavily dominated female crowd.  On three of the four shuttles I've taken, I was the lone male among 30 or 40 females.

• That for many, work and identity are inextricably linked.
• Human resources plays a crucial and integral role in helping individuals identify and embrace their vocation.
• That this can be accomplished while still making a firm profitable and delivering shareholder value.