I attended a strange and amazing “unconference” two days ago. It was called HRevolution and it was a collection of HR and recruiting pros coming together to discuss social media and its intersection with their professional life. It was the first out-of-town HR conference I had ever attended, made up mainly of bloggers (including Twitter micro-bloggers). The ideas flew fast and furiously, and I already have several HR University lesson plans in the works based on thoughts generated at the Revolution. Those lessons will have to be spread out over several posts, but I want to start here with some introductory remarks about the Revolution in general:
- This conference was organized by Trish McFarlane, Ben Eubanks, Crystal Peterson, and Steve Boese. Sponsors included Monster.com, Nobscot, Blogging4Jobs, Sanera, and Fusion Frames. All of these people and companies live and work in different parts of the USA, but they came together seamlessly for an outstanding presentation. My local SHRM chapter, where everyone lives and works within a few dozen miles of each other, needs to take lessons.
- One of the attendees at HRevolution, Frank Zupan, lives and work in Cleveland. He eats corned beef at a deli called Slyman’s; they buy corned beef made at United Meat & Deli (UMD) in Detroit. The corned beef is injected/pumped with pickling brine with a machine operated by Joaquin Arredondo. Joaquin is a permanent resident alien (has a green card) – a status that I helped him obtain as the HR manager at UMD. That circle (Frank to Joaquin to me to Frank) of connectivity wasn’t created by HRevolution or Twitter, but it was discovered there. It makes a compelling argument for the continuing exploration of social media, and it slaps the argument that “people only connect on social media because they can’t connect in person” right in the face.
- Laurie Ruettiman of Punk Rock HR is a true superstar of the HR blogosphere. Ooohs and aaahs were audible when she arrived, and I am old enough to be her mother. In fact, I discovered through conversation with her that I am older than her mother. But she, like the other Gen X and Ys present (which was most of the room), was absolutely energizing. Boomers like me can learn a lot from these smart kids, if we will listen.
- None of the attendees at HRevolution had met me before; they only knew who I was because of my Twitter presence. Yet almost everyone who knew who I was (because of my avatar) hugged me. It was marvelous because I really like hugging.
- HRevolution attendees have an absolute fascination with bacon. I have no idea what the origin of this fascination is, or why it continues. I am happy to indulge the fascination, though. The first HRevolution attendee who comments (10 words or more required) on this blog post will receive the book “Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon” as a gift from me.
More lessons to follow; stay tuned!
HR University 
Nice start…and living in Wisconsin, I do miss eating at Zingerman’s. Looking forward to hearing about the lessons.
It truly was a wonderful event, but mostly because there were great people like you attending! 🙂
you. rock.
It was such a great pleasure to meet you at HRevolution, Joan — I am looking forward to your upcoming posts/lessons!!
Very nice, Joan! We need more posts and discussions like these. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.
Jessica Miller-Merrell
@bloging4jobs
Awesome post Joan. It was so great to meet you.
Joan – it was great to meet you and thanks so much for writing this post and sharing your insights. Let’s do it again next year, and next time with more bacon!
Where was the bacon? I thought for certain it would be there for breakfast. It was a joy meeting you Joan. I found YOU energizing. I look forward to further learning about better blogging along side you.
Cheers @loismelbourne
Great post, and great to meet you this weekend. I may have been happier NOT knowing that my rueben had, at some point, been injected with brine in a machine run by Joaquin. I’m happy for him and everything, but ewwwww! :<)
I didn’t attend, but i know this: Zingerman’s is the most amazing business in the United States. They could be on a par with Zappos with coolness if they tried!
@akaBruno – congratulations on winning the book. I forgot to mention that hosting a bacon party was required.
@beneubanks – thanks, Ben. I know I still have a lot of tech issues – will be calling soon.
@sexythinker – Laurie Ruettimann has to share her rock star status with you now. Gorgeous and smart, you are!
@havrilla – I wished we had talked more! This will not be the end.
@blogging4jobs – I think the discussions will continue, and I hope you stay a part of them.
@hrmargo – Back to you, Margo. Remember – we’re journeying together.
@steveboese – Do we have to wait till next year? Okay – EARLY next year. I’m definitely bringing bacon, esp if you want to have it in Detroit.
@loismelbourne – I *had* bacon for breakfast, where was everyone else? My google reader is ready for your blog!
@frankzupan – no one ever wants to know where their food comes from! It’s a good thing we didn’t talk about turkey – I could tell some REALLY ugly stories. Eat more cb – I need new red shoes.
@mikevandervort – Zingerman’s is definitely high on the coolness list. They are good friends and a great customer. I think we should partner with them for our next HRevolution – and YOU should be there. We missed you.