How To Spot A Great HR/data Conference

http://bit.ly/best_hr_conf

I have a love/hate relationship with the spring and summer. I love that the HR and data conferences seem to ramp up with #PACON, #DATASOCIAL, #SIOP16, @WhartonPAC, @Human_Capital, and @openwest. I love interacting with so many fantastic people that share an interest around data or recruiting (ideally both!). 

I also hate the spring and summer because my beloved Utah snow begins to melt and I have to wait another 4 months to start skiing again. Sometimes my involvement with these spring conferences conflicts with last ditch powder day attempts. This year I flew out to San Fransisco to speak at #DataSocial just as the SLC area finished dumping 16 inches of new powder! Bittersweet morning for sure watching the clouds part on the inviting Wasatch mountain range after takeoff. Knowing this was going to happen I was able to do a midnight blizzard powder run the night before, not the smartest idea I've had (photo of me below). 

What Makes An HR Conference Great?

So thinking about my own experience I think there are three things that make a conference great. The people, the content, and the venue.

The People:
I have been to total crap conferences where the attendees are mostly jobless students wanting to figure out how to land their first job. Also, the same conference I am thinking about didn't have a focused theme or topic, so it was all over the place. I wasn't impressed either with the hodgepodge of majority first-time speakers either. Having first time speakers is great, but when the conference is full of them you have a problem. Oh, and the food and venue sucked. Total waste of time and money, forgettable for sure. 

I have also been to conferences where the majority of people in attendance were fantastic! Decision makers for McDonalds, SpaceX, Tesla, Google, Pfizer, Sears, Glassdoor, WeWork, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc... These conferences have people speaking on solving interesting problems. The other thing I like about these great conferences is that the speakers are seasoned, they have spoken multiple times before and understand how to engage and keep the audience's attention.

Another conference I was recently surprised with was #PACON this year in Minneapolis. This conference had some great speakers, and also equally important, if not more-so, a great audience.

When I spoke above about building resume and interview models I was very impressed with the audience engagement. Great questions, great insights, I learned so much from those in attendance there in addition to the other speakers from Ebay, Bestbuy, and many others.

The Content:
What is being discussed? I think it helps sometimes to have a conference that is focused (i.e. HR-analytics) where speakers and ideas can center on a difficult problem. When I speak I attempt to discuss something of value that I am hopeful that attendees can take away and keep. The best talks I've seen are the ones that are engaging, direct, and honest, discussing real challenges, solutions, and insecurities realized during the process. I still see presenters presenting math and equations to HR audiences... even for data scientist audiences this is most often a waste of time. I too was guilty of this when I started speaking. 

The Venue:
Some might think the venue doesn't matter, but it does. If I'm going through the trouble of being bothered by the TSA, jumping on a flight, and spending time away from work and family it better be worth the time and effort.

You can imagine having a conference in a forgettable hotel versus a venue where I am legitimately excited about the location in addition to the activities pre/post conference. Also, conferences, like work, can be exhausting. So breaking up the learning with activities and what you might get from an inspiring venue really helps with that.

Having attended and spoken at many of the HR conferences in the past I do have a special favorite. My favorite conference last year in 2015 was HireVue's digital disruption in Deer Valley. I feel like they nailed my criteria. The people were some of the best I've seen at any of the other conferences. The venue is beyond compare at Deer Valley's prestigious Stein Eriksen lodge: 

Over 80% of the people that attended said they would return the following year. I heard many say it was the best conference they had ever attended. This year the keynote speaker is Vince Gilligan. Vince is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and a director of Breaking Bad. We can finally ask him why he didn't do another season! :)

I've talked to some that have said, "Oh, I never really got into breaking bad". My response to them would be, well you obviously didn't get to the fourth season. For breaking bad fans this screenshot below must be from one of the greatest suspense scenes in history. 

I remember watching this on my iPhone under the covers of my bed because I had to know how this awkwardness was resolved. I was not disappointed, I was amazed by the genius behind Vince's team of writers and directors. Besides hearing an inspiring talk about how Vince built a world class team to deliver one of the most successful TV series in history, speakers will also include Netflix, Hilton,Vodafone, Equinix, along with many others. Sponsors include IBM, Glassdoor, Cornerstone, etc...  

There is a hard stop on tickets at the exclusive venue: 
http://bit.ly/best_hr_conf 
register soon if this works for your schedule. I'm not sure if I can, but I might be able to twist some arms for early pricing, let me know if you need this. I promise you will find it worthwhile.

Please Comment:
If you have other HR/data conferences you have enjoyed please comment below. If you have insights into what you think makes a conference great that I have missed mention below. If you were lucky enough to attend digital disruption 2015 let everyone know what you thought.