An Open Letter to Bill Kutik
Do you know who this man is? If not, you should – he’s one of the most highly influential individuals in the HR technology space. His name is Bill Kutik.
In addition to having a plethora of knowledge on all things HR technology, he’s also the Co-Chairman of the annual HR Technology® Conference & Expo held each of the last 12 years. He also is an industry analyst, technology columnist for HR Executive® magazine, and host of The Bill Kutik Radio Show®..
I’ve attended Bill’s HR Technology Conference & Expo for the past six years – and it is his show. Additionally, I have had the pleasure of being a panelist both two and three years ago, as well as an exhibitor last year. Speaking from a multi-faceted perspective I wanted to share an open letter to Bill with the rest of the HR Technology Conference community.
Dear Bill;
First and foremost I wanted to take a brief moment to thank you for your efforts over the last 12+ years as the godfather of HR technology. Your efforts to create the largest, most successful conference focused exclusively upon HR Technology are appreciated by individuals such as myself who have been able to enjoy successful careers in that space largely due to you and others carving out this specialized niche. I cannot thank you enough for all you’ve done for the industry.
As much as the HR Technology Conference has been wildly successful, I believe that there are opportunities to make this conference even better in the future. As such I wanted to take advantage of this letter to share with you some of my wish list for enhancements to the conference in coming years. My wish list is as follows:
Mid-Market track
All too often the focus at the HR Technology conference is on the larger vendors, and the needs of the enterprise. I believe the attendees would be well served by providing a series of sessions related specifically to the needs of mid-market organizations (1000- 5000 employees). These organizations while aspiring grow into an Oracle, SAP, Lawson, or Workday type of HR technology solution often end up with mid-tier solutions.
Having sessions focused on how mid-sized employers can build the business case for an enterprise-sized solution, supporting more with less, and enabling talent management strategies for mid-market would be of tremendous value to the attendees. Additionally with many of the exposition booths occupied by vendors with a mid-market focus, this represents a win-win situation for all.
Increased focus on networking
While there are lunches and ample amounts of time allocated in the schedule to permit attendees to roam the expo floor, there are not many opportunities for formal networking. In years past I’ve made some terrific connections at the conference – even landed a job as a result of my attendance. I cannot over-estimate the value of the professional connections I’ve made at the conference.
Other conferences can boast similar sessions as those at HR Technology, but very few can actually bring together the wealth of industry talent in a single location. How can this opportunity be leveraged for incremental benefit? At the 2009 HR Technology Conference there were several successful tweet-ups where individuals who had not physically met before had a chance to make personal contact with one another – cementing long-term professional relationships; albeit, online. More tweet-ups are good.
In addition to tweet-ups, having formal special interest groups meet during the show would be helpful as well. Gathering professionals from similar backgrounds with similar interests such as Global Recruitment, or PeopleSoft users help to round out the experience that people have at the conference and create connections which last far beyond the event itself.
More Panel Discussions
Blogger Mark Stelzner wrote of his experience here – highlighting the desire for more panel discussions. The panel discussions at HR Technology are nothing short of terrific, and more of this can’t be a bad thing. While there might be a point where too many panel discussions may be too much to handle, that’s a problem to consider when you get to that point.
More Singing and Dancing (just no KC & The Sunshine Band)
While we would gladly welcome another performance by Naomi Lee Bloom, the key here is finding a way to weave in a formal social event into the conference. This is yet another way to help build the community and provide another opportunity for more networking. I’m not sure you need to outdo some of the parties from software vendors like Lawson and SAP, but having something social is a great value.
Free Wi-Fi
While I’m not sure exactly what the logistical issues might be with getting this setup for all conference attendees at McCormick Place, but having access to reliable wireless internet would help make the conference more productive for all. Having Wi-Fi will better enable interactive presentations like the one that Jason Averbook and Jason Corsello conducted last year to whatever might happen in future years (more live tweeting of sessions?). Not having access to wireless is a big drawback.
I’m confident that this has been evaluated before, but if for some reason it has not this represents a terrific sponsorship opportunity and would enhance the conference experience for many.
I believe these subtle changes can help to dramatically enhance the attendee experience and help raise the bar for future conferences. In addition to my various wishes, I would like to invite others to add onto the wish list through comments on this blog post and/or on the HR Technology Conference LinkedIn group page.
Thank you again for all that you have done for the industry. I forward to working with you in the future and to a wildly successful HR Technology Conference & Expo starting September 29, 2010.
Best Regards,
D5 Creation
Bryon:
Some great suggestions. I especially like anything that increases the chance for personal networking.
Ren Nardoni
rnardoni@nardoni.com
Bryon –
Good notes – esp. agree with a mid market track..
KD
You make it sound lithe The HR Technology conference is the only place for this information when in fact it is not.
IHRIM, the ONLY professional association that is dedicated to HR Technology has had small and mid-market content at thier conferences for several years.
They also offer networking not only at thier conference but 24/7 via an online forum for members.
Worth checking out at http://www.ihrim.org
Okay, Bryon, now that the conversation seems to have taken a pause, at least on our LinkedIn group, here's what we’ve been thinking. Without stifling the conversation from continuing.
And make no mistake: There is a “we” for the HR Technology Conference. While I enjoy making it appear I make every decision, in fact the following people are all involved:
• VP of Conferences Claude Werder, the big boss;
• Conference Chairman David Shadovitz;
• Conference Director Vicki Dennehy and her meeting planning staff handling all the logistics and outside vendors;
• Marketing Senior Director Lee Ann Tiemann and her staff selling registrations;
• Art Director Missy Ciocca and her staff designing everything;
• Customer Service handling phone inquiries;
• Salespeople Fred Kurst and Nancy Sommar selling to vendor with their boss, Becky McKenna.
So whenever anything goes wrong or attendees are dissatisfied, I blame them.
Specifically about your thorough suggestions:
Mid-Market Sessions: Been there, done that, nobody attended. For two years, we even marked SMB sessions with a big “M” in the brochure. Perplexing because 40 percent of our attendees are from companies with fewer than 5,000 employees.
I blame “Seventeen” magazine. Who actually reads it? Thirteen-year-old girls wanting to learn what being 17 will be like. Smaller companies seem to like attending sessions aimed at larger companies, and, as you point out, lots of exhibitors are selling smaller solutions they can afford now.
Doesn’t mean we stop trying. Problem in the past has been that too many SMB case studies were simple and boring: moving from paper-based processes to an automated solution. But your suggestions may be the antidote to that. With the speaking proposal deadline on Dec. 31, I’m hoping for something better, and if it doesn’t come in, will try to create it.
Increased Focus on Networking: Your suggestion has caused us to revisit having an opening night reception on Tuesday, which inexplicably we’ve never had in 12 years. I’m thinking of having a velvet rope section inside for a tweet-up. Not everybody is on Twitter – a shocking revelation, I know. Think that’s a good idea or obnoxious?
More Panel Discussions: Heard that loud and clear from our session attendance stats. Talking to last year’s superb moderators and already working on a new panel for 2010 about Workforce Planning. Challenge there is panels are so popular, they can practically wipe out attendance at the four or five other sessions in the same time slot. What do you think of scheduling them opposite each other at the same time so people would have to choose?
Also heard Mark Stelzner’s suggestion we should have more conversations and fewer solo presentations. Working on that combining two experts, who might previously have presented separately, and one-on-one interviews, as I’ve done in the past with Dave Duffield, Row Henson and Naomi Lee Bloom.
More Singing and Dance: Again, for years, we had one official vendor-sponsored party on each night, promoted in all our literature. Other vendors still threw smaller competing parties of their own. The two big ones – while keeping most attendees together – became very expensive for the sponsors and for us (we always shared the costs). Might be looking into that.
Free Wi-Fi: Could not agree more. Problem is McCormick’s North Hall (our home in 2009 and 2010, as opposed to the newer West Wing in 2008) has spotty Wi-Fi coverage. And whether we paid for it or attendees did, somebody is gonna get pissed when a signal is not available. So folks who can’t live without tweeting, may have to use their mobile devices. We almost certainly will be projecting the tweet stream somewhere in the hall, though not next to speakers. Too distracting for anyone over 45.
I think that covers it, Bryon. Hope you’ll answer my questions (above) and others will join in and post their suggestions both here and at http://bit.ly.8UGCye
Our official planning meeting is in a month, so let’s hear from everybody soon.
@Ren – Thanks for the comments. Glad to see you're following along online.
@KD – Rock on!
@Jacqueline – Thanks for the comments. While IHRIM is a worthy organization and they put on a great show annually, it draws a different audience than HR Tech. Both shows are must attends for anyone in the HR Tech space
@Bill – I'm looking forward to seeing some of the suggested changes incorporated into the 2010 conference. Please let me know if I can help in any way.
I'm surprised that mid-market sessions were ghost towns. Considering the unhappiness with larger vendors of late, as continually validated by analyst research, you'd think that a good chunk of attendance would flock to those sessions. Maybe it's a matter of revisiting format and content. I'm sure that for some of us dragging a company in from the paper-driven and Excel spreadsheet stone age to automated HR systems is less than glamorous, but for a good swath of small to mid-sized business, it's like friggin' Christmas. Dozens and dozens of new suppliers have entered the HR marketplace this past year, some of which are chipping away at market share.
HR technology really isn't a unique category anymore in the context that technology is part of every vendor's product/service delivery and is fast becoming every part of a company's systems infrastructure – whether it be sourcing, recruitment, hiring, onboarding, T&D, performance management, wellness, benefits, health coaching, mentoring, leadership development, succession planning, workforce planning – it touches it all. So the tech sessions should round out more to include these other focal points. Hiring will continue to be fairly anemic with niche spikes throughout industries. Companies continue to turn inward and focus on improving talent efficiencies and increasing retention.
And why not have a two-tiered "HR Buyer" panel of enterprise and mid-sized discussing their pain points, automated solutions and return? Comparing and contrasting could make for interesting conversation. Maybe that's been done, but if not, something to consider.
The parties and the tweet-ups and the networking will continue to rock the house, so I feel we're good there and they'll only continue to grow and diversify, but you'd think McCormick would get on the magic Wi-Fi train. Maybe they should be attending more of the tech sessions. If I brought rabbit ear antennas, would that help?
We look forward to the show next year! Happy Holidays!
–Kevin W. Grossman
A mid-market track would be fantastic. I'm with Kevin – shocked that the mid-market/SMB track wasn't received as well as one would expect.
Bill & co., if you need help promoting this type of track at future conferences, do let iCIMS know.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
-Susan Vitale