“A modern recruiter is one who is targeted, builds relationships and knows how to not only find candidates but also get them to respond!”— Stacy Donovan Zapar
I had been in the industry for years, and I had never been to a national conference, especially the one about sourcing. I had taken courses from AIRS and TSI and thought, hey that’s enough, but then I got a call from Ronnie Bratcher and Steve Rath asking if I would be interested in coming to Atlanta to speak at SourceCon. My reaction was, what is SourceCon? Since I had just done an event speaking on the new rules with OFCCP and the deck was done, I said: “sure sounds like fun.” If you read my stuff on here, I will not bore you with the details. I have talked about that many times. This is to tell you if you have not gone before why you should go now.
Did you like the quote up top? It’s from one of the giants in our industry, and I am honored to say she is a dear friend I have known for quite some time. People are what make SourceCon, people like you and me. Everyone seems to like lists; I am not sure why maybe it is a Letterman thing or something.
If you don’t know who that is you don’t need to read the list you need to come to the conference and find me.
- The welcome wagon – this is a group of people that have attended past shows that volunteer their time to HELP you navigate the show. Young or old, first time or been there done that we are here for you. I would put a list of the people on here, but this was one of the crews. Recognize anyone?
- The sessions – This contrary to popular belief is the reason you go to a conference, to learn from the people who know. There is no single place that you will have the sheer talent and knowledge that the speakers have and are willing to share with you. Once the show is over many of us are a phone call away, even the ones that don’t speak but run a table topic session OR the people you get to meet. You are in a place where we all speak Boolean, and it is not weird quizzical looks that you receive but instead an open hand or hug. We do a great deal of hugging you see.
- The roundtables – We break out two session rooms now that have a topic that a leader will run to discuss that particular topic, such as branding, sourcing tools, and tactics. I hope to get lead one of these, hint, hint
- The Hackathon – Do you like to win things? Do you like fun and friendly completion to show off your skills? Do you want to walk around and listen and learn as sourcing is happening? This was founded at the very first SourceCon, which was where? Yeah, the title gave it away, huh?
- The innovation lab – Want time to not just demo but play with a tool? Then this is for you, no pressure, just an arcade of cool tools you can play with so you can take some knowledge back with you when you talk about budgets.
- The vendors – The folks are the reason we get to have a show that is fun and pretty affordable for all the information you receive. Also, another chance to speak with vendors to show you the bleeding edge sourcing tools and other cool tools as well from ATS, to aggregators, to well everything in between. Plus great giveaways and swag as well.
- The networking – This is what makes our this conference so different than any other conference, we are a family, a tribe that gets us. No one is special there are NO cool kids or private lunch tables. We are here for each other to step up to the speakers, come to the roundtables, get a sticker, get your shirt, get your groove on, make new friends and if you are coming back say hello to the ones you have not seen in a while.
I am going to end this little post with what I started it with, you. Feel free to reach out to me or anyone on the SourceCon team if you have questions about the show etc. We are here for you because without you, well, we would not have a show and that would suck. I hope to see you there and be warned, I am known for my hugs, women, men, and strangers, don’t care. Just don’t tell me if you want one or not! #truestory
This is the last week to save over $600 on your SourceCon ticket. Early bird registration ends July 20, 2018.