Feel The Power
Posted on: April 22, 2012
- In: ConnectingHR | Engagement | HR | Networking | Social Media | Twitter
- 7 Comments
The first time I heard of ConnectingHR was as a hashtag on Twitter. At that point, I didn’t even know what a hashtag was, far less how to use one or what ConnectingHR involved. What did become clear though, over the next few days and weeks, was that this is a collection of HR (and some non-HR!) people who engage with each other on Twitter and other social sites, meet up regularly in person, reach out to and welcome newcomers and are not only adept at understanding the power and possibilities of social media, but incredibly generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise.
The first time I met anyone from ConnectingHR was at the first unconference. Faces became familiar, friendships were formed, my concept of networking and HR conferences was transformed and a journey began which led to me starting this blog the very next day. In the 18 months since then, the community of ConnectingHR has grown and evolved and the unconferences and tweet-ups continue to be a brilliant way of getting to know people and starting to understand a little more about how social media can impact and influence HR and business as a whole. It’s also worth noting that most mainstream conferences which talk about social media in HR invariably include individuals from ConnectingHR as speakers, panelists and presenters…and most are rather more pricey than the actual ConnectingHR unconferences ;).
The next ConnectingHR unconference takes place on 16th May 2012 and you can buy a ticket here. Even better, if you are new to all this and haven’t been to an unconference before, I have a free ticket to give away on my blog. Just leave a comment at the end of this post, and I will choose a winner at random on Friday 27th April. Yep, it really is that easy…I’m nice like that.
For those that like a little more detail, the theme for the unconference is: The Power of a Socially Engaged Organisation and there are some fantastic and knowledgeable conversation leaders attending, addressing topics such as –
- How can organisations embrace social media/strategies internally to increase engagement?
- What are the positive benefits and opportunities of embracing social and community strategies in organisations?
- What tools are there to help increase collaboration and conversation in organisations?
- Can a more social business create commercial value and increase engagement?
- What alternatives are there to the traditional employee survey?
If you are looking for an event where you can met some great people, interact, engage, challenge, debate and learn, then look no further…book your ticket for ConnectingHR today or see if you can win a free one on here.
Really…what are you waiting for?!
7 Responses to "Feel The Power"
2 | Patrick Mullarkey (@mentormullarkey)
April 23, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Though I have not been to the unconference I have been to a Connecting HR tweet up and cannot recommend these events highly enough. It is a great opportunity to network, share ideas and to finally put some real names and faces to those people who are so helpful online. A friendly, thriving knowledge community in action really.
In short, an opportunity to meet all your professional peeps that tweet – what more could you ask for? : )
3 | Katherine Duff (@HR_Katherine)
April 23, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Fantastic blog post as always Alison. I haven’t been to a ConnectingHR unconference as yet but it certainly appeals, especially as you describe it so well! I love how the HR community uses social media to come together and share thoughts and ideas – who better to comment on how organisations can use social media to their benefit?!
April 23, 2012 at 1:15 pm
I am fascinated by social media, the more I dig into it. I am about to jump into the twitter/blogasphere and am also researching into ways to use social media platforms for a client; so it’s a steep learning curve.
I attended #truLondon 2011 which propelled me into thinking differently; I couldn’t get to the the #connectingHR conference last year and (boo) have just had a day’s worked cancelled on 16th May, so may well get to it this year. Thanks for sharing the themes. I’m thinking this is quite outside the typical HR thinking space and maybe it’ll be what changes the game.
April 27, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Thanks so much for your interest and applications! If it was up to me I’d love to give you all a free ticket…honestly 🙂
I have drawn the winner from a random number generator and am delighted to say that the winner of the free ticket on the 16th May is Patrick Mullarkey! Hooray and well done Patrick! If for any reason Patrick can no longer make the event, I will redraw the application until we find someone who can.
I have it on good authority that there may be some more free tickets given away next week on Twitter, so make sure you follow the @connectinghr Twitter handle (don’t forget you have to be really quick once you see the free tickets announced!) and hope to see lots of you at the unconference.
The HR Juggler 
April 22, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Great blog. I’ve just got into Twitter and social media and it has been brilliant to tap into so much collective wisdom. I’ve been considering the unconference. I haven’t been to one yet and it looks really interesting. Plus it’ll be good to meet some of those people I’ve been following on Twitter. I’ve not booked the unconference yet – I’ve just set up on my own as a consultancy so I’m being careful with my time and money. But it does look like a valuable thing to do so hopefully I will go.