Cheers from TRU London 2

sourcing, candidate experience, talent acquisition, job boards, HR technology, blogging, social media, social collaboration, employer branding, leadership, social human convergence

These are just a few words that have been at the forefront of my vocabulary for the last few days.  I am in London for the un-conference TRU London 2.  This has been quite an experience on both personal, personal/professional, and professional fronts.

From a professional, learning standpoint, it has been a platform for many of the brightest HR and recruitment thinkers around the globe to gather to discuss and debate issues that are paramount in our industry.  The great thing about coming to an event like this is that you are able to be fluid and fully emerse yourself  in each track.  You are encouraged to participate.  Each track leader asks questions and pushes back on participants so that ideas are more readily shared.

From a personal/ professional standpoint, this atmosphere has given me the opportunity to connect with my HR and recruitment peers from Twitter.  I have met many from the US, but never any from a global perspective.  That has all changed.  I can’t possibly list everyone, but I will tell you that Bill Boorman, Geoff Webb, Mervyn Dinnen, Wendy Jacobs, Jason Davis, Andy Headworth, Alan Whitford, Jon Ingham, and Peter Gold (to name a few) have made this un-conference for me.  These are my Twitter friends and now my real-life friends.  For anyone who questions why I spent time learning Twitter and using it to network, they only need to meet one person to understand that being able to build a real network of experts is worth all the time I put in to learning it.

I have also had the privilege of leading several tracks.  If you would have told me one year ago that I would be in London at an un-conference leading a blogging discussion with Laurie Ruettimann, Andy Headworth, and Peter Gold, I would have thought that you were crazy.  Yet, here I am today.  This is the value that social media has brought to my personal and professional life.

From a purely personal perspective, TRU London 2 has been amazing.  I am in London for the first time and having a little bit of down time to enjoy some of the local sites.  I was able to tour the British Museum with my good friend Steve Boese.  The highlight of the tour was seeing the Rosetta Stone, the sculptures of the Parthenon, and also the  Egyptian displays of mummys.

Oh, and in case you’re curious, I did do the US proud and checked out several great British pubs.

Cheers!