Dave Ramsey at SHRM 2009 - A Sign of Life...

I'm generally pretty demanding of SHRM, and most times, like to poke at the 800-lb gorilla in our industry for their limitations in speed, agility and edge.  It's hard to turn on a dime when you're the battleship in the fleet, right?

But to be fair, I have to give a shout out when I think they get things really right.  One example is the the SHRM national convention in New Orleans in late June, early July.  Not only did SHRM upgrade the entertainment side of the house by moving away from Lionel Richie to Sheryl Crow, but they're also broadening their focus by replacing some of the legislative snoozefests with broader content that can help those in attendance.

Case in point - Jack Welch and Dave Ramsey are going to be at SHRM New Orleans.  More on the rundown on what's going on at SHRM from Forbes:

"Four keynote speakers include: (1) Jack Welch- thebestselling author, BusinessWeek columnist, and former General Electric chairman & CEO; (2) Earl G. Graves Sr. - founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine; (3) John Kotter - Harvard Business School professor and the world's foremost authority on leadership and change; and (4) Lee Woodruff - bestselling author and co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury.

More than 10,000 attendees are expected to attend SHRM's Annual Conference. Highlights include:

-- More than 150 educational sessions from renowned speakers and HR experts, such as Dave Ramsey, Steve Robbins, Ph.D., Barbara Glanz, Scott Christopher, and a newly added session "Leading Your Organization through Downsizing" moderated by SHRM's COO China Gorman. -- "HR Bloggers: Who are these people and why should I care?" ? A new session on social media in the HR arena moderated by China Gorman and featuring a panel of popular HR bloggers.

It's the best lineup I've seen at SHRM, lead for me by the presence of Welch and Ramsey.  Even if I didn't get the band I wanted for the music.  Good job SHRM.

Also, stick around on Wednesday, if you are going to New Orleans, for the panel of bloggers referenced above, which will feature Jessica Lee, a Punk Rock HR girl, Your HR Guy and another HR Guy I know pretty well.  Should be fun...

Comments

[laurie ruettimann]

I think it will be fun, but I'd prefer Green Day.