Well, its just beautiful here in Southern California today, and it looks as if the weather will be just as great next week for ERExpo 2007 Spring! Things are wrapping up for us on the preparation side, and we are ready for the biggest ERExpo ever! I have been talking to a lot of the ERE community, our speakers and panelists, and our exhibitors about the Expo, and everyone seems to have lots of questions and answers on how to make the most of the event. I thought I would give you a few tidbits from my own experiences as well as what I have heard.

OVERALL TIPS

1. YOUR NAME BADGE. Ok, this, as many of you already know…is my biggest pet peeve of any conference. I know, for comfort conference organizers like to have our name badges hang on a really cool lanyard. Unfortunately, you know what happens…the lanyard hangs the name tag about halfway down our torso, and it swings and swivels as the day goes along, often, obstructing the name completely. I love to be able to know and use people’s names, but I totally feel uncomfortable scanning someone’s torso up and down to see their name. When you have to ask for someone’s name or (or worse, “where are you from?”…Ill get into that later), and they are wearing a name tag…its just so counterproductive when the person whom you asked has to lift up their name badge and show it to you!

So, here is my suggestion…if you like to network… remove the lanyard and use the clip or pin and place the name badge on your lapel or near your right shoulder. When you shake hands with people, this is the easiest place for them to look without that annoying torso scan! Please take my advice, you’ll find that it really works to your benefit.

2. DIVIDE AND CONQUER. Lots of you will come to the Expo with other members of your team. That’s great… we love to see teams participate. But, a few words of advice… don’t just roam the Expo in a pack. Heck… recruiters are supposed to be networking experts…so, network!

When you arrive in the general session, force yourself to go meet new people. Divide and conquer. If you have a team of people, instead of wandering in the pack and meeting new people together, you can multiply your networking if you split up. The same with the conference sessions: if you have more than one person going to the conference, why not maximize your investment? Split up and go to different sessions so your team can benefit.

I have heard great stories about companies who send their teams to the Expo and actually assign individual team members to attend specific sessions, and then are required to come back to the office and give a summary presentation to the team members who did not get to come. Boy, that maximizes the investment.

In the evenings and during breaks, you can go back to the pack and feed with your kin. (PS: During general sessions, I will personally roam the hall seeking out packs and trying to separate you to get you to network. We have large delegations from Safeco, Microsoft, W. L. Gore, Capital Group, American Family, Assurant, Avery Dennison, Intuit, Cargill, Taylor Made, Irvine Company, and many others… I’ll be looking out for you to break up your pack!)

3. MAXIMIZE THE EXPO HALL. The Expo hall is a really important place. Yes, there are a lot of vendors who would like to sell you something, and many of you are coming to the Expo on the hunt to buy something. That makes everyone happy. But, even better, those vendors are really great networkers too.

So, maximize your time in the Expo hall. Go with a plan. Check out the Expo hall roster, and mark out who you would like to talk to based on the descriptions and your prior knowledge, and then… go meet a few others you would not normally go talk to… especially those exhibitors you have no clue on what they do or how you could use them.

I know all too well that attendees tend to walk the exhibit hall and scan by the booths, looking for signs of “do I know them?” or “could I use that?” …if the signs are not there…they move on. Don’t do that… go up to at least a couple of exhibitors you don’t know, and ask them “what do you do?”.  Also, remember, recruiting professionals… the exhibitors are a source of great networking resources. Are you looking to hire great recruiting staff? Are you looking for referrals on a particular type of technology or tool?

Do not underestimate the power of the resources in the exhibit hall. The people who exhibit are very well networked folks. They can and will help to make referrals of candidates, tell you about tools and technologies (many of these folks have actually worked for mulitiple exhibitors at one point in their careers, so they know even about competing technologies and tools… you just have to ask).

One last thing: I like to suggest to folks that its a great idea to make initial contact with exhibitors during the breaks and meal periods when everyone goes to the hall. Its even better to go and have follow up and more comprehensive discussions with exhibitors when the hall is still open but there are sessions going on (exhibitors are less busy handing out all of their tchotchkies and are really open to having a good conversation with you without pissing off that line of attendees looking for their handouts!).

4. FOR OUR EXHIBITORS. I would like to offer a constructive criticism to all exhibitors everywhere. It has to do with treating everyone like a person. Here is what I mean. Exhibitors are notorious for “scanning” the passersby wandering the hall. What are they scanning for? They are doing that awful “torso scan” where they look for the name of the company you work for… if they get a “hit” (a well known or large company target), they will attempt to snare you into their nest. If you actually walk up to the exhibit and start a conversation, often the exhibitors will ask you “where are you from?”, as if your name and who you are are not as important as the known buying potential or marquee name of your employer.

I would suggest to exhibitors: please remember that everyone at the Expo is a person first, and a buyer second. If you connect with the person first, the buying often comes easier. I have felt loved and wanted when I worked for a big brand name company and later, when I worked for a start up or less known company, the same exhibitors wouldnt even give me the time of day. Keep it real exhibitors… treat the attendees as people first (and be careful of the “torso scan” and the call outs!)

5. THE PARTIES. Ok, so by now you may have been invited to a party or two. Thanks to exhibitors and others, the party scene in San Diego is great. So, which one do you go to and what do you get out of it (besides a lot of free food, drink, and fun!)?

Well… I would try to find out which party will offer you the best bang for your time… go to the party that will offer you the best networking. Who else will be at the party is the biggest question. If you are invited to a tech recruiting oriented party, and you are not a tech recruiting pro, then keep in mind that most of the other guests at the party might be tech recruiting pros. Did everyone on your team get an invitation to that great party that the big job board is hosting? Well, if so, cool… but remember, maybe you don’t have to travel in a pack. Split up and some of you go to that one, and some of you go to another party and meet other people. Party sponsors don’t like it when I suggest this, but heck…the best networkers and partiers I know actually hit a few parties in the same night.

6. THE SESSIONS. Finally, the last suggestion I have is regarding the actual sessions. Our speakers know that we have really pressed them on making sure that the content of their session matches what the session description says in the Expo brochure, marketing material, and in the onsite guide. But,  sometimes your expectations of what the speaker are presenting or the application of the material to your company does not match up. So,  as a speaker, I have no problem with this statement: If you come to a session, and sit in the session for a few minutes and decide “hey this is not what I expected”, then I heartily endorse the idea of politely excusing yourself and going to another session. There is nothing worse than sitting in a session feeling as if you are trapped because you don’t want to be rude. Heck, I think it is much more rude to sit in a session the whole time checking out your Blackberry, or doodling…just biding your time to get out.

So, please take my advice… if the session is not what you expected, excuse yourself and check out another one. We have so many sessions with some great speakers who have worked really hard for this Expo… I know you are bound to find something to fill your days. How politically correct of me? (Don’t forget my presentation “The Recruiters Guide to Navigating Corporate Politics” on Tuesday… as you can tell I say it like it is!).

Ok… thats it for my top 6 tidbits for you. In the meantime, I am busy working on finishing programming the pre-session music again for the Expo this year. And, like last year, I will make available the playlist since many of you asked. This year, it will be available here on this blog.

Have a great weekend, and then we’ll see you in San Diego next week. Bring lots of business cards. I personally look forward to talking to all of you.