1: Live tweeting everything that happened – after I had a moment or two to digest it. Then, the conversation that was happening during the sessions as a result of my tweets and others.

2: Discussing/debating over dinner and drinks – the majority of my conversations centered around the online personas of people vs. the online personas of companies for which they work & what is the most effective way to leverage each.

Conclusion – the value of the conference came from the people that attended the conference, and most of the sessions (save @ewmonster’s & @donramer’s) were largely only useful to spur conversation about why the presentations were shortsighted.

This is why I am psyched for the social media summit – should be awesome.

I look forward to seeing you there!

TJ – loved the post. Thanks for listening and thanks for weighing in on the subject. I think your software is interesting especially in the hourly worker space – where many think work/life flexibility is unrealistic and will never happen.

RD – It is clear you guys were in transition with this one. And I had also given much of this feedback to the folks with Kennedy at the show. I look forward to learning more about Sept. 2010. Maybe some attendee suggested “unconference” sessions?

I appreciate the feedback, I really do, and we are already working at improving for Sept 15-16th next year in Chicago.

I’d like to add to your comments. Including the 3 hours of content you liked, there were 42 total speakers (many receiving excellent scores from our corporate recruiter audience), an exhibit floor full of recruiting innovation, 513 people on the final registration list (full disclosure: this is all in including expo only passes) — all assembled for a recruiting conference in a 10% unemployment environment.

Personally I am very proud of the event that was produced. It was honestly a tough challenge, and a big risk to bring these two brands together and produce a global show so the industry could come together as they did. I saw some incredible innovation and creativity surfacing at the threshold of a recovery. Lots of fantastic ideas coming up from the show in screening, sourcing, and recruiting talent. Partnerships were formed, and networking for mutual benefit resulted from this event taking place (along with all the night time social events that happen around the expo).

I do appreciate how Don (at Arbita) recognized this effort tonight in his blog:

http://www.arbita.net/Community/Blogs/content/kennedy-onrec-and-constructive-consolidation

The great thing about the web and twitter is that everything is transparent. We are all free to express our ideas. I appreciate your points. I just don’t want to miss the fact that there was a lot of optimism in the room, and a lot of people grateful that organizations like Kennedy and Onrec took the risk to bring the industry together so the industry (the community) can continue to evolve and grow.

Thanks again for the feedback. You see a stronger, more unified, larger, thriving event in Sept 2010 in Chicago. It is a marathon not a sprint for us, and we’ve got a long way to go for sure. I look forward to the challenge. RD Whitney, CEO Onrec North America

I blogged about your work-life blend discussion from a few weeks ago and talked about your insights into the changing world of the new worker – who wants flexibility and autonomy in exchange for commitment and loyalty to a job. I may not be capturing it all perfectly, so feel free to send me some thoughts.
TJ

Kari : )