Day 2 of SHRM Leadership Conference

Last night, SHRM hosted an “open house” at their global headquarters in Alexandria for the over 800 attendees of SHRM’s Leadership Conference. The impression I left with is:  “wow, SHRM means business”. It was a very professional facility and operation.  The SHRM staffers, who work so hard on our behalf were gracious and hospitable.  And, it was inspiring to realize that San Diego SHRM is part of a growing global concern.  SHRM may know next, but from the looks of things, they also know now!

Nina Woodard, Gail Dill and I were able to chat and hang out for a bit with Hank Jackson, President & CEO of SHRM and Jose Berrios, SHRM Board Chair.  We extended a warm invitation to Hank to come and speak to our Chapter.  Based on the chilly temperatures that we were experiencing, I think we had him interested when we said we are from San Diego.  Stay tuned for more information on when we will be hosting Hank in sunny and warm San Diego.

Earlier in the day, over 400 SHRM members went to Capitol Hill to educate members of Congress on pending legislation that could affect the workplace.  As the experts in human resources, we are uniquely qualified to be educating our legislators and SHRM is just the group to coordinate these efforts.  This morning, Mike Aiken, SHRM’s VP of Government Relations spoke about the importance of educating lawmakers and described the Advocacy Team rollout to educate state and local legislators in addition to the federal legislators.  In California, the state council of SHRM and San Diego SHRM will be doing more on this front and if you are interested in this important work, be sure to let Jenna Leyton (our 2012 VP, Legislation) or Michael Kalt (2012 CA Legislative Affairs Director for CA SHRM) know.  And, Pam Green, SHRM’s VP, U.S. Membership educated us on SHRM’s strategic priorities for 2012.  She also announced that the following keynote speakers are confirmed for the 2012 Annual Conference in Atlanta:  Condolezza Rice and Tom Brokaw.  The Tuesday night entertainment was also confirmed….  Are you ready for this? Wait for it……none other than the one and only ……  Jerry Seinfeld.

The great news for San Diego SHRM is that the strategy developed by SHRM is complementary to the strategic direction we are pursuing.  As Trisha wraps up her role as our fearless leader, and I transition from understudy to leader, you will hear more about our strategy and the work that San Diego SHRM is doing for you, our members.

Stay tuned.  More to come…

2011 SHRM Leadership Conference

Hello San Diego SHRM!  Today, I am in Arlington, Virginia (across the river from Washington, DC) at the 2011 SHRM Leadership Conference for affiliated chapter leaders.  Sadly, I am in a room with no view so I have to run outside and crane my neck to see some of our Capitol city’s finest sites.  This is an exciting time for San Diego SHRM as we are about to launch a year of excellence in programming featuring the skills and capabilities necessary for each of you, our members, to bring excellence to your workplace each and every day.  And, so it is truly an honor for me to be here, on your behalf, to learn and be able to bring back skills and capabilities that will enable me to best serve you in 2012.

I am getting ready to attend this afternoon’s opening event which will be followed by a tour of the SHRM global headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.  First, though, I wanted to take a few moments to share with you about the incredible organization that you are a part of.  San Diego SHRM is an affiliate of SHRM global.  We have over 1000 members in SD SHRM and are the largest human resource professional association in San Diego.  And, as an affiliate of SHRM, we are part of the largest human resource professional association in the world (didn’t we just hit 7 billion people on Earth?).  SHRM has over 250,000 members around the world with over 20,000 members in California alone.  San Diego SHRM only has about 500 SHRM global members – and in 2012, your Board of Directors and I plan on sharing more with our members about the important work that SHRM global is doing on behalf of the profession.  In fact, today several contingents of chapter leaders headed off to Capitol Hill to educate members of congress on the importance of pending legislation. 

As this leadership conference unfolds, I will try to share more information with you about the important work being done on behalf of you, the human resource professional.  As a HR professional myself, I am honored to be able to serve the profession and you, our San Diego SHRM members.  I love what I do and am excited to be able to share this passion that we all share.  I look forward to seeing, and learning alongside of, you at a future San Diego SHRM event.  And, stay tuned here for new updates. . .