The annual SHRM conference is right around the corner and I’m getting pretty excited about the whole thing.  For starters, I’ve never been to a SHRM Annual Conference… sounds so official and important!  I’m sure that it’s going to be great.

SHRM has issued me a press pass for this year’s event, so I will be “live blogging” during my visit.  I’m not really sure what it means to “Live Blog,” but I’m kind of hoping to just wander around most of the time and find things that wouldn’t normally be talked about.  That’s my plan anyway…

So, I’m going to be blogging, making some videos and (OF COURSE) sending out messages via Twitter on the #SHRM09 hashtag line.

About three weeks ago, SHRM asked me to put together a training video on the basics of Twitter.  I had the privlege of providing China Gorman (COO of SHRM) some tips and hints on the topic, so it seemed natural to take it a step further.

Some of you that are reading this probably know Twitter like the back of your hand.  However, a number of you, your friends and your colleagues do not.  I’m not saying that Twitter is for everyone… but, it is pretty awesome once you learn how to use the tool!

I spent some time putting together a 20 minute crash course on how someone should get started.  By the time you are finished, you will have a complete and functioning profile on Twitter.  You will also understand the basic communication methods employed and how you can go about searching for particular topics of interest.

Here you go!

Twitter Essentials – Part I & II

Have fun, be good and I’ll see you on Twitter!

Very special thanks to Josuee Lope for his help getting these videos to function on my site!  If you aren’t already following him on Twitter… you should be!  He is an IT Wizard with a great personality!  Thank you Josuee!

Photo Credit, SashaW

The world is changing fast and so is the way that we push for social change.  Processes for spreading an ideal have been pretty consistent over time… one person tells another who tells another – grassroots!

So, what happens when we eliminate the time and distance between us?  What happens to social movements when the click of a mouse translates into mass awareness?  No longer do we live in a world where messages, despite their value or worth, go unnoticed.

Social media is one of the truest democracies of thought awareness that we’ve ever witnessed… and you thought Twitter was silly.

#IranElection

So… if you are on Twitter, you may have noticed something interesting in the trends lately.  With the chaos over the elections in Iran, many protesters have chosen Twitter as the social media platform of choice to help spread the message.  To deliver updates, they are including the hashtag #IranElection in their messages.

We are learning about the events in Iran via what people on the ground have to Tweet about it!

Even if you are staying away from Twitter for the time being, I would recommend that you take a look at the conversation by monitoring the flow of information.  I have found Twubs to be very useful for this purpose.

It’s an amazing display of how connected we really are.

#Green4Iran

In a show of support for those in Iran who are protesting for change, people have started altering their avatars to the color green.  This has created something that resembles a tribe of Jolly Green Giants all over Twitter.  When you look at the #IranElection hashtag, you will see what I mean.

To join in, I would recommend heading over to Picnik.  There, you can easily adjust your photo to give it that nice green tint.  Here are the simple instructions.

1. Navigate to www.picnik.com
2. Upload your profile picture by pressing “Upload a photo”
3. Press the “Crop” button
4. Crop your picture to 295 x 295
5. Press the”Create” tab on the top
6. Select “Effects”
7. Scroll down to “Tint”
8. Pick a shade of green that works for you
9. Click “Save & Share”
10. Now upload your picture to your profile in Twitter

Small Acts That Change The World

Changing your profile picture to green will not, in itself, change the world.  However, thousands upon thousands of green pictures… well, perhaps something can be accomplished.

I’m not an in-your-face political kind of guy.  I value differences in opinion and love healthy dialogue.  However, it’s become increasingly apparent that I am like this and that I enjoy the healthy dialogue because I live in a country where I can do just that.  If my ability to fairly cast a ballot were to be removed… well, that’s a different matter.  I suppose I would then rely on my right to bear arms…

I show support for those in Iran because I believe in the democratic ideal.  Together we vote, together we decide.

Social media is changing the world.  Are you ready to participate?

Photo Credit, Daveybot

Great news!  Looks like we have a new hashtag on Twitter for HR and Recruiting.  This morning, while mowing the lawn, it occurred to me that there are very few current methods employed for us to connect as a larger community on Twitter.  It seems to me that if we can connect, we would be able to help each other on a large scale in real time.  Imagine the power of being able to touch your HR colleagues from around the country and world within seconds regarding a question… this could be fantastic!

So, the question is “How do we all connect?”

First, it’s important that we establish a channel of communication for us to introduce ourselves.  This can be achieve by using a hashtag.  This morning I decided to use #followhr because it is both short and pretty self descriptive.  So, what you want to do is the following.  Once you have logged on to your Twitter account, send out a Tweet in this format:

#followhr Howdy! (Or other greeting!) My name is (fill in). I’m a (Your Title or Function). I’m based in (Your Location).

Once you Tweet this out, people who follow the #followhr hashtag will be able to find you and start following you.

If you are using TweetDeck, there are a few things I recommend.

TweetDeck For Following #followhr And Organizing

Within TweetDeck, you need to select the magnifying glass on the top and create a search for “#followhr”.

In this manner, you will be notified every time a new person introduces themselves.  If you start following them, likelihood says that they will follow you back.

Now, the key issue becomes taking this community to the next level.  That’s to say… how are we going to stay in touch and respond to the community?

The solution is pretty simple.  Within TweetDeck, select the group button on top.  The icon you are looking for is the one that appears to have two small people standing one in front of the other.  Once you have the new group open, title it “HR Friends”.

Then, going forward, you will want to not only start following people once they introduce themselves, but then add them to your new “HR Friends” group.  This makes it very easy to plug in to this target community and, in the long run, develop some great HR relationships.  If you are using TweetDeck, you can start following someone and then simply select the “add to group” button next to the “follow” button.

I hope that this helps.  I know that it will be good for all of us.

If you have questions, feel free to comment and I’ll do my best to respond or address them in a follow-up blog post.

Let’s get #followhr going!  It takes the entire community to make this work.  Hopefully you can see the value in harnessing the collective knowledge of the HR industry.

It takes a village in any effort like this, so I’m going to need your help.  I will commit to staying on this and spreading the word about #followhr.  You can help by spreading the word as well.  Every day for the next few weeks, I will Tweet out the following message:

“Introduce yourself to the #HR community! #followhr (greeting, name, function, location). Let’s all connect!”

If you all do the same, we will make this a raging success!

Are you in? Are you really in?

Picture credit to Niallkennedy!

What fuels me the most must be curiosity.  I can’t help but to ponder the future direction of something when it strikes my curiosity chord.  If I meet a person, my mind automatically wanders into how that person can be the best, advance to the next step or ultimately meet their personal goals.  Perhaps that’s why I love recruiting… but, in all reality, it’s a larger OCD-like tendency to future map my surroundings.  The things and people that surround us really do have a massive impact on our realities.

I wonder how Facebook plans to shape my Mom’s future reality.  Hopefully it will be for the better.  I also hope that, while taking advantage of these great tools for sharing pictures and mini-messages, you still consider picking up the phone every once in a while.  Whether it be your Mom, neighbor or best friend… social media should be a way to compliment your relationships, not dominate them.

The ability to share our very human experience is a great gift.  It is from that fundamental building block that we go on to create friendships, start families and enjoy life for the journey that it is.

My Dad loves to cite a story about a man who figured out how many weekends he would have left before the estimated end of his life.  He took the average life span of a man and subtracted his age in years.  He then multiplied the figure by the number of weekends in a year.  With his resulting amount of “weekends left” he headed to the hobby store to buy enough marbles to represent every weekend he had left in his life.  When he got back home he placed these marbles in a mason jar by his desk.  Every weekend he removed one marble from the jar as a reminder that this won’t go on forever.

So, smile! Be grateful and do something nice for those around you.  If that means nothing more than inviting them to Facebook and sending them a picture, go for it!

How do you value the marbles in your mason jar?