ERE Spring - Excellent.....Really Excellent

This week I traveled with some of our sales team to the ERE Expo 2008 Spring conference in San Diego. We exhibited at this particular ERE event for the first time and it was really fabulous. Unlike the scores of trade shows I've been to in the past, they arranged exhibit hours around lunch and post session cocktails so we really had a captive audience. We met with recruiters from companies like, United Airlines, American Eagle Airlines, DaVita, Nike, Apple, Blue Cross Blue Shield and many more.

The event was two-days of sessions on all of the emerging industry trends like Workforce Planning; Employment Branding; Building Your Brand by Identifying and Sharing Stories. Branding was a huge topic discussed in the sessions and on the show floor. Over two days my colleagues (Tony Lopes, Todd Poires, Chris Hardy) and I met with more than 100 contacts and all of them wanted to talk about branding. Penelope Trunk of the Brazen Careerist presented on 'What Generation Y Really Wants, and the Barriers to Giving it to Them' where she detailed misconceptions about the generation and strategies for hiring them.

We didn't get to participate in the sessions but she generated a lot of buzz on the trade show floor with her session. The premise of her presentation is that they are far more serious and conservative than previous generations. We couldn't agree more. There has been a lot of talk over the past 2 years about 'Helicopter Parents' hovering over their young adult children, making their decisions for them. This generation is very cautious and do rely on their parents and others to help them navigate major decisions in their lives, but they do make their own choices. Part of the issue is that they are faced with more choices than any other generation (from tooth paste - to- brand of clothing) but that's another post entirely.

If you attended the show and would like to share your thoughts, please post a comment. If you weren't there and have questions about what you missed, let us know!! Following are some pictures from the event. We had a great time and look forward to exhibiting at the ERE show next fall in Florida!