A first-timer at the HR Tech Conference

Mark Stelzner mentions that HR Tech provides a reunion atmosphere, but what if you went to a different school? The good news is, people are friendly, particularly if you meet them via an introduction. Relationships still matter. And conversations thrived in the less formal atmospheres fueled by happy hours (or happy booths).

Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were spent wandering the floor with two other first time attendees, each of whom represented small to mid-sized HR departments.There were a number of engaging booths, though the multiple magicians did not pique our interest. We had a great discussion with a rep at the bSwift booth, about the future of intranets and how they could mirror current social network design. Ping‘s single password software reflects the debate regarding best-of-breed systems working together. Workday‘s inclusion of clients and partners with their booth reps is smart, placing value on content and experience. One of their presentations focused on third-party integration even included Rypple!

Workday's booth included presentations by both partners and clients.

There were spots of technological innovation within the conference, though I’d hoped to see more. The QR codes and scanners are a first step to eliminating business cards.  Internet access was zippy, if outlets and places to sit and get online sparse. Paper copies of slides passed out at the closing keynote were a final dead-tree relic.  I hope more content is pushed online next year, and think it would be great if presenters and companies focused on the mobile web potential at conferences, given the prevalence of smartphones.

Last but not least, it was great to participate in HR Tech as a member of the Rypple team.  We were honored to be a HRE top 10 product of 2010 and part of the Awesome Tech Demo.  We had a blast chatting with old friends and new at a pizza lunch and blogger meetup.  And we were able to connect with some of our Chicago users.  All in all, a fantastic conference and trip!

View more presentations from Rypple.