Having been an absentee blogger for the past few months (a few you might understand that I was a bit busy with a certain company named Infor — I’m trying to make up for it this week!), it seemed appropriate to include a sales pitch. Wait…how does that make any sense?
A sales pitch for someone else’s stuff. In this case it’s the 2011 HR Technology Conference, being held October 3-5 in Las Vegas. And thank god for the new venue. As I’ve said to the conference folks repeatedly, we were all sick of being stuck 5 miles from one of the best cities in the world (Chicago) at one of the worst convention centers on earth (McCormick Place). Now the distractions of Las Vegas will create other issues (your secrets are safe with me), but the change of scenery will be refreshing.
I’ve lost count — I think I’ve been to at least 10 of these events in the past 14 years, and on three occasions have had the opportunity to accelerate the greying of my hair by presenting at one of the infamous shootouts. Too bad there isn’t one this year — there’s no dark hairs on my head left to impact. Oh well.
This year’s event looks just as good, and I am particularly excited to use the event to talk more about the many interesting things to come as Lawson and Infor deepen their relationship around HCM.
Most of all, though, this event is the premiere opportunity for our industry to network, connect and share insights in a world that doesn’t involve Facebook or Twitter. Face-to-face interactions like those that go on at this conference are unlike any other. And as a vendor who invests heavily in sponsorships and events to spread the word about our products and thank our customers, we find it just as valuable.
So my message today is to encourage you to attend. And to provide a bit of motivation, the conference organizers have given me the opportunity to offer you a deal on registration: just use the Promotion Code DUNIVAN11 (all caps) when you register online to get $500 off the rack rate of $1,795. The discount expires September 19, and you can go directly to the registration link by going to http://www.HRTechnologyConference.com/.
Nowhere else will you find so many like-minded people from at least a dozen countries in one place. Everyone you need to know to solve whatever challenge (or problem) you have in HR will be there. If HR technology is ultimately your executive responsibility, your actual job, your current headache, or something you know you just need to learn more about for your career – you should consider attending.
One last thing — a few years ago, Lawson held its user conference in Las Vegas, and after one of our pre-event meetings, where the numbers 7 and 11 kept coming up (and always in a negative context), I just HAD to play them on the roulette wheel. And yes (I swear!), 11 came up and paid me over $350. That wasn’t going to happen in Chicago, and maybe it will be your turn this year in the Casino.
See you in Las Vegas!
