Is it TRU that I’m a geek for spending 3 days with a hotel full of sourcers? Maybe, but you’re the loser for not attending (accept those so graciously stuck on the ground in the UK) and missing out on truevents1 seriously great content. This was another corporate conference with 300 booths and paid keynotes. This conference was different.

It was all about 2 letters. U and N. There’s been a movement going across the globe referred to as the Unconference. Not just for recruiting but nearly ever sector has them. The reason is that these conferences all over packed with more passion and more drive than any other conference you will attend.  Those that attend these conferences typically do so on their own dime because they are serious about education. These are the sourcers that choose to be in their profession and are not the ones that are recruiting because they can’t find another job.

So what made my experience at TRU USA far exceed any other recruiting conferences to date?

  1. Let’s start with the fact that all of the attendees talk to each other, and the ice breakers are not industry related. The conversations are real.
  2. It’s casual. No suites here (unless you are in London with Jim Stroud) And casual makes a big difference. There is no corporate presence or products being jammed down your throat and that promotes TRU learning.
  3. Sourcers are hard core people. There are some serious skills that are on display here and we are not afraid to claim the top post. Along the way we have no problems sharing top sourcing practices with others in the room. @levyrecruits (Steve Levy) open some new channels for me that as of tomorrow will be on display for my Pharma teams back at Kenexa.
  4. By the end of day 1, multiple brain trusts have formed. Idea are exchanged and inevitiably products were created. Serious products. It’s an interesting dynamic that the vendors do not show up, and that’s probably a great thing. We like to break things and tell you why they suck and what you need to do to make a significant impact. Not that we wouldn’t tell you as it is, but doing this behind closed doors allows us to get geeky and zone out.
  5. Sourcers can party

In the end I can publish a weeklong series on the brain swell I acquired these last couple of days, but that‘s not the important part. The significance is that I got to do what I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.

How about you?

#Hewitt

@HRMargo You are gonna f$%$*#& kill us!

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By Noel Cocca

CEO/Founder RecruitingDaily and avid skier, coach and avid father of two trying to keep up with my altruistic wife. Producing at the sweet spot talent acquisition to create great content for the living breathing human beings in recruiting and hiring. I try to ease the biggest to smallest problems from start-ups to enterprise. Founder of RecruitingDaily and our merry band of rabble-rousers.