ERE Expo in its 10th Year! Lookout world. We're all growed up.

Next week is the ERE Expo in San Diego and it's now in its 10th year.

Wow. In recruiting-life years that's like -- well -- 100. Two economic meltdowns later and the ERE plans on having one of its biggest events to date.

I went to the first ERE Expo in March of 2001 and wandered aimlessly and invisible from session to session. Even during the WetFeet harbor cruise I felt awkward, as if I were the geek lead in a John Hughes film.

Kevin Plantan, VP of Sales for ERE Media, and I were recently talking about just that experience because he had just joined CEO David Manaster's team six months prior to that and was new to the space as well.

Invisible and wet behind the ears (as the saying goes) in the HR/recruiting marketplace. When I first entered the space over a decade ago, a year before the first ERE Expo, I went to work as a sourcing account manager for a company called Tapestry.net prior to taking over the marketing communications function and internal sales team.

In all my previous incarnations, including my current one as President of HRmarketer.com, I’ve hired dozens and dozens of employees – from higher education to high-tech to the HR marketplace, marketing and PR. I’ve played recruiter, hiring manager and human resources, although I’ve never officially held the title of any with the exception of sourcer at Tapesty.net.

Which is why I'm excited to return to the ERE Expo nine years later -- to continue to learn from the best in the business.

Just check out the agenda. It's a plethora of mad road driving recruitment and hip hiring thought leadership. Illuminate. (It's a Kerouac thing with me.)

Amazing. I can't wait for the sessions, the networking, the expo hall (of course), the ERE Foundation's charity poker tournament to support the children affected by the earthquake in Haiti...

Lookout world. We're all growed up.

Post by Kevin W. Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn - and now join HRmarketer on Twitter!)


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