Before I could blink an eye SocialHRCamp Vancouver came and went yesterday. 125 leading HR & Recruitment practitioners ventured out into the rain on an early Saturday morning to the BC Tech Association. All 16 speakers (15 of them first-time SocialHRCamp participants) were amazing, the sponsors (BC Tech Association, VanHack, Mindfield Group, Ruutly and Rise) were, and still are, awesome. And of course the attendees were highly engaging right from the get-go, and all the way to the end at just after 4:30pm.
I love doing these events. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing one of my industry peers experience a light bulb moment, learn a new skill, generate a new idea or make a new connection. SocialHRCamp is about pushing our limits on our ability to learn, and ultimately play bigger roles in the organizations we work for. HR is the greatest profession on the face of this planet because it’s all about the people. A great strategy is worth nothing without great people delivering it. Of course if you run an organization entirely staffed by robots you wouldn’t have to care much, but I haven’t met any organizations who do not employ humans. It’s also about scalability through technology. We need to leverage technology in what we do. It’s mandatory. Without it we cannot differentiate, add maximum value and provide the kind of business value we need to.
So with all that went down yesterday at the 15th SocialHRCamp since mid-2012, I am reflecting on the impact this little event has had on the industry. When I first started SocialHRCamp all I wanted to do was play a teeny weeny role in helping increase technology adoption within the HR & Recruitment community. No small feat because it’s a pretty big industry, but if I could positively impact just 1 peer I would consider that a success. So, I took a look at the metrics because we all love metrics, right?
Here’s What I Found.
Yesterday the impact of the #SHRC16 hashtag on Twitter was pretty consistent with past Camps. The total number of tweets using the #SHRC16 hashtag was 402. The total number of users who tweeted using #SHRC16 was 70. The total reach was 137,730. Note that reach means the total number of unique users who saw a post containing #SHRC16. The total number of impressions was 761,360. Note that impressions means the number of times that users have seen posts containing #SHRC16.
In looking at cool stats from all 15 Camps collectively, below is a summary, which when I first saw it amazed me.
Total number of Camps = 15. Total number of attendees = 1,294 (note that we cap each Camp audience at 125). Total number of speakers = 220, of which 178 were first-time speakers at SocialHRCamp. Total number of sessions = 189. Total number of sponsors = 61.
From a social media perspective each of the Camps generated approximately 750,000 impressions each. If you do the math that’s over 11 million impressions in total for all 15 Camps. That’s a pretty staggering number.
The final statistic that I wanted to share relates to feedback from attendees. We haven’t sent out the short feedback questionnaire to those who attended yesterday, but it’s worth noting that when respondents were asked how likely they were to recommend SocialHRCamp to other HR/Recruitment practitioners, more than 85% chose either “without a doubt yes” or “very likely”.
What Does All of This Mean?
To be honest, not that much. LOL… I guess the point is that the industry is finding value from participating in SocialHRCamp, whether speaking, sponsoring or simply attending as a member of the audience. All of this makes me feel great because it’s making a difference in the personal and professional lives of others. Technology is getting better and better, and the impact it has on the workplace is incredible. We simply cannot accept the status quo and continue to operate “business as usual”. We must continue to innovate, take risks, continuously learn and keep striving to add more value to our organizations.
So long as the platform remains relevant I will continue to do them. Thank-you to everyone who has joined me for the ride. I’ve enjoyed every second of it.