If you have been following some of the announcements that I have made in the recent weeks regarding SocialHRCamp you’ll notice a bit of a trend. Believe me, I am the last person to frequently use “words of the day”, terms and phrases but in this case I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than “disruptive behaviour”.
When I first launched SocialHRCamp in early 2012 I had a vision. The core of why I started the interactive learning platform was to help the HR Community learn how to use social media and emerging HR technology in the workplace. As an industry HR severely lags behind their Marketing, Communications and Sales counterparts, 
and I wanted to do something about it.
It has definitely been an adventure to this point, but it’s been an eye-opening and exciting experience. Aside from striving to help reduce the adoption problem I also wanted to incorporate other elements, such as support for emerging HR/Recruitment technology start-ups, emerging thought-leaders and practitioners, and philanthropy. I am extremely proud to say that I can put a tick mark next to all of these.
I have made it really easy for bootstrapped start-ups to sponsor and play a major role in SocialHRCamp while increasing their own brand awareness. We all know how difficult it is for start-ups to “make it”, particularly in the competitive world of HR and Recruitment technology. If I can play a little role in making it easier for them then I’ve achieved my goal.
I recently launched a philanthropic project with Free The Children to raise money to support further development of a school in the Amazon region of Ecuador. The goal of this project is to give more children in these rural communities of Mondaña and Bellavista the opportunities for education that my own kids have in Canada. 60% of all Camp proceeds in 2014 and 2015 will be committed to the project fund. For more information have a look at the announcement on the Camp blog here and in the Philanthropy section of the website here.
An interesting trend for SocialHRCamp is, rarely do speakers participate in more than 1 SocialHRCamp. It’s not that I don’t want speakers to return, I prefer giving other people an opportunity. Many of our speakers are speaking for the very first time, and have been able to use SocialHRCamp to expand their horizons and build personal brand awareness. Just ask Stacy Donovan Zapar who did her first-ever public-speaking gig at SocialHRCamp San Francisco in 2012. She then went on in 2013 to speak at events all over the world.
So as SocialHRCamp continues its evolution who knows what the next disruptive decision will be. One thing I do know is we have some more cool announcements yet to come, and they each are a little disruptive in their own way. Stay tuned!
If you are interested in attending SocialHRCamp Toronto on November 13th at the Achievers Canadian headquarters in Liberty Village please click on the button below to “express your interest” – it’s an invite-only event.
If you are not planning to attend a future Camp and want to contribute to the Free The Children project please click on the widget below and donate. Any amount helps.