The Doctor tells you what happened in Vegas

Smoke, lights, action! No, it wasn’t a movie set, it was a typical few days in Vegas. Several hundred job board and online recruiting folks gathered for the last IAEWS Fall Congress (more on this in a moment). There were many conversations, deals done, and jokes exchanged. Even I – no fan of Vegas – had a good time! Here are a few things I found interesting:

• Programmatic ad buying: Matt Plummer of ZipRecruiter did a good rundown of what programmatic is and does. I think it will have the biggest impact on those sites that work with enterprise employers – the Fortune 1000 types.
• Data security: Andy Hibel of HigherEdJobs put together a great panel that mapped out what job boards should be doing – and the consequences if they don’t. This is a subject that a lot of smaller sites worry about – but don’t execute on. They should.
• Luxor elevators: The elevators in the Luxor pyramid travel sideways and up on rails. Makes for an interesting experience, particularly after a networking cocktail hour.
• Teleprompters: Monster’s Mark Stoever was the first (I believe) teleprompter user at the conference. This was good, as I originally thought the glass panels were designed to ward off snipers.
• Humor: There is never enough humor – at least on stage – at these conferences. Luckily Arte Nathan, former CHRO at Wynn Resorts, was brought back for a return engagement. I can’t repeat what he said, but it was hilarious. Ok, one word: butterflies.
• Networking: Let’s face it, the biggest value of these get-togethers in the networking, which is always lubricated by drinks and food. Based on the sound levels, I would say the networking events were successful.
• Weather: Believe it or not, both mornings I woke to rain on my hotel window. Days were overcast and gloomy. Vegas as London, I suppose.
• Breakouts: For me, from an information acquisition perspective, the breakout sessions on topics ranging from job board partners to site acquisition are the best bang for the buck. These informal groupings allow for maximum Q&A and lots of information sharing. Special props to John Bell for sharing the story of his company’s sale – I know it was gratefully received by many!
• The end and the beginning: Yes, indeed this was the last IAEWS Fall Congress….because the for-profit trade association is now called TATech: The Association for Talent Acquisition Solutions. Besides being a name that – face it – is a lot shorter and easier to say than IAEWS – TATech will expand membership to related company categories like ATSs, and will put a renewed focus on advocacy, plus a new focus on standardization. The spring conference will remain the same, but the fall conference will morph into something more like HRTech, with an expo floor – plus plans for an as-yet-unnamed European conference, too!  So I guess my advice is – stay tuned.

There were of course many things that happened in Vegas that will indeed stay there – but that’s ok. You now know everything you need to know!

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