You know how Howard Stern is the King of All Media?
I now declare Bill Boorman King of all Social Recruiting.
I’ve just returned from TruLondon, a social recruiting unconference. It started on Wednesday with a day of Master Classes – unlike any Master Classes you’ve attended. These were 45 minute sessions led by experts on topics ranging from Global Diversity (one of the sessions I led) to HR Challenges to Personal Branding to Case Studies of Rackspace, Hard Rock Café and Zappos (another session I led). The session leaders presented prepared remarks for 10-15 minutes and then opened the floor to questions and discussion. Three sessions, sometimes four at a time, gave the attendees a real smorgasbord of learning and opportunities to engage. Thought leaders and practitioners from all over the world attended, although the U.K. and the U.S. seemed to represent about 85% of the crowd.
On Thursday the real two-day unconference began and the meetings rooms overflowed with energy, expertise and passion for social recruiting. TruLondon was, quite simply, a happening.
A couple of words about Bill Boorman, the self-described conference disorganizer, and host to all the track leaders, sponsors and attendees. He’s like the ring leader at the circus. He keeps the lions at bay, makes the 
elephants behave and keeps the horses jumping through flames of fire – all while delighting the crowd. If the timing isn’t quite as posted, if the speakers’ topics change at a moment’s notice, if a speaker doesn’t show: no matter. Our genial host was out in front ensuring that everything ran smoothly. And it did. In a manner of speaking. Because the focus was on engagement not precision of operations. I rather liked that.
Bill collected an incredible array of talent and expertise from the global social recruiting scene to lead sessions and to participate in the discussions. In fact, it was hard to tell the experts from the attendees: everyone was energized and passionate about connecting, learning and sharing. It was less of a conference and more of a revival meeting.
From my perspective attending TruLondon provided a rich and meaningful experience:
- I met many social recruiting experts from all over the world with whom I’ve connected through social media but never met face to face
- I learned so much about the intersection between recruiting, social media and technology – especially what’s happening that’s innovative and bleeding edge
- I have a much greater understanding about job boards and their role in the employment cycle (thank you, JobSite!)
- And I have a sense that the confluence of global talent needs, the recruiting function, social media and technology holds great promise for organization leaders as we create sustainable strategies for managing our talent and our talent pipelines
- And, it was in London, my favorite city in the world
Bill’s Tru Unconferences – coming to a new city every month this year – need to be experienced. If you are a recruiter – internal or third party, if you are an HR professional, if you are involved in talent communities, heck, if you just want to hang out with smart visionaries and talk one-on-one with thought leaders in this space, you should attend a Tru Unconference. But come ready to share, to engage, to network, to connect and to participate.
And leave your notions of what a recruiting conference should be at the door.
chinagorman.com 