Why you should consider attending SourceCon in Atlanta on September 11-13
(email from Shally Steckerl on Aug 8, 2007)

Glenn, here's why I think you should attend SourceCon in Atlanta on September 11-13:

Read below for the inside scoop on speakers, attendees, presentations, and our controversial panel, and finally a special discount from yours truly :)

I got my start in research only a few years ago, in 1996, when I realized that as a contingency recruiter I could beat the competition by finding talent in their natural habitat and not in traditional mainstream sources.

I began experimenting with methods to uncover talent in unconventional places and this led to a career discovering and implementing those techniques. Since then I have built several centralized sourcing and research organizations from the ground up and consulted with many others on how to do it. Now I divide my time between speaking about passive candidate pipeline generation at major conferences worldwide, and consulting organizations on how to build centralized research teams and develop their advanced sourcing skills.

As an often-requested speaker and public figure, I have endeavored to raise the bar for the sourcing and research industry. My dream has been to elevate the perception of a researcher from that of an unfamiliar and often misunderstood support function into its proper place as a highly coveted specialty that can greatly assist organizations in their recruitment success. I believe I have accomplished some of my goal to date yet most of the conferences at which I speak dedicate only a handful of presentation slots to this topic. However, SourceCon is 100% about sourcing and research. Because of that, and my passion for this industry, I asked to be involved and was invited by the organizers to be their Strategic Consultant and Technical Advisor.

So why SourceCon? Because I am excited about the possibility that the advent of a conference like this means our profession has finally come into its own. That's good enough reason for me. But if you need a few more reasons to attend, how about these:

SPEAKERS & TOPICS

Many of the speakers who have accepted the invitation to present at SourceCon are legendary among the research community yet few of them present at traditional HR or Recruiting events. Is that because they are not good presenters or because they are not in demand? Absolutely not! It is because they have never before had a concentrated audience that completely understands them. Unlike with many other conferences, I personally look forward to every presentation at SourceCon because all the topics are directly related to what I do every day.

On the first day alone five Masters who seldom appear in public, Eric Jaquith, Rob McIntosh, Tracey Friend, Glenn Gutmacher and Krista Bradford will all be presenting ground breaking topics like:

- Sourcing Tips and Tricks: I've seen Eric present several times and always learn something new from him. He does a fantastic job of demonstrating simple, effective and inexpensive solutions to help recruiters get to the leads they need quickly. Eric's presentation will shave hours out of your weekly routines.

- Building a Talent Acquisition Sourcing Function: The Seven MUST DOs: Rob hired me into Microsoft to help him build their centralized research team. His experiences with our team there and now with Deloitte have taught him some very hard-learned lessons that he is openly willing to share with all of us. If you are building or plan to build a sourcing function, his is a presentation you absolutely must not miss.

- Outsourcing & Off-Shoring your Talent Acquisition: Tracey has a track record as a thought leader and innovator but it is her experience on both sides of the table that makes her presentation unique. As a global recruitment outsourcing product manager with a leading vendor, and also having internal experience in evaluating and implementing such services, her global view is not to be missed.

- Sourcing on a Budget: I had the honor of serving as Glenn's manager at Microsoft, but even before that, we had been collaborators for years. Glenn's inquisitive, analytical mind allows him to create inexpensive and elegant solutions to incredibly complex research problems. What he will present will make your budget feel like it is ten times its actual size.

- Competitive Intelligence and Name Generation: I've spoken alongside Krista on several occasions. She brings her keen journalistic eye, and her reporter ethics to a business fraught with grey areas. Krista's presentation will contribute to the definition of ethical name generation, and will help you get a clear understanding of how research is much more than just sourcing and adds value through uncovering competitive intelligence.

On the second day, September 13th, Danny Cahill will have the honor of the Keynote address. Danny is an extremely popular and successful speaker who runs a very productive full time staffing business. My presentation will follow his, but I can't tell you what I will be talking about because I've promised to keep it a secret. What I can tell you is that I will be revealing techniques that have never before been seen in public. I am able to do this because the conference organizers have given me permission to be unplugged and uncensored.

In the afternoon Conni LaDouceur, Marc Hutto and Denny Clark will lead a very revealing session on understanding and applying metrics. This dynamic trio were key participants in the implementation of one of the world's only profit generating internal corporate sourcing teams and it was the application of their metrics that facilitated such success.

Following that, well-known blogger and Research Manager Amybeth Hale will lead us in a discussion on what is a true researcher, and what is their value. Finally, Dave Copps will wrap up the presentations by asking Is it possible to make the whole world your database of talent? His answer to this question and how he suggests it can be done, will undoubtedly be revealing.

HARD HITTING PANEL ON PHONE VS. INTERNET

After the presentations conclude I've been asked to lead a panel to close the conference. Our topic will be Phone versus Internet and I will pull no punches as the panel's facilitator. I plan to make it as hard hitting and far reaching as our audience and panelists allow me to make it. One thing is for sure, our panelists will be unable to sit still and look pretty. In fact, I plan to have them on the verge of getting up and throwing their chairs around, Steve Ballmer style.

The idea behind this ground breaking panel will be to establish once and for all the differences between phone versus Internet research, and how they are both best utilized. I plan to expose fallacies around both methods, and ask the panelists for specific examples to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of either side. I plan to have some prepared questions that may induce cardiac arrest in our audience (or panel members), and some follow-ups that will deliver CPR, but I encourage everyone attending to bring a few questions of their own in case I'm not doing a good enough job challenging our panel.

I also promise that I will not allow grandstanding, soap boxing, personal digs, indirect sarcasm, "inside" references, or self promotion. Our panel will serve the needs of our honorable conference delegates and the greater objective of furthering our profession by adding transparency and credence to what we do. Our panel membership will consist of: Rithesh Nair (KPMG), Moises Lopez (PDS Technical Services), Russ Moon (Wachovia), Dave Mendoza (LinkedIn), Krista Bradford (The Good Search), Tim OConnor (CapGemini) and Daphne Mahotiere (Tier1 Consulting).

WHO ELSE IS COMING

Many organizations are sending their brightest sourcers and sourcing managers to the event. For example:
Aerojet
Autodesk
Barclays
BearingPoint
BoozAllen
CapGemini
CH2M Hill
Deloitte
GlaxoSmithKline
Intuit
KPMG
LinkedIn
Lockheed Martin
Microsoft
VeriSign
Wachovia

INCENTIVES

If all of the above doesn't have you booking your travel online already then how about trying to win Sourcing Challenge #3? The winner gets an all expenses paid trip to the conference!

If you insist on paying your way then at least take advantage of my discount code. As a speaker I've been authorized to extend you $100 off the individual registration price. All you have to do is click the link below to register and enter Promotion Code: JM0726

https://www.123signup.com/servlet/SignUpMember?PG=1520796182300&P=1520796191155488600

But besides a discount I want to put some of my own skin in the game so if you are one of the first ten people to use the above discount code I will send you a copy of my Advanced CheatSheet Bundle. Oh and if you register before Aug. 10th they'll give you a limited edition SourceCon 2007 T-Shirt.

See you at SourceCon!

Cheers,

Shally Steckerl
Chief CyberSleuth
Direct: (678) 388-9208
http://www.jobmachine.net/shally