ATL SourceCon 2014 (yes you read that right...)

This is so cringe, but at the same time....awwwww!

#SourceCon Missive. Star Date 1

I have confession to make. As recruiting’s self-appointed conference queen, I’ve been to SXSW, HR Tech, SHRM national, state conferences, unconferences, every ERE since 200-noneofyourbusiness but I’ve never been to SourceCon.

There are a lot of reasons but numero uno is this. I thought it was just for sourcers. I also (secretly) thought maybe I wasn’t smart enough. After all, aren’t sourcers our industry geeks? Don’t they play in fields of data while the rest of us are the Glengarry Glen Ross of the talent acquisition game? No, SourceCon wasn’t for me. I’d be out of my depth.

I felt even more out of place when I walked into the lobby last night, suitcase in tow. Can I help SourceCon reach people like me? People who while intensely interested in all things talent acquisition are a little…intimidated by the brainiacs that flock to the conference and the network daily.  Here are three things I learned before my head even hit the pillow.

1)   It’s hard to find a sourcer. While it’s right there in the name, I haven’t yet found a VP of sourcing or a sourcing manager here. Instead I found myself swapping stories with talent community managers, SHRM board members, and recruiting teams wanting to learn more about regional recruitment marketing. It’s not that SourceCon is missing it’s mark, it’s that the definition of what a sourcer done is expanding at a rapid pace. That said, these people have specific questions and want real answers, not BS theory.

2)   Reporting matters here, even at 2 am. When you go to conferences as often as I do, you will find yourself engaged in late conversations and this is no exception. What is exceptional is that 80% of the people passionately talking at the hotel bar were not saying the usual “I love you man!” tropes. Instead they are discussing the chasms in candidate self-reporting source of hire (fascinating, this may have been me) and how employer branding and recruitment marketing are changing the jobs that morphed from the original “researcher” role. And the sounds of “But how do you REPORT on it!” echoed through the halls of the hotel more than once.

3)   Sourcing = Strategy. For a really long time, I thought that because it was the geeky side of recruiting, that sourcing must also be the tactical side. So not true. In fact, sourcing is really strategic by nature, making it an increasingly important skill as more of our recruiting process goes online and becomes ever more data-rich. That doesn’t mean it has to be complicated, instead it means that the simplest, most efficient route is found, used and processtized (that is a new word).

Someone told me that since I was here it was “finally a real conference” which was flattering and one of the reasons I put it in this article but also it belies an underlying fear/hope. The fear is that SourceCon, initially a meet up for Atlanta’s to sourcing minds will turn into the overcrowded, consultant-laden slag heap that many “tech” conferences have become. The hope is that the smartest recruiters, talent acquisition pros and MAYBE EVEN HR people will start learning just what it is their geek brethren do.

SourceCon Missive Star Date 2 

Have you ever seen a magician perform? It’s mesmerizing right? Someone defying what you know to be true right before your eyes. Many walking the halls of SourceCon felt the same way, after hearing Johnny Campbell speak.

As I interviewed veterans and first-time SourceCon attendees alike, at least 70% said that Campbell’s session was their favorite. Why? I think I boiled it down to a few reasons, and they all have to do with the sourcing mentality:

1)   He proved himself. Johnny has a significant reputation, but he was both a first time SourceCon presenter AND attendee. No one held it against him though because even when he had to change his presentation last minute, he proved he had the stuff to be at the front of the room. Sourcing, it would seem, is a meritocracy, great news for those of us willing to work hard to understand these concepts.

2)   He gave credit where it was due. No fewer than five times did Johnny Campbell declare that certain ideas were not his. He pointed out sourcers that came before him, recruiters making a name for themselves today (his peers) and even people he’d trained. The sourcing mindset is fairly collaborative, at least at SourceCon. I didn’t see the competition that I am used to seeing in some recruiting or even HR conferences, even in the “inner circle”.

3)   He showed his work. Grooooooaaaaaan! Remember having to show your work in math and feeling like it was the literal worst thing ever? Well, sourcing is a bit like that too. Being able to show others how you found what you found, is like the key to the magic box (actually in magic the inverse is true, but this is blogging, not sourcing, leave me be). Johnny showed every step of his process live, on-screen, and stayed after for a long time answering questions. The gratitude the sourcing community shows for sharing is overwhelming.

Overall, there were a huge number of great presentations that pertained to sourcing, recruiting and even marketing, but this one stood out for many as a highlight. Many other attendees pointed to sessions that had similar qualities, whether it was Derek Zeller’s exploratory talk on OFCCP for sourcers or Nicole Greenberg’s gritty discussion around what is actually legal, SourceCon speakers were given a holistic, transparent and thorough glance at a subject, that for many seemed complex and opaque.

I searched my inbox but could not locate Day 3...but hey, good times.