02/20/2013
Looking Forward to HR2013
by Sharon Newton, CEO of hyperCision
I’m looking forward to HR2013 for many reasons – some old and some new. I have participated in the SAPInsider conferences since 2007 when I was asked to fill in for a last minute cancelation. HR2007 was my first large conference speaking engagement, and I remember being impressed at how organized every detail of the conference was. My point of contact then was AJ Whalen, and he was a pleasure to work with. Now that I am privileged to work with Amy Thistle and the rest of her team, the focus on quality and efficiency continues. Since that first conference in 2007, I’ve attended and presented at many other conferences but SAPinsider is consistent in their attention to detail and the level of professionalism and friendliness of everyone on the conference team is unmatched.
I mentioned AJ in my previous paragraph and the opportunity to catch up with AJ and other friends, colleagues, and customers is another reason I look forward to HR2013. One of my best friends from graduate school is attending the conference for the first time (he started at SAP within months of me, in 1996), so I’ll get to chat with him about his new company (shout out to Prairie Fire Consulting) as well as many others. I love catching up on everyone’s plans and finding out what they are doing, whether it is a new consulting engagement, new organizational initiatives, or future trips to Africa (Scott- I’m talking to you! Can’t wait to hear about your plans.) And at HR2013 I get see everyone on my team in one place, as our entire company attends and participates.
Along those same lines, HR2013 is going to offer opportunities to meet many new people. Over the last year, I’ve met many new members of the SAP family who joined through SuccessFactors. I have enjoyed many conversations regarding a spectrum of topics from validated systems in the cloud to best practices for OJT. The fresh perspective from the SuccessFactors folks was appreciated last year at HR2012, and I can’t wait to see what they are going to share with us this year. Last year was also the year I met famous Tweeters (and excellent consultants) Martin Gillet and Luke Marson – who knows which celebrities I’ll encounter this year ;) Finally, meeting new customers and talking to them about where they’ve been and what they’re planning on doing with their solutions in the upcoming year is always a pleasure.
Knowledge sharing is the final reason I’ll provide for looking forward to HR2013. Knowledge sharing is the major reason I’m a consultant – technology and process are always improving, and my job lets me be on the cutting edge of this change. HR2013 Case Studies provide the opportunity to learn from customers on the front line about what has worked for them and what they’d do differently the next time around. During the conference, solution management, product management and developers from SAP announce new features and talk about the latest and greatest in functionality. And all the presenters discuss how they have leveraged SAP and SuccessFactors to improve process, user experience and their bottom line.
I know that when I leave Las Vegas next Friday, I will have attended one of the most useful conferences of the year. I will have added friends and contacts to my professional and personal network and will return to home to Oak Park with new tools to help me support my team and customers in our SAP/SucessFactors initiatives. (Blog post from the Insider Learning Network)
Maybe I'll see you next week in Vegas! Register for HR2013 today.
