What to Wear to HRevolution, & 10 Other Things You Should Know

HRevolution starts Friday night, folks, with a red carpet tweet up at the Wit Hotel in Chicago—that’s just a few short days away!

I know folks are starting to get antsy; the #HRevolution Twitter stream attests to that. Some are going further to start the conversation—Ben Eubanks created a LinkedIn list of attendees, and Benjamin McCall even put out a terrific list of things not to do at an unconference.

And I know there are still a few questions. Now, ultimately, only showing up on Saturday will answer all of those questions. But in the meantime, Trish, Mark, Steve and I are all taking a crack today at filling in some of the gaps.

Let’s start with the basics:

At HRevolution, we believe individuals and organizations embrace the future when given the opportunity to discuss and test their ideas in a safe environment.

The HRevolution unconference exists to catalyze HR’s continuous development, by providing an open forum for discussion, collaboration, and relationship building within the global HR industry.

We start here because everything that follows flows from this.

But, if assuming you’re like me and want everything spelled out for you because you lack the available brain neurons to think anymore, allow me to get tactical:

• What should I wear?
  Remember college? When somehow, the fact you were in pajama pants didn’t stop you from being the smartest person in your econ class? See where I’m going with this? No? OK, Let me be blunt: wear whatever you want. Dress it up, dress it down. Personally, I don’t care. This is an intimate event where everyone is participating as an equal, so I’m going to judge you based on your contribution, not your socks. Though if you take a big wardrobe risk, prepare to back it up with big time contributions on Saturday or I might just call you out on my blog next Tuesday.
• OMG, I’m going to meet Laurie Ruettimann and Lance Haun and Steve Boese and…
  Not to put any pressure on you, but you do know that we’ve torn down the fourth wall here, and those bloggers you love won’t be up on some stage, but will be in the chairs on either side of you, right? HRevolution is about democratizing the voice of HR—to be part of that, you’ll need to be prepared to engage without being bullied by others’ reputations. My suggestion? Get your butt to the Monster-sponsored tweet up Friday night and shake hands with everyone in an easy, social setting.
• I’m worried I’ll have really bad breath.
  Bring gum.
• Can I troll for business?
  No. Yes. No. You’re here for the discussion. Earn your business by being interested in others, drawing them to you, and then being scintillating and knowledgeable and problem-solvey when they ask about you. There are excellent events designed to allow vendors to showcase their wares for prospective customers. This isn’t that event.
• I want to sit in on everything!
  Good, then we’ve put together a great program! To make your day worthwhile, make tough choices. Divide and conquer. Send friends to other sessions and compare notes. Join the conversation already in progress online by looking up participants blogs (check our our LinkedIn or Twitter profiles for the links.)
• I don’t know anyone else who’s going. What’s the best way to meet them?
  By introducing yourself. Seriously, don’t worry about it. Find me, I’ll help you out. Come out Fri night and Saturday night. As Woody Allen said, 90% of life is just showing up.
• How will the unconference differ from a conference?
  Imagine that we’ve packaged up all the sidebar conversations, all the back-row chatter, all the lunch debriefs, and built a day around just that. Voila.
• What’s your policy on risk taking?
  You want to know the policy on risk taking? From a guy who’s motto, URL, and t-shirts all read “Fail Spectacularly“? I’ll give you one guess. That said, understand that not every risk pays off. You need to be prepared to live with the consequences if yours doesn’t.
• How will I find people when I arrive?
  I’m not sure. I suggest (1) taking a look at the HRevolution LinkedIn group for an idea of where people will be, (2) following the #HRevolution thread on Twitter, and (3) hanging out in the lobby if that doesn’t work, and (4) exploring Chicago on your own if that doesn’t work.
• How do we get back and forth between the hotel and the venue?
  Most likely, taxis. It’s a one mile trip that will only take a few minutes. We are looking into the possibility of a shuttle—no promises at this point.
• How are the rooms laid out?
  Great question to end with! Rooms are all set up differently: two areas have small tables clustered together. One are has 6 tables in a “sun burst” pattern—the facilitator will be working in the round. And one has couches arranged as if someone smooshed 3 family rooms together. There is also additional space for breakout sessions and semi-private conversations. We expect that your group will either take advantage of the creative layout of your session space or simply move your chairs around as desired.

Phew… that’s a lot! More questions? Lemme hear ‘em!

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