You might be tired of hearing about my goal to attend 3 conferences this year.

Well, I’m not tired of talking about it. Because saying what you’re going to do, doing what you say you’re going to do and letting people know that you did what you said you were going to do is a good thing. It’s the foundation of integrity and good character.

And on Sunday, I head to Drury Lane outside of Chicago for the Illinois State SHRM conference! I am ridiculously excited about it. Here’s why:

• Great planning. Just look at this matrix of the sessions! I will not only get to see some of the great folks from the Louisiana SHRM conference again — but I get to see several speakers that I missed and some awesome, new and different voices. Another thing I love is the effort the ILSHRM planning team has put into integrating social media into the event. There’s the Talent Net Recruiting Conference within the Conference where they will teach about using social media in recruiting and branding. The Illinois event will also include a Social Media Lab where novices and experts can go to get help setting up and understanding all the world of social networking has to offer! And Dovetail Software is sponsoring a Tweetup for conference attendees to relax, unwind, network and share following the end of Monday’s sessions.
• The Social Media Dream Team. The lineup of bloggers to cover the event is spectacular. I’m talking 1992 Olympics in Barcelona! I’m honored to be apart of the squad. I can’t wait to spend time with this group, gleaning their blogger energy and reading their writing … And there are at least a dozen people NOT officially on the Team who will be at the event that I interact with regularly (I don’t want to try to list them because I’m afraid I’ll miss someone). There’s nothing better than putting faces with names and Twitter @’s!
• I love Conferences. Yep, I do. I know there are lots of people out there who think conferences are a waste of time, that “real HR” happens in offices. And I mostly agree with that. Honestly, I don’t go to conferences expecting to necessarily learn anything new or revolutionary. For me, conferences are like Sunday church services — they help the lost, call new believers and encourage those already on the journey! (Can I get an Amen?!?)

This time, in addition to Twitter, I will share updates and photos on Facebook and brief blog posts from the event. So be sure to “follow” and “like” and “subscribe” so you won’t miss a moment of all the good HR wisdom nuggets!

Move over, Muffin Man!! HR is coming to Drury Lane …