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Heard in the Halls, Day 3: No Booth Too Far
Good business at the edge of the world, a winner for research and a visit with the onboarding fairy.
Heard in the Halls—Tuesday, June 24
Day 3: No Booth Too Far
Booth in the back: One would think that being the very last booth on the
SHRM show floor would be a detriment to business.
Not so, says Dan White, owner of the Immigration Group of Nashville. Traffic was
steady throughout the show, he said, despite being booth No. 5446—or, as he
described it, "the edge of the world."
"We were worried we’d be talking to ourselves," said White, whose three-person
firm only deals in immigration law. "I’m pleased with the percentage of people
coming by who are interested in what we do."
It’s White’s first SHRM. And, he’s hoping to move in a little closer.
"Just so long as we’re not next to the booth with a karaoke machine," he
Award winner: SHRM on Tuesday presented the $50,000 Michael R. Losey
Human Resource Award to Herbert G. Heneman III.
Heneman is a Dickson-Bascom professor emeritus of management and human resources
at the University of Wisconsin School of Business. A researcher, Heneman also
continues to teach, speak and publish. He is the senior author of four
textbooks, the latest being Staffing Organizations, published in 2006.
"There are few more deserving of this award than Dr. Heneman," said SHRM
president and CEO Sue Meisinger. "His dedication and contributions to the
profession over the past few decades have helped shape the direction of HR and
made it the profession we know today."
Ax man: The gentle notes of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" drifted from the
Dice.com booth, courtesy of longtime Chicago musician Rob Curtis.
"I mix it up, see what turns heads," said Curtis before launching into a couple
Beatles tunes.
A full-time musician who occasionally picks away at trade shows, Curtis also has
a band that ranges from nine to 24 pieces.
"We’ve really enjoyed having him here, and I think he’s brought a lot of people
by," said a Dice staffer as she listened to Curtis strum away on "Blackbird."
Double take: Also at the Dice booth were Cory and Kristin Veselka—sisters,
singers, songwriters, dancers, models and, yes, twins.
The 22-year-old Milwaukee residents tour the globe as spokesmodels. And since
you need two dice to make a set, well, the twin concept worked quite well.
"We just got back from Mexico and Palm Springs," said Cory. Or maybe it was
Kristin. "We’re going to Vegas next week."
Fairy good idea: If you grabbed a box lunch on Tuesday—what’s up with
no fruit or veggies?—you no doubt noticed the picture of the fat guy in the
fairy suit on the outside of it.
And not far away from the tables full of lunches, there he was in person, posing
for pictures and yelling, "I’m the guy on your lunch box."
The Onboarding Fairy—only in HR, folks—was a local actor and was helping
Raleigh, North Carolina-based Peopleclick launch its new onboarding program.
The theme is whether companies are sending the right message to new hires, said
Ginny Gomez, Peopleclick’s senior VP of product management and marketing. The
new ad uses three models—new hires are told the job is like pulling teeth, that
they will be treated like royalty (guy dressed as a king) or that they’ll be
working from home (guy dressed in pajamas).
So, why the onboarding fairy? "He’s like the tooth fairy," Gomez said, "for the
job that’s like pulling teeth."
—Rick Bell
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