On Sunday morning, bright and early, I will board a plane with a colleague to attend the 47th Annual ASHHRA Conference in Phoenix, AZ.  The ASHHRA Conference is one of the first big human resource conferences that I ever attended.  And I have to say, that it was at that particular conference that I came to know and love “conferencing”.  I look forward to visiting with members of the Healthcare  Human Resource Industry – sharing ideas, struggles, and solutions.

Sunday is also 9/11/2011 – ten years to the day.  And this marks the first time I have decided to travel on 9/11 since that fateful morning.

Ten years ago, my oldest daughter had just started her freshman year of high school.  Early on a Tuesday morning, as she prepared to continue her second week of school, that freshman daughter knocked frantically on my bedroom door and compelled us to come to the living room – something had happened in New York, a plane had crashed – and we should know about it.  It was just before 6AM PST and during the course of the next hour, as my children sat around me, we watched – live – as the second plane crashed into the South Tower.

I sat there numb – for I didn’t know what to say to my children, I didn’t have a clue as to how to tell them what we had just witnessed and how they or anyone should or even could handle it.  For days, video streamed in with stories of survival.

I will never forget the dust-covered faces of terror.

I still struggle with the words, with the reason as to why and how… I was a mother – it is my innate nature to protect my children and as we sat there – together – I had nothing – no solace, no words of wisdom, no guidance, no euphemism, nothing.  The terror that rose in my heart and soul that day remains part of who I am, who I will continue to be.  For we had faced it together, as a family, as a neighborhood, as a nation.

The smallness of who I was and what I could realistically achieve, in the vast configuration of things, was solidified by what I witnessed.  I was nothing, I could no more protect my family – my four small children – from unknown terror, than I could colonize the moon.  Our feelings of safety and security would be forever compromised, forever unharnessed.   I will never again take for granted carefree feelings, like those I had on 9/11/1977 when I was a 14-year old – who like my daughter, was also a freshman in high school though my 9/11 was not a school day, it was a Sunday and we were a nation-at-peace, something of which my son, now  14 and a freshman himself, has never experienced.   I miss that freedom, the liberated joy we once held so lightly.

Yes, we lost innocence on 9/11/2001 – yes, our lives were changed forever.  But what I gained, what was renewed in me and many others like me, will never escape my clutches again.

Appreciation.

Appreciation for those who secure my freedom daily, who sacrificed their own that day and who surrender all, in the name of liberty.  Selflessly – liberty for me & the citizens of the world and Selfishly – liberty for themselves.

I extend my arms to you – face up, open palms, in utter supplication.  Thank you.  Thank you so much.

I board a plane on Sunday, September 11, 2011 – ten years to the day later because I do not live in fear.

I simply live.

“We welcome change and openness – for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.”  – Ronald Reagan

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.

At a recent conference, a group was standing around and someone (who shall remain anonymous) bravely spoke up and stated a fact many of us have been feeling, thinking, and trying to figure out. “I really am tired of this whole social media thing.” There was a bit of silence, but the nodding heads proved that many of us were in agreement.

As a first time atendee to the SHRM Global Conference, I wanted to get the most out of every single minute in sessions, keynotes, and evening activities. A conference is more than just sessions, tracks, talks, and the bookstore.  It’s about a state of mind and experiencing your conference experience outside the box and outside of SHRM.

• Self Reflection. The conference is action packed but between sessions and events, we must self-reflect and decompress otherwise we can quickly approach information overload.  I found sanctuary during my state at SHRM in the HRCI Hideaway.  Certified professionals can relax, eat, and engage quietly from the crowds.  One of the highlights of my conference experience was my 15 minute back, neck and foot massage in the Hideaway.

• Mingle. Mingle outside your comfort zone and outside your circle of friends at large and small conferences and events such as this.  SHRM encourages networking among like-minded professionals in a comfortable and controlled atmosphere with a program called, Meet and Eat. I attended dinner at la Fiesta with 19 other strangers over dinner and met some amazing HR professionals from all over the United States. Meet and Eat has groups from large to small at a variety of different restaurants throughout the conference.  I encourage all professionals to attend an event such as this.

• Be Friends with Vendors. To make the most of my time when visiting the vendor hall, I targeted specific vendors in which to meet with.  Just like when making my grocery list, I created a list in order of booth number to make my visits organized, smooth, and controlled.  Because I am a consultant and business owner who is always in sales and engagement mode, I wanted to make the most of my time.  I employ this strategy at the grocery store by writing my list in order of the store and depending on how busy the store is, I leave with a cart full of groceries in 30 minutes.

• Social Stream. Hands down the social stream in my opinion was the best way to engage the conference outside of the box whether you are here in San Diego or listening in from your office, smart phone, or living room.  At the time of this blog post being published, there were over 5,700 tweets that included the #shrm10 hash tag over 7 days.  The Monster Street team with @beneubanks and @cincyrecruiter, Smart Brief’s video coverage of the conference and  along with the other three members of the SHRM 10 Blog Squad, David Bowles, @akabruno, and @adowling.

I think that Eric Winegardner, the VP of Client Adoption at Monster Worldwide said it best, “This conference (SHRM) is about optimisim and with tools like social media we no longer have to say, see you next year.  We can say see you tomorrow.”

Winegardner’s sentiments have been echoed throughout this amazing event.   The openness is surprising refreshing and with the rapid adoption of social media at this conference, SHRM can truly say it’s officially moving to Next and outside of the conference, outside of the box.

Photo Credit Go Smell the Coffee.

“Bringing like-minded people together in an un-conference format.”

That’s the petty much sums up the idea of Get Social Conference.  My friend, Bryan Wempen and I have put together a series of 1/2 traveling unconferences that will reach a number of midwest locations.  For a number of the general professional population, the concept of social media is still very new.  Budgets are tight.  Businesses can’t afford to send their teams or employees to events like the 140 Conference in NYC or SXSW.  It’s just not in the budget and with cut backs and re-organizations. The workload shift for a team is a hard burdon to manage while someone runs off to sunny Austin attending late night parties and interactive sessions.

Our solution lies in bringing the conference to them.  Yes, we’ll travel to you!  Our events will consist of small 100+ person venues in an intimate and informal atmosphere that allows for interaction, learning, creativity, and collaboration, the good stuff.  Persons who can benefit by attending these events are decision makers, creatives or curious, and people who are new to social media or seasoned but eager to learn how different industries, thought leaders, and businesses are using social media to grow their companies and organizations.  We aim to bring business leaders from a variety of different industries–publication, PR, Marketing, entreprenuers, bloggers, HR, Services, and more.

It’s going to be fun!  And what is really exciting is that we have just opened registration for our first event in Tulsa, Oklahoma for May 4th, 2010.  The cost to register is $75 and includes 9 tracks with leaders from literally all over the world.  Registration starts at 1:30 that day with tracks ending at 5:00 followed by a networking event or tweetup.

To learn more or register visit our Tulsa Get Social Page and feel free to visit the site.  Companies can also inquire about sponsorship opportunities at the Tulsa event or upcoming events as we begin to travel the Midwest.