As I returned home from Sourcecon in glamorous Las Vegas, one thought couldn’t escape my mind: being in the trenches in this day and age is anything but glamorous.
The event’s educational sessions certainly weren’t. It wasn’t fluffy-icing-with-cherries-on-top stuff. No, the focus was on the nitty-gritty, the daily grind of sourcing. Host ERE Media ensured the conference was a learning experience.
That’s not to say there weren’t eye-opening developments, because there were many. Take the deep dive into social engineering, for example. I never would have thought that the ability to obtain information that is not readily available would become a valuable skillset for a sourcer.
Indeed, a theme of the show was how to search out the right data to help one make the right decisions. Whether that data is acquired by verbal manipulation, or by using the sites to access data that exists in non-public databases, as outlined by strategic sourcing expert Dean DaCosta in his presentation, “Tools for Social Detective Work.”
The reality today is some sourcers are becoming hackers, and coding is now an in-demand skill among sourcers.
Click image to view more photos on Instagram – via @Social_Rhonda
Also new was Sourcecon’s Innovative Lab program in the exhibit hall. I’ve never experienced anything like it before, and I’m the queen of exhibit halls—I attend 20-plus events per year. In the Innovative Lab program, attendees worked hands-on with recruiting and sourcing companies and their products to see if they could meet their challenges. It gave attendees the opportunity to find products that are fits for their organizations.
You know what else is cool? Having watched Sourcecon grow to where it is today, a great educational experience for 800-plus attendees. During its initial years, SourceCon may have had one attendee from a company like Amazon—this year I met 10! Along with teams from Walmart, Apple, and Addias, among other high-profile companies.
At the same time, the show still feels like a meeting of an extended family. The many games, competitions and networking opportunities at the event only helped grow the Sourcecon community, and to make it even stronger.
Until the next Sourcecon! (Which happens to be Sept. 24-26 in Atlanta, if you’re wondering.)
Oh, and for a more detailed day-by-day recap of SourceCon 2018 please check out these excellent posts by ERE Editor in Chief Todd Raphael:
#SourceCon Las Vegas 2018 Day 3 Recap
#SourceCon Las Vegas 2018 Day 2 Recap
#SourceCon Las Vegas 2018 Day 1 Recap
