I love it when blue haired HR ladies embrace technology, which is why the SHRM 2012 Annual Conference and Exposition has been so fun.
The Starr Conspiracy set its headquarters in the Blogger Lounge and The Hive — two destinations where social media savvy conference attendees can take a break and recharge — and we watched bloggers and tweeters teach other Human Resources professionals how to embrace social media and get started on the various networks.
It’s kind of cool to think that HR can do it all.
- Watch Malcolm Gladwell in Atlanta and check in on families back home? No problem.
- Attend sessions on emerging HR strategies while texting with colleagues and friends? Easy.
- Facetime via the iPhone with the CHRO while walking the expo floor? I saw it happen.
The single thing Human Resources professionals can’t do? Upload payroll on an unsecure conference wifi connection. I know this because a woman asked me how to do it.
She said, “The wifi is spotty. I need to get payroll done.”
I said, “Wait, what? You want to upload and transmit a large payroll data dump via conference wifi?”
She said, “Yeah, I’m here. Gotta do it.”
I said, “Lady, I’m not IT but maybe you ought to go back to your hotel room and do that.”
She said, “Well, they promised free wifi.”
I love that HR ladies know the googles and the facebooks, but I’m pretty sure that the social media lounge at a Human Resources conference is the worst place in the world to do payroll.
Spotty wifi or not.