With URx Conference right around the corner, I am getting more and more excited to be back with my amazing community of recruiting professionals! I think about the many connections I’ve made and the several nuggets of information I’ve come away with by attending and participating the last 2 years. 

Back in 2018, I remember talking with my colleague at the time about looking for events we could attend from a personal development perspective. Being a 2 person team, it was important for us to find something that would allow us to take information back to our leadership to build upon but also provide each of us with opportunity to gain knowledge around specific aspects of university recruiting that we were interested in.

“I found something that looks interesting but it looks like it’s in the Bay Area.” Being in Dallas, Texas, we thought it was a pretty long shot but decided to ask for funds for us to attend anyway. After a few weeks we finally heard back from our manager and we got the greenlight. We were so excited that our proposal had been approved. 

So we got all our ducks in a row and made our way to San Fran for this thing called the URx Conference! Neither one of us knew what to expect but we were happy to be doing something that was specific to  talent acquisition and university recruiting in particular. We arrived at our hotel and made our way to a welcome mixer. Everyone was so nice and the first thing I noticed was that there was this certain energy in the room. Almost like a buzzing. Then once we started having conversations, my excitement went way up because here was this huge group of people, who like me wanted to talk about their passion for university recruiting, and talent development as well as ways we could improve and better serve our talent pools. Not like my sweet husband’s courtesy listen (bless his heart, he probably knows just as much as I do about university recruiting from all of my stories!!).

The next day once the conference began, was a full day of learning. It was also an incredible opportunity for networking and it was the first conference in a while that had held my attention for the whole day. I was able to meet new vendors and talk about ways their offerings might solve some of the obstacles in our recruiting process. I was able to connect with a diverse group of universities to talk about how we strengthen our school partnerships and have better working relationships. I even swapped funny airport stories with my fellow road warriors! The whole thing was just a beautiful experience and I left wanting more of this. I wanted to keep these conversations going. I wanted to be more involved, so I tossed the question to Wahab, who produces the event, about how we could make that happen. I had found my people. 

Fast forward to URx 2019! Same great energy, and even more attendees. I had changed roles so was also looking forward to attending with my new team not only for development but team building as well. The conference was perfect for this because of the robust post session conversations we were having. Being a bit more behind the scenes this year I was able to see just how much goes into putting on the event. From my follow-up conversation the previous year with Wahab, this year I was moderating a panel around a topic that was very personal for me, “Humanizing your Diversity and Inclusion Recruiting Strategy at any Scale”. I’m no expert at public speaking. So in addition to guiding this conversation with an amazing panel, I was also able to work on a personal area of opportunity for myself. Once I was done with the panel, I thought it had gone pretty well but I wasn’t truly aware of its impact until after, when so many people came up to me and shared their thoughts.  It took an already pretty incredible experience and kicked it up a notch being able to connect with people this way. 

I loved being a part of the experience and would encourage anyone who is curious or even a bit apprehensive to step outside of their comfort zone and get involved in some way to DO IT. You have wonderful support behind you and it really did enrich my conference experience. 

And now with URx20 around the corner, the excitement is building all over again. I am so much looking forward to hearing the dynamic speakers lined up this year. Looking forward to the brain storming and candid conversations around something that I am so very passionate about. I am so grateful to this community that has provided a space and a platform to help make me better in my day to day work. I learn so much each year from all the different people I meet. Not just the people on stage and leading workshops. But also from the person I chat with in the line for lunch or the person who happens to be at a vendor table at the same time as I. Everyone has something to bring and contribute to the conference and because of that we are better together! 

See you in San Fran!! 
Tricia Sitemere is a Career Consultant, Fulfillment Coach, and Author. Connect with her at TriciaSitemere.com.

Join us for #URx20, May 7–8 in San Francisco!

If you’re passionate about the diversity & inclusions, employer branding, and the entry points of the workforce URx Conference is for you!

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