Attending iRecruit Expo Amsterdam? Peter Gold Gives You His Take

The two-day agenda for iRecruit in Amsterdam is packed full of great content. I’ve been through the different sessions and picked out the ones I want to attend and will need to somehow be in three places at the same time.

In total there are 36 sessions, 2 unconference sessions, a talent workshop, about 40 exhibitors, 5 coffee breaks and two lunch sessions plus 1 cocktail party. Phew.

So here’s my plan for the two day event.

Plenary

These all take place in the main conference room; day one is being kicked off with the good old "It’s broken" debate. I don’t necessarily agree with this viewpoint which makes it a good one for lively discussion to get the blood flowing early on.

The next key session for me is "Hiring to Win" by Jerome Ternynck of Smart Recruiters which hopefully won’t be his usual sales pitch and will instead focus as per the agenda on the latest recruiting trends and innovations.

At the end of day one the final key session for me is the panel debate "Your dream ATS." It will be interesting to see how far today’s ATS is from their dream.

Streams

Running from 11:15 each day are a series of streams which are smaller groups talking about a range of topics such as:

There are also unconference streams a recruitment leadership lab.

With so many to choose from I’ve made a list and will flit between streams and plenary as I can. The streams I’m hoping to attend are:

The debate will no doubt rage on late into the cocktail party as we have many opinions colliding from across the globe in the same place.

Plenary

Second day kicks off with "PepsiCo’s Big (Recruiting) Data" followed by "Influencing Direct Sourcing Methodologies and Internal Talent Communities" from SAB Miller before I escape for some coffee.

I’ll then be back to the plenary to hear about modern Talent Acquisition models and then it’s decision time again. Stay where I am to hear Josh Bersin talk about "New Roles, New Technology, and Big Data Converge" or scoot off to the streams.

The final session for me is "Hire to Win" by Ben Van Stekelenburg from Groupon.

Streams

William Tincup is the first stream with "Building your Social Brand to Win".

After lunch I was torn between "Social Recruitment by Deloitte" or "Creating and Managing an Exclusive Supply Chain" until I realised my stream "The Yukon Arctic Ultra – how your people make your employer brand" was at the same time. I’ll be talking about my 450 mile trek across the Yukon in February this year.

HRN do put on great events but just looking at the schedule it’s tiring me out. I do think often "less is more" as there will be so little time in-between the sessions to talk to anyone. I do know from talking to delegates that they go to conferences to not only listen but also to talk; to other delegates and of course sponsors. Let’s hope for the second day afternoon speakers people still have the stamina to continue.

As a diamond sponsor Cornerstone have some free passes so why not leave a comment to claim yours.