SHRMing 2010

I am alive...well I think I am. I have had very little inspiration to post here in awhile and I chalk it up to work and the weather. It is so HOT here in DC. Today it was 100 degrees and even a low humidity factor of 46% was just a bit too much for me. This kind of heat makes me pretty cranky and tired, I lose my appetite and pretty much threaten anything that makes my walk to work any longer than it must be.

At work I feel like I am doing three jobs: My bosses (as well as I can possibly do that), mine (which is taking the backseat) and primarily a teacher/babysitter/intern coordinator. I am really stressed that I am not juggling things effectively and something is really going to blow up in my face, which has my stress levels working overtime. Despite the stress and nerves, I am loving the experience Times where you feel frantic and like you are just fumbling to stay afloat are the times where I feel I learn the most and become a more effective professional. However...they are stressful, and that takes it out of me. Hence the lack of bloggage.

Well on to San Diego and SHRM 2010 (Society for Human Resource Management) Annual Conference. It was amazing. I not only had a spectacular time in San Diego, but I learned so much and really felt like I re-sparked my passion for HR and was given that boost of "what you do matters" which can get lost very easily in the shuffle of day to day work. 

Highpoints: Al Gore (enough said), Forbes ( I can't believe so many people walked out!), Marcus Buckingham (hilarious and inspirational) and many of my sessions were highly informational regarding health care reform, recruiting and retention, legal and compliance issues and professional development. To summarize the conference...I came back with a I Heart HR shirt...

Forbes

I stayed at the Se San Diego which was a great hotel and since the weather was nice (by nice I mean almost cold) I really enjoyed my morning walk down to the convention center. The bed was also one of my most comfortable things I have ever laid my body on. The curtains in the room were stunning...I had to take pictures:

Delish bed with the curtains

You can see my hotel in the back to middle right with the big red "Se" on the side of it.

My first night after the conference I headed to the Fish Market at the suggestion of SaraMarie to have some West Coast/Best Coast seafood. It was delish!!

I was on a ferry a few days later and this is the Fish Market from the water.

I also made it to a Padres game which was really fun to see. The last time I was in San Diego I got to take a tour of the ball park but didn't get to see a game so it was fun to be back at Petco Park. Unfortunately it was so cold I couldn't make it past the 8th inning due to my lack of appropriate clothing and I had to retreat back to my room to turn on the heat (?!?!)

I did a "Eat to Meet" evening where I met up with some other people from the conference (there were 11,000 people from all over the globe in attendance) and went to an over-priced tapas restaurant. Luckily the company was fun and it was neat to meet some other HR people.

On my final day in San Diego I was able to spend a few hours on Coronado reading some of the HR books I purchased and enjoying the sun and water.

That evening I headed to Old Town to meet up with a friend of my boss. We had a fun dinner and then headed to a casino (oh yes that is right).

Behind me is the Sex and the City slot machines. There are engagement rings, shoes and handbags involved. My type of gambling and makes me very excited for my trip to Vegas coming up in a few months with my girl friends!

The next morning I somehow managed to stash all my free bags and goodies from the exposition into my suitcase, grabbed a leisurely breakfast and headed to the airport.

I had a fabulous first SHRM conference experience and I can not wait to get to attend another conference in the future. It was also good to be back on the Best Coast and get a reprieve from this awful heat wave!