HR BESTIES - HR Besties Happy Hour - Recapping SHRM and Missing Jamie

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

Welcome back to another Happy Hour, Besties! We’re sure as hell glad it’s Friday. In this Happy Hour: Ashley and Leigh went to SHRM Al Roker to the rescue HR Divos (not divas...) After parties Your To-Do List: Grab merch, submit Questions & Comments, and make sure that you’re the first to know about our In-Person Meetings (events!) at https://www.hrbesties.com. Follow your Besties across the socials and check out our resumes here: https://www.hrbesties.com/about.  We look forward to seeing you in our next meeting - don’t worry, we’ll have a hard stop! Yours in Business + Bullsh*t,  Leigh, Jamie & Ashley Follow Bestie Leigh! https://www.tiktok.com/@hrmanifesto https://www.instagram.com/hrmanifesto https://www.hrmanifesto.com Follow Bestie Ashley! https://www.tiktok.com/@managermethod  https://www.instagram.com/managermethod https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyherd/ https://managermethod.com Follow Bestie Jamie! https://www.millennialmisery.com/ Humorous Resources: Instagram • YouTube • Threads • Facebook • X Millennial Misery: Instagram • Threads • Facebook • X Horrendous HR: Instagram • Threads • Facebook Tune in to “HR Besties,” a business, work and management podcast hosted by Leigh Elena Henderson (HRManifesto), Ashley Herd (ManagerMethod) and Jamie Jackson (Humorous_Resources), where we navigate the labyrinth of corporate culture, from cringe corporate speak to toxic leadership. Whether you’re in Human Resources or not, corporate or small business, we offer sneak peeks into surviving work, hiring strategies, and making the employee experience better for all. Tune in for real talk on employee engagement, green flags in the workplace, and how to turn red flags into real change. Don't miss our chats about leadership, career coaching, and takes from work travel and watercooler gossip. Get new episodes every Wednesday and Friday, follow us on socials for the latest updates, and join us at our virtual happy hours to share your HR stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello besties, it's happy hour. Friday, Ashley TGIF. It feels weird. Just the two of us. It does. Yes. Yes. Because Jamie is on vacation.

Just FYI, in case you didn't catch last Friday's happy hour episode. But this is actually a special edition episode, kind of, right Ashley? A very, a very special episode that we will not make Jamie dial in for on vacation, like a bad boss making her all rude, come and join the team meeting. It's vacation, still got the team meeting. No, we got a very special episode. We do, we're doing our SHRM recap.

And SHRM, for those who aren't in the HR field and function, stands for Society of Human Resources Management. And we say SHRM, and that actually means the SHRM Annual Conference, right? Yes. But when you hear people in the function, we'll just be like, are you going to SHRM? Yeah.

Right? So it's kind of confusing, but that's what it means. It is. And it is, as they claim it, the largest HR conference, which, you know, for listening, you may think that's a good thing or a bad thing. In the universe. We'll talk about it, but I will say it was a very HR conference. I told Lee, if you dropped me in here from outer space

and were like, tell me what you think's going on, I think I would have said this is probably an HR conference. Exactly. This is a conference of HR professionals for sure. Yes, we are. We reveal ourselves. And you can take that as an insult or not. That could be a compliment or an insult.

I don't know what it means. It just means there's a characteristic vibe to a group of HR pros. I don't know what it means. It just means there's a characteristic vibe, right, to a group of HR pros. I don't know. What do you think? Yeah. I take it as, you know, I mean it as a compliment. It's reliable. It's like a blanket. Despite what you might think the comments on social media, the HR crew is like a warm, you know, exciting group of individuals. And we had a great time. So if you were, you know, so we'll give that spoiler alert that we had a great time. You know, that's a good point, Ashley, right?

Because being an HR professional, my entire career, like 18, 19 years, whatever it's been now. Oh, my gosh. But dog years. So like the last hundred years I've been doing HR. HR to me has always been vibrant, bright, colorful. But to your point about how like the stereotype, you know, like it's dark, it's evil, it's this, it's that. I mean, really the conference, it was vibrant, it was colorful, it was fun, it was lively, you know what I mean? It really was, right? I mean, so, you know, come to an HR conference and try it on yourself. Even if you're not an HR, you could see like we don't just like sit around our cauldrons, you know, making some evil poison soup or whatever. There's a lot of drinking.

We will definitely get to that. I was, you know, a lot of drinking. We will definitely get to that. I was, you know, a number of things shocked me about the conference. I'm visualizing a couple of them and we'll talk about it. But yeah, it was a short and it was about a four days. We didn't make it a four day trip. We made it about a one day trip. Yeah, one.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We just popped in for the Monday. So we've of course been receiving messages still like, where'd you go? Are you still in Chicago? Yeah, I know we got banned, our bad, you know, I could see that happening. I would wear that as a badge of honor. I'd make a t-shirt out of that when I get banned from a conference, which I could totally see happening. Well, I mean, I wore, I was effectively barefoot. Yes, at one point. Yeti foot, yeti foot at one point.

But if Jamie had been with us, she may have gotten kicked out because she couldn't have controlled herself right at the gift shop. Oh, yeah. Right at the gift shop, Jay. So we got you some swag. But we did make it. Like we made it through the one day, so that was good. But you know, I think we mentioned before,

we weren't necessarily planning to go, we weren't planning to go and work. How about that? And Jamie had vacation, which she'd had scheduled for like a year. And the way SHRM works is everything gets scheduled like a year out, you know what I mean? So it's a huge conference. It's a big deal. And so, you know, I was gifted passes to go to the expo. And we're like, let's freaking go to the expo and actually meet a lot of the brands that we have been working with on the social side of the house, right. And so that's what was really cool for us was to be able to meet people that we've been working with and brands that we believe in, as

well as of course, beat our followers. Because for me me personally, Ashley gets out way more than I do. I'm basically just in this gorgeous little studio of mine. So I have to just do a plug for my my safe space here. And and I just talk to myself all day and I just write. I just write all day and talk to myself like all day. So I rarely get out. So that was probably the biggest joy, right Ashley, to actually be able to get out, talk to brands, our connections,

and our followers and friends, you know, live. That was neat. It was really cool. And conferences, I really think, have so much value for people, especially, I mean, all aspects of your careers, from whether you're newer in your career, and we met people, especially, I mean, all aspects of your careers, from whether you're newer in your career, and we met people, and we met people, and it was great, and we'll talk about meeting some of these amazing, very great HR besties listeners, and one literally said, I'm new in my career, how do I make the most of this conference?

And yes, that's a very HR topic to have at a conference. I said, candidly, you'll probably meet people more in the after parties and things like that, around the bar, and you don't have to drink for that. But that's where you can find some of those relationships. I have people I'd met sitting at a lunch table or a bar, and that I'm still friends with years later. But it was great.

I'm the same. I mean, I live in this office. I'm filming in my office that I record my Luke calls with every day. And when I get out, I tend to be working. So I'm doing like leading a training session, doing speaking, which I love, but it is like a work, you know, I'm putting prep into it, all of that. And so just going and showing up with my bestie. I looked over at Lee one point, I was like, Lee, I'm so glad you're my friend.

And I said, Anne, we travel, and the three bestie, we travel well together, which is nice. But like, I don't know what, it filled my cup and then some. And just meeting people and hearing what they had to say and then some. But there was a little drama. So I'll say this. So Shurm, a lot of conferences, kind of like a graduation speech, they're all trying to compete for a big name type thing.

Last year, Shurm had Bill Clinton, which was a choice. Yeah, it was a choice, right? Like the greatest office sexual harasser of all time. So that was an interesting choice when you're an HR. I think they got some flack for that. I'm not saying he's not a great speaker. I'm just saying it's an HR offer. The substance. I would rather have him talk about what I did wrong. That would have been cool. Yeah, exactly. A postmortem.

Yes, totally. Years later, years later, my apology to Monica. She's still waiting on that, I assume. So this year, Sir Sherm had Jason Sudeikis, who is an actor and he's famous for playing a character, Ted Lasso. Do you watch Ted Lasso, Lee? Yeah, I watched them all. I really enjoyed it. I like Jason.

I mean, I liked him on SNL. I actually haven't really watched much of Ted Lasso, probably surprisingly. It's fresh. Yeah, it's right up my... It's cute, but he's not Ted Lasso. Just FYI, he's an actor, right? That plays a role that has wonderful leadership attributes. Yes. And just like an actor, it's a good thing that there's such thing as understudies,

because that came into play. Because the drama at Shurm started before we even arrived, shockingly. We didn't bring the drama. Jason Sudeikis did. And so we were getting ready. And Jamie definitely had some foam on. She was like, guys, she's like, Jason Sudeikis just pulled out of SHRM. I'm like, what? I think he was speaking today. And I guess, like, according to SHRM, like at the last minute, he pulled out and wasn't going to go. And you're like, Oh, God, what, you know, what happened? Was it a family emergency? And Oh, it had to have been, right? Something crazy that got in the way of SHRM, right? What was it?

A WNBA game across town, also in Chicago. See, that's it to me. I'm like, come on, man. I mean, you were booked for this for six months. You couldn't just go speak real quick, even less than the time to 30 minutes, and then go to the basketball game? Like, you could do both if you wanted to. Totally. You know?

You can go in and out. Like, when we lived in Australia, which I have to bring up, even though this is a Shurm episode, we were driving back from the airport, and there's like tunnels underneath Sydney, underneath, underneath. And that's what you want to take. Our taxi driver was like, oh my God, we have to go through town. Okay, no, no problem. No big deal. I love a good downtown, just like a body of water. So we're driving and all of a sudden we're stopped and I look over and there's a theater and it's like the Mission Impossible, like 75 or whatever thing. And there's Tom Cruise right there. Oh my God, really?

I swear, I'm like right there driving. I I have a blurry picture, I'll pop it on our Instagram. But I looked over and I was like, gosh, that's crazy. But I ended up reading later, they're like, he didn't stay for the movie, which I guess you don't need, maybe you don't need to watch your own movie if you're in it. But they're like, he had been filming something else in Asia, flew from Asia to Australia, you know, like eight, nine hours, showed up for a few minutes for the premiere, flew back. Point is, if Tom Cruise can do that in Asia, you know, Jason Sudeikis probably could have figured out the way to do the speech and gone to the game.

Agreed. If you wanted to, you would. That's all I had to say, which is fine, right? Because I'm not faulting the guy. But, you know, if you have a commitment, definitely try to keep it, especially to pass on it for a, you it for a basketball game. I don't even know if it was the finals. I don't even know what was going on. No, no. So, Caitlin Clark plays for the Indiana Fever. Of course, of course. Yeah, yeah. And she's the new rookie hot player. Yes, superstar.

And so, she was playing against Chicago's WNBA team in town. And so, it was that game. And so, I think people were burned up up and especially seeing the footage of him, their courtside, but that is the most HR thing to have it in this leaders, leaders like, no, I got to go. I got something going on in the something is like, you know, a golf round or a sports or whatever. And so you're scrambling trying to, trying to keep stuff. So it was a very HR situation. So but the understudy. Sweet Al Roker. Love some Al Roker. Weatherman. Yeah, which was cute. But you know, people were pissed off about Jason. I mean, I think we had just entered on Monday. And everything in the conference was set up

like a park. Like it was really cathartic. I thought it was precious. And I look at those things as I'm a museum junkie and architectural artsy fartsy nerd. And so I liked all that setup shit, you know? But they made you feel like you were in a park and it was comfortable and it was cute. So someone was doing an open air presentation in like the park area, the registration area ish. I don't even know what they called it. But what did they say, Ashley?

I was like, I was like, Lee, wait, did you hear that? And she's like, no, no. I was people watching. This woman's like, Jason Sudeikis, he's dead to me. What? On a mic. A hot mic. And she's either, he's dead to me and you can, you know, Ted Lasso, he's supposed to be a high performance leader. Like the worst of the worst, like the worst of the worst going on talking at

Hunchback. I'm like trying to look around and they have, they do have a variety, kind of like a park. They have some random kind of like mini stages set up. I could not see where this person was, but I, I was like, the voice was booming. Like she is there bringing it. It's like, ma'am, he's an actor. Okay. Ted Lasso is not real, ma'am.

Okay. Yeah. But Ted Lasso is a wonderful green flag leader. I don't think I could be that cheesy in my leadership, but he is precious. But yeah, we all miss Jason. I could, I'm sure. I could. I definitely could.

But I have to say, if I were going to pick though, like a colleague, like I think Al Roker, I'd love I think Al Roker. I'd love to have Al Roker. The Today Show, when they do their Halloween episodes and they dress up in those cute costumes and things, he just looks like he's fun. I'm sure the inevitable stories of any celebrity. Matt Loury. The Matt Loury years.

Matt who? Matt Lauer? Matt Lauer, the Loury. The button. Yeah. Every workplace. There's something going on. But we did not see Al. We didn't see Al. I wish we had. He's welcome on the podcast anytime. Anytime if he wants to sub in. I love talking about weather because I'm that age. You know what I mean? I've gotten that old.

On Monday, I mean, what are you going to talk about on Mondays? The weekend's always too short. They'll talk about the weather, you know, which we did have weather issues leaving and we won't talk about that anymore. I know. We did wake up to some rocking thunderstorms on Tuesday morning in Chicago. But anyway. Yes.

Yeah. So we had walked in, we heard that person insult Jason. We heard someone being very, you know, and that seemed to be a theme. People were disappointed, of course. I get that. So what's it like to buy your first cryptocurrency on Kraken? Well, let's say I'm at a food truck I've never tried before. Am I going to go all in on the loaded taco?

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The top of her list was to check out the swag and the product offerings from Shurm, which we saw a lot of the HR Diva stuff. If we recall, the HR Diva drama from what, two summers ago now? Two years ago, I think it's been, right? Yeah. I mean, time flies when you're having fun with your marketing. But they had the HR Diva stuff and they had the HR Devo stuff, which I did not know about. I was surprised by that. That was the first I'd seen that. Was that the first for you, Ashley, that you could be an HR Devo? I had not seen it. It's one of those things, it reminded me of one of those things that

worked where where they'd gotten flack for something. They did get some flack for HR Devo. And the reason is, in HR, there's so many people that think of you as a Devo, and Devo doesn't have a great connotation at all. And so rather than take that and lean out and have another catchy saying or something like that, they leaned all the way in and were like, we're going to be the Devo. And so there was a tie.

So Lee and I are going around taking pictures of some of the shirts. We'll put some more of it on Friday on our stories. And I got some stuff for Jamie, some of those HR Devo things. Yes, yeah, because she loves it. Mousepads. Yeah. got some stuff for Jamie, some of those HR Diva things. Yes, yeah, cause she loves it. Mouse pads. Yeah. It was like the Disney font too,

with the little HR Diva mouse pad and the things. And so I just think it's not, HR doesn't have the best reputation at work and sometimes deserved, often not, as we've talked about. And so, I don't know that I'd wear that in the workplace. No, it's, nope, nope, I wouldn't, you know, to each their own, of course. But I just think, you know, it's not the vibe that I'm looking to create as an HR professional,

you know. Yeah. But hey. They were selling some. Again, if you're a diva or a devo, hats off to you. But yeah, I was really surprised by that. But at least there was some equity there and DEIB considerations. So check.

They inclusive, inclusive, devout. But we moved on from the paid gift shop swag to the best part of any conference, which is the free swag. Which isn't exactly free, because my dad once taught me, there's no such thing as a free lunch and the way that translated the conference is there's no such thing as a free scanning of your badge, because everyone had a QR code on their badge. And what that means is that in about... So we just this week hit the 50th episode of H.R. Bestie's podcast.

We're very excited. Thank you all for sticking with us. Go give us a like rating and review. But when we hit our 500th podcast episode years from now, I will still be getting solicitation emails from these vendors that scanned my badge so I could get a button or a cute little something but you know who won't be getting that? Me. I have a yes face and

she has a fuck no face. Yes people would literally be reaching for my badge and I say no no access to my badge I was told to protect my badge I was saying vague shit like that no no no I have to protect my badge. I was saying vague shit like that. No, no, no, I have to protect my badge. I would like just be blocking my QR code. You know what I mean? I don't want your free matches or whatever the fuck you're trying to give me so bad, you know? And that sounds terrible. Not to everybody, but there was a lot of, you know, there was a lot of people there, like even local, like I don't know, you know, this, whatever. But yeah, I was protecting my badge. She said literally, but she was, she was a clear communicator.

So of course I'm like, oh, that's fine. You can, oh, you can scan mine twice if you want, you know, just to make up for her. We are the yin and the yang. I know, because I'm crazy, right? Like I'll just, I'm going to take your offering of this free shit on your table. Can I scan your badge? No, you may not. But thank you so much for this free chapstick or whatever.

And just to be mindful, because if you are a team of one and you don't have an HR friend to go with, then what I'm about to say, it was so wonderful to have a friend to go through things for. I was laughing, but we were learning and meeting people, and I kind of do feel like you have a level of comfort. That being said, if you don't have anybody and we met a lot of people that are like, I'm a team of one, you know, and so in that instance, again, going and finding and finding your people and they did do a nice job of having like, you know, the ribbons you could add to the bottom of your Shurm

badge. And this woman was trying to help me put them on and I on. And I was like, oh, I'm good putting them on. I'm going to be like, no, I'm taking these for Jamie. But they did have ones that I think sounded like I'm here alone or things like that, just to find your people. But it was really nice to have a pal to go through things for, especially pal as direct, Esley. Yes, well, like I told you, I can't do that alone.

I needed a handler. I needed help and support, like walking through the aisles, you know what I mean? And it just wouldn't be as fun for me and I wouldn't have been as comfortable. Because not me like literally pushing Ashley into booths. Hey, go make an intro. I did. I'm a director, okay? Like, hey, go over there and go do that.

How many times did people come up and they're like, are you the HR TikTok person? Then they'd give me the phone. I'd be like, I'll take a picture. You were my picture taker. I am. I'm a little more under the radar. And so I was happy to, I was texting Jamie, like we're laughing. I'm like Jamie on our group chat.

I'm like, oh my God, I'm getting asked to take pictures of Lee, which was fine. But then I'd say, oh, do you listen to her podcast? Like as if I'm Lee's assistant. Do you listen to her podcast? It's a way in, whatever you gotta do. You have one? And then Lee would bounce and she'd be like, oh, she's on it too. Then people are kind of like, who are you? Some people would, and it was like, oh, hey, Luke. Oh, it's me. But I had my little business cards. It was cute when we were walking in though, and Ashley turns to me and she goes, do you

think anyone will notice us? And I was like, girl, I can't even go to the grocery store. Like watch this shit. And I'm not even saying that from an arrogant place. I don't necessarily, I enjoy it, but you know, I'm not like in it for celebrity. I'm really not that person. Yes, I like to entertain, but to myself, I'm talking to myself on my phone most days But we go in and what happens like three people swore by so I'm like, okay see Like watch this shit like this is you know, like it's gonna be a lot and it was yeah

It was but it was hard But I was how excited because as we as we told you on last week's episode last week's happy hour And I prepared so made these business, a little business card for HR Besties pod, and then a business card for me for Manager Method with my manager training packages, managermethod.com. It was fun, but it really, and some people will be like, I'm sorry if it's awkward. Please never, never apologize. We also know in the HR world, there aren't that many people that are, when

you're well known, sometimes that's not for a good reason. So we're trying to be well known for a good reason and be a little different. And so it was awesome hearing people coming up and then people talking about, whether talking about their toxic workplaces or finding that community and like, they're tearing up, I'm tearing up. Yeah, they cry, they're tearing up, I'm tearing up. They're screaming. Lee's like, give them your sleeve to wipe my face on. Or like our guy outside that was like, oh my god.

Like, we're allowed. And so he tries to, other people of course are looking over and they're like, who is that? And so. We had a line of people that wanted photos. I was like, oh wow, you know. Well, I know. Well, one point I'd asked, I was like, oh, do you want a photo?

Because some people had asked us for photos and so like, oh, do you want a photo? Because some people had asked us for photos and I was like, do you want a photo? In my mind, I thought, no, I'm good. But they're fine. They did. No, I'm good. That's funny. Yeah. So that does mean a lot.

And it's been over a year since I've been at an HR conference. And since that time, my accounts now have grown to like over a million followers. And so I didn't realize the Like I was already getting attention there, you know, which was beautiful and I could have conversations And so I knew I would be getting more attention I could just tell because of the DMS and the comments and are you going to sherm and all of this, you know But it was it was it was something it was something it was fun. It was good, you know Yeah, so I hope that will continue that right like we already got an invited It was something. It was fun. It was good, you know? Yeah.

So I hope that we'll continue that, right? Like we already got invited to HR tech with multiple brands. We'll have to do some formal meet and greets because that was kind of the issue. People are like, where are you going to be? And I'm like, well, I'm at the, I'm directly under the sun right now. You can meet me here. Exactly. I'm in the park. I'm by the park bench over here. I'll probably be at the claw machine.

There's a claw machine with a real fun team over there. We were just conference goers, you know, but people expected something more formal. They wanted like formal photos or time or something. It's like, no, we're just walking around, you know. Yeah, yeah. And I'm like, oh, we're going to be by work leap at this time. So we did so intentionally. I was like, Lee. Then I'm like, Lee, we're going to be by work, Lee, but this time. So we did so intentionally. I was like, Lee.

Then I'm like, Lee, we got to go at two o'clock. Imagining there's going to be a Beatles-level crowd. Not quite, but it was fun. But some of these swag, so speaking of, there was a place where you make your own cookie. You take a picture, put your face on a cookie. Last night I ate my- Oh, you ate your face? Yeah, I ate my face and our faces together.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was good. Cookies were good too, which is notable. There was the popcorn. I kept going back. Yeah, Garrett's, right? I mean, a lot of people are serving Garrett's, which was a great opportunity there.

A lot of booths had bars, which was wonderful because see, I've gone to several European conferences and I love European conferences because they've gone to several European conferences and I love European conferences because they designed their booths as full on bars. It's wild. I mean, they're just like, this is part of the culture, right? Is to drink and then they celebrate deals like over champagne, like good champagne and stuff.

So I love that. That's fun. I love that vibe. And so I was like, please have bars. And they did. Right. So there were a handful that invited us in for drinks. And of course, we who are who are we to deny an invite, you know, I'd be rude. I know I was talking to someone then I looked I was like, Oh, her drink looks a little bubbly. I was like, what's that gin and tonic? She's like vodka tonic. Oh my god. And like another

one did have a kind of like a speakeasy, and so they had some special, like a bee's knees drink. And so that's our happy hour with the besties, I'm telling you. Look for that at HR Tech. We'll let you know. Talk to a couple brands on that, so we'll get ready for that. But we also had to be mindful, because I was thinking to myself, I woke up at 4.30 in the morning Eastern, so like 330.

And so I got a, I can't crash too early. We kept it going. Wish you were a better investor? Then stop wishing and start listening. With dynamic funds on the money podcast series, you'll get timely insights to help you become a savvier investor. From retirement planning and investing to the latest market trends, the On The Money with Dynamic Funds podcast series covers it all.

Get On The Money. Search On The Money with Dynamic Funds and follow today. And then we got like a handful of invites for happy hours, which we'll talk about, you know. Yeah, those were which were real fun. But so one of the things is it was so well in like in like this one that was like a speakeasy also like an old time photograph thing. We didn't do that.

But I met a woman there. So one of my errors was the shoes that I wore. And I if you want to be tall like me, right? You're like, I need some height. Yeah, of course I. I need some height. I need some height. This is Lisa Freak. And I knew, I brought my fun sneakers for the night because I was like, at that point in time, I won't care anymore.

But in the day, I thought, I want to try it again. I don't want to look totally, totally DeVito to Schwarzenegger. I wanted to feel confident. Like when I record my LinkedIn learning courses, I could I can search and find them. And I did. And I posted them on our Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram.

And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post them on my Instagram. And I was like, I'm going to post got them from Amazon. So I was like, do you mind if I take a picture of them? Because I bet I can search and find them. And I did. And I posted them on our Instagram. But I did. Yeah, they're on their way. They will arrive anytime. Perfect to wear with a unitard. My sparkly unitard. But then one of the swag booths,

that was a very cool, very cool booth, had a spinny wheel. A number of them had spinny wheels and it makes sense because you can win some fun prizes. Not like one had like thousand dollar gift cards, but this one had the real prize, which were these big ass slippers in the shape of Yeti feet. Mm-hmm. Big fuzzy Yeti slippers. And so I went and spun and I was one click away from the Yeti feet. I won a t-shirt. And I was like, just give them to her.

Look at her. Her feet hurt, you know? And they didn't. Nope. They held firm. And I was like, just give them to her. Look at her. Her feet hurt. You know? And they didn't. Nope. And I was like, let me win you these slippers. And what did she do? I did. I won those slippers for her. And then I had to walk five feet behind her at all times.

I mean, I wore them for like the next hour and a half around. And it was, well, they missed an opportunity to brand them better because then the rest, like for literally an hour and a half. And of course it's a huge thing so people still hadn't necessarily seen this swag. So people would be like, oh my God, where'd you get this? What if I was like, oh, I just brought him with me? I just had to make it real weird. Every single time, and I mean probably 15 to 20 times, every time I'd say to Lee, what

was the name of that company again? Yes, and of course I knew. Right there, it's right there. I was giving directions for the next two two hours about where to wait line for these slippers and convincing people to go to this place to the line. It's not that long. Don't worry. The line will move fast.

Don't worry. It's right here. It's Happy Factory right here. Exactly. As a crow flies, if you just go, oh my gosh, for like two hours, I'm giving directions on how to find these slippers, you know? But they were precious and they did garner a lot of attention. That was probably some of the best swag.

Well. Probably the best swag. No, no, no. There is a piece of swag that was better and I wouldn't normally call it swag, but it was touched more than anything else. Yes. See, I wouldn't call him swag. Shamar Moore's abs.

Yes. Shamar Moore was there from the Criminal Minds and all other shows. Oh my God, he's on so many shows. Swat, right? I don't know. Whatever. Lots of shows. He is. How old is he? Let me keep talking. I'm going to look this up. Shamar Franklin Moore. He's been around for a long time. He's 54. He is 54 going on 21.

He was there off in the distance. I got some video of him, which we can share again. We could share it every day if we wanted. But he, no kidding, HR conference, that is catnip at an HR conference because he had a line for Paycom of four hours long. Okay, four hours long. The line had a break like multiple times.

You know, like it was like Disneyland. You know, I was crazy. Right. And you and the people, the people in the front of the break, like, you know, were stressed out about having that break because they were they were worried that someone else would jump in front of them. And so they had people manning the brakes to make sure no one was cutting, all to see Shamar Moore because he was given the love.

He was picking people up. He was kissing people. He was taking his shirt off. He was letting people touch all over his body. Okay? I mean, it was like, whoa, right. And people were screaming like, get it girl, get it girl. And I'd be like, Oh, she done got it. I mean, God, I mean, he's just giving it away. You know, like, wow.

Like, it was like, when people listen to the podcast, like, Oh my god, this is surprising. I think HR was like this. No, this is if you want to see the HR that Jamar Morbooth was like an HR group chat, like fleshed out for the world to see. Pun, I guess, kind of intended. It was hilarious. Everyone was loving it. Full consent.

He was loving it. Yeah, he was loving it. I don't know if it was HR approved. No. Okay. But. Well, there was consent there, you know? I mean, I guess it's not sexual harassment.

The guy's hot and he's cool with it. It was hilarious. I mean, people were just like, it was very there. I mean, I guess it's not sexual harassment. The guy's hot and he's cool with it. It was hilarious. I mean, people were just like, it was very funny. Yeah. Yeah. And he's gorgeous. And oh my gosh. I tagged him in the video and all.

And I would love to be picked up by him. He's gorgeous and I'd love to be picked up. He's not on my top list or whatever. I don't really have a list, but it's like, oh my gosh, I totally would have been picked up and twirled, but I did not want to wait four hours in line for that to happen. That was it. Yeah.

I mean, I did not have that time. I know, but it was like, he was getting the love. Oh boy, he was getting the love. So I would love to work with them and be the... I've done work with Paycon before, right? I've got some videos with them. But that would be something else because I imagine me doing that meet and greet and would I have to be in a bikini for that? That's what I was thinking. Would I have to be in a... Do I have to pick people up? Or do I Santa Claus where the person sits down that I have to sit like, do I have to pick people up or do I have like, if I were like Santa Claus where like the person sits down, then I have to sit on their lap or something.

Like that's where I was thinking like, how far can this my meet and greet go? I was laughing because if you were to show me like a sales convention or something and it was like a male heavy booth and there was like a woman kissing on the men in the bikini HR, I think would be like, that's not appropriate. So I gotta say, I know I sound a little funky, but like, it was definitely some HR approval questioning. But you know what? I will say at the end of the day, everybody was having fun.

Everyone was standing in line and could see what he was doing. And he was smiling. He could see what he was doing. And he was smiling. He got paid and he got love. So, I know my mother-in-law was like, oh my God, I'm so jealous. And I had just sent a picture of him. I was like, wait till I send you the picture of his abs. She's like, oh my God, LOL. Amazing. But he had 54. Wow. My goodness. He's keeping up. Boy, damn. The way he's picking me up. I know he can pick my ass up.

That's why I was like, oh man. He's strong. I wish there was a FastPass line. I would have loved that video, you know? Oh my God. That's what they need. That's smart. Let's do that.

Let's do a booth and we'll do a FastPass line. Oh, exactly. Oh God. What do you get for a FastPass though? You know what I mean? That's what I was thinking. You can pick me up, I guess, for a FastPass pass though? You know what I mean? That's what I was thinking. You can beat the fast pass. You can pick me up, I guess, for a fast pass.

I don't know, gosh, you know? But I was thinking that, Ashley. I was thinking, God, if I, you know, when I do a meet and greet here, like, do I have to, like, what do I flash? Oh my gosh. The way he was showing his abs and all of that. Yeah, that's what I said.

I said, God, I'd have to train. I guess I give a hug. I give you a hug. I'll just wave. I guess I give a hug. I give you a hug. I'll just wave. I'll give you a hug. We'll do the Incredibles Disney costume dancing. Oh, yeah.

Well, I can't lift my leg that high. Well, we'll see. Like Miss Incredible. I know, right? We'll see at HR Tech. You'll see at HR Tech. You'll see at HR Tech. So let's flip to the after parties a little bit.

Yes. We got lots of invites. We went to the after parties a little bit. Yes, we got lots of invites. We went to two after parties and then made up our own after party with some fans that just basically shoved us in an Uber. So I could have just been kidnapped and you know. Well, remember when we were at that one party and there's this guy that came up and he was like, first he told me a good posture, which I don't generally. So maybe I did that night because I get I'm trying to be bootly.

And then he's like, how far can you run and how fast? And I was like, I mean, real fast. I'm about to run. Let me go time myself because I ran right to the bathroom and hid. And I'm like, what is happening? The best is, Lee's like, is this a sugar-baker moment? And that's like, absolutely. Blue skies, code word, blue skies, get me out. So that, that did come into play. That was a little strange, but yeah, the after party, which we, we went with some

new crew to, to karaoke. Yeah. Yeah. The, the first, yeah, that was the after after parties, right? Yeah. I think we went to Ripley's rooftop event and then we went to... It was the birthday bash. Birthday bash. For Jennifer McClure, who's the head of Disrupt we went to... It was the birthday bash. Birthday bash.

For Jennifer McClure, who's the head of Disrupt HR. Yes, at the House of Blues. With my girl, Lori Rudeman, who's a fellow LinkedIn Learning instructor, who's awesome. She helped to throw it. And so seeing a bunch of people, a bunch of our besties followers, I met some people I've done work for their company.

So it was cool to meet them in person. And it was dance on the dance floor. That one guy was like, he was heating up the dance floor. I started a dance circle with the running man. And then everybody else had much better moves after that. But we got the party started. I was waiting for your worm. Well, I didn't have like bike shorts or anything underneath.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Couldn't really Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Couldn't really do that in a dress. So I still... I kept my posture up and, you know, like, flexed. But yeah, then we finished it off with some karaoke. Yeah.

Yeah, we got invited to a speakeasy and did some... Did some karaoke. I love a speakeasy vibe. It was cool. You know? And I mean, I was really feeling it then. So I did repost, I think he posted my singing there. I did drops of Jupiter with Trane.

That's always my first song, just have a way on. With the karaoke. Oh boy, that was courtesy of vodka. I mean, at one point I forgot I was doing karaoke while I was doing karaoke. So then I know, I don't think you shared this and I appreciate that. I was doing karaoke while I was doing karaoke. So then I know I don't think you shared this and I appreciate that. I was like, drops a Jupiter in her head. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Only the highlights. Only the highlights. Like I appreciate that. It was good. Lee has a beautiful, Lee has a very, very beautiful, beautiful voice. It was, it was, it was good. It was fun. Somebody had some good pizza, but the, you know, speakeasies are always so hard because, well, speakeasies are hard because you walk up and you always think it's closed. You know, like, it's hard to figure out. And so, you know, we're pulling

on the wrong door, trying to figure that out. But we got through it. Yeah, we got in. And we were hanging out, shout out to Disrupt Rochester. Yeah, they were awesome. And their team and crew, it was fun hanging with them. Literally, they just shoved us in an Uber, which was wonderful. Let's go. Yeah, for sure. They're like, come on, we're doing karaoke.

All right, let's do karaoke, you know? It was fun. I mean, all in all, we scooted out the next day, so we missed Kelly Clarkson performance. So that's right, people. Sherm got Kelly Clarkson and Jay Leno. Sherm got Kelly Clarkson, and she showed Sherm got Kelly Clarkson and she showed up. I looked this morning. She did show up.

She did show up to check. But she once performed at my company's holiday party and I got to meet her. Yeah, and we were wearing the exact same outfit and it wasn't anything. It was black dress, black tights and red shoes. Like not a usual thing. And I was pregnant and she was pregnant at the time. This was 10 plus years ago. And so I got to go to my meet and greet and get my picture with Kelly. I'll put it on the Instagram because I can't share that one enough. It's like my should basically

get that tattooed on my face. Since I got that picture, not Beyonce's, but I walked up and she was like, Oh my God, somebody who finally knows what it's like to be effing pregnant. I know I said effing, but it was real cute. So I'm a big Kelly Clarkson person. I heard the concert was good. Yeah, she seems sweet. Yeah. She was sweet in that moment. Yeah. She was real. And she's like, how did we wear the same outfit? I thought we texted each other beforehand. That's cute. You know, mom jokes. I'm glad she showed up. It was good. It made me very excited. Made me excited for Jamie to join us. A number of people said, I wish Jamie was here. And people are like, Jamie, I'd recognize you if I see you. Jamie got her flowers there at SHRM as well. And we'll, we can't wait to see. So, so soon, shoot us a note if you're going to

be at HR Tech in Vegas in September. Yeah, definitely going to Vegas. I'd go to anything in Vegas, but yeah, definitely going to HR Tech, you know, got, got invited a few times for that. So we'll, we'll definitely work some formal events, right? So yeah, a happy hour, something so that we can just have a besties bash. I think that that's what we need to do. We had a breakfast meeting and talked about these and lessons learned and like, oh, this is and that's when we start talking about this idea of a happy hour at a booth with the besties. And like, I think it would be makes sense. It totally makes sense

You know, but any any lessons learned you want to share Ashley shoes that she honestly that is the biggest takeaway It's one it's it's you got to wear good shoes. And so I think I'm gonna have to give up height for for comfort So that's my lesson. What about you? We can all be six, too I know is that you know Farbsey that's like that Farbsey damned me We can all be six too. I know. You know, Farbzy. Did I tell you that? Farbzy damned me because I posted a picture of me and Laurie Rudeman, whose my height may be a little short of me. Farbzy, you know, Jesus, how tall is Lee or how short are you?

And I was like bending down and some people were, but I should have commented like on my, because I reshared that story. I should have said something like it's not that I'm insanely tall, which I am because of course I was wearing like platform heels too. So I was probably six two and what I was wearing. Lori's probably I hope she doesn't get insulted, but like 4'11 without cheese. Like she is short because she was super petite compared to you. Yeah. And I'm 5'3. I mean, she is short because she was super petite compared to you. Yeah, and I'm 5'3".

I mean, she just was. Like she was precious, right? I mean, just beautiful human being, but she was tiny. Like I could put her in my pocket tiny. Like you know what I mean? Like that's her signature is that that's how she stands out. Just like I would stand out for being tall. Like she would be standing out because like, you know, she is just precious.

Like she just really is. But her stature is very petite, like very. So then I had shared that photo drunk and then I didn't make any comments on it. Right. Because I suck at sharing stories in the moment. And people were DMing me, holy shit. Fucking Amazon. Fucking like you are so fucking tall and wow, you're like a beast.

I did look super tall, but you know, I made this decision years ago like that. It's very rare you'll see me shrink into a photo. Like I'm just going to be my fucking height because I'm not trying, you know what I mean? So now I look like a weirdo in like a photo. No, you looked great in person and in the photo. I know I did. But it was good. It got us excited.

It got us excited to do more live events. That's another lesson. People are asking for that and we want to do that too. So we'll definitely be out there. But we are. OneNote is next week. We are actually taking the week off of Wednesday and Friday episodes. It is July 4th week in the US.

We are going to recharge and just take a little break. So we will be back the week after. But if you, if you listen and you're like, where's our, where's our Wednesday episode? Oh my God, did they get taken off the air? Certainly soon, but not yet. And so we are intentionally, we didn't get fired. We are going to be loud vacationing next week. Yes.

Yeah. So cheers to those who celebrate. Yes. We definitely encourage vacations, especially here we are in the summertime months in the US. And enjoy and spend time doing those things you love with those that you love. Right? Love it.

And thank you all for giving us showing up and giving us love. And it really meant a lot. And it was very cool. So it was fun us love. And it really meant a lot. And that was it was very cool. So it was fun. Yeah. Yeah. It meant a lot. We had a blast. Right, Ashley? Ah, totally. Definitely with Jamie, we'll have got that be killer.

She's gonna be kicked out probably that first day of HRT. But that's OK. Yes. We need to bring cash. Honestly, we need to bring cash. We need to make sure she gets a changeable plane ticket and All of us probably so we'll we'll get those bases covered. Yes. Oh gosh. Well, hey everyone enjoy their weekends Thank you so much besties. We appreciate you TGIF