When we talk about a conference we imagine a lecturer with a PowerPoint presentation and lots of people sitting, listening and taking notes. #truGeneva is nothing like that: it is actually the opposite. This Thursday 22 September around 180 Human Resources professionals will come together in a “non-conference” to discuss their ideas, their problems, their visions and the policies they implemented, in what the organizers call “a gathering to share and learn”.
The concept exists since 2009 when Bill Boorman, the TruMunity founder, created the concept of an HR gathering to talk and help each other. It is not about how to find a job nor about employment. “It is about a community getting together and sharing the questions they have. This, in the end, will benefit all employees and the rest of Switzerland”, explains Guillaume Alexandre, Senior Talent Sourcer at Gates Solutions and one of #truGeneva organizers.
#tru events are limited to 100 participants, but here in Geneva the demand was so high that organizers decided to allow more registrations. #truGeneva will have four rooms and each one will host several one hour tracks. Each track will be moderated by a track leader, in charge of introducing the subject.
How it all started
During a #tru event that took place a couple of years ago in Paris, Guillaume Alexandre thought that it would be a very interesting concept to bring to Switzerland. Back home, he met at a meetup group the people who organized the first #truGeneva event back in 2012 and the nucleus of the organizing team was formed with Guillaume Anthoine, Marie Marthe Joly, Mathilde Dromard and Etienne Besson. With the lack of events of this type and the need to share experiences and become the meeting point of the community, #truGeneva started its journey.
Once they had the commitment of the OCE to host the event, they started talking about the lineup of the event. “We brainstormed about several subjects that would be interesting to share with the HR community and then we started contacting the expert we thought was ideal to lead the topic”, he summarizes while explaining that it is happening thanks to the volunteer work of all people involved in organizing it.
What will happen during the event?
During each track, the subject will be introduced by the track leader and the discussion will begin. “We have no badges so people can speak freely about what happens to them in their jobs. They are not representing the company, they are HR professionals that want to collaborate and share. Talking as openly as possible to give back to the community, to make the whole HR practice in Switzerland go above and beyond what has been done already”, explains Mr. Alexandre at the same time he mentions that the most important of this gathering is the people. It is made by them and for them.
“It is about getting together and talking”. No pitches, nothing is sold, there is no company behind the idea in order to make money. It is just for the love of HR and for the improvement of the HR community.
Even though there is a growing interest on this event, Guillaume Alexandre clarifies that #truGeneva will evolve step by step, “asking people to give some feedback about the event itself and also about subjects they would like to discuss in the future”.
At the end of the day
“I can assure you things happen. People getting together and talking make it happen”, points the expert. He is sure that the person that shares his or her own knowledge, at the end of the day, learns more and benefits more. He is a strong believer in communities and open sourcing, one reason why he hopes people attending the event find what they are looking for.
By the HR community for the HR community, #truGeneva is a very different event and, at the end of the day, participants leave the premises with new ideas, new contacts and having met new people. And though there are no magical solutions, they will have gained various insights on how to address and tackle situations.
