2010 NHRMA Student Conference

Courtney O'Brien-McFarland PHR, VP Outreach Seattle SHRM

On April 15th and 16th the UW Student SHRM Chapter hosted the 29th Annual Northwest Human Resource Management Association (NHRMA) Student Conference; HR Rewired.  The event was held at KCTS Channel 9 Studios in Seattle, WA and was attended by fifty students representing Central Washington University, University of Washington, Lake Washington Technical College, Pacific Lutheran University, Portland State University, and Washington State University. 

The conference began Friday afternoon with a case analysis completion in which four person teams were given four hours to prepare a 20 minute presentation and a 2-3 page executive summary recommending solutions to a case involving motivation and turnover issues, ultimately caused by problems with the company’s compensation and performance management systems.  Teams from Central Washington University, University of Washington, Lake Washington Technical College and Portland State University competed for first place-which included an all-expenses paid trip to the 2010 SHRM Annual Convention and Exposition in San Diego.  The University of Washington students were the proud recipients of the first place award.  Their team included:  Cristina Budica, Lisa Kim, Karyn Silva, and Collin Larson.

The Saturday session started with a keynote speech by Co-Founder & CEO of Allyis, Inc., Ethan Yarborough on fostering employee engagement by using social networking and other web based technology.  A special thank you to all the speakers who presented on a variety of topics throughout the day:  Cheri Baker (Emergence Consulting), Richard Baron (Responsive Management), David Black (Jackson Lewis), Alan Cabelly (NHRMA College Relations Director), Stacey Carroll (Payscale), Mary Mitchell (Mitchell Organization), Jennifer More (McKinstry), Courtney O’Brien-McFarland (Emeritus Senior Living), Tammy Pitre (Washington State Department of Personnel) and Nicole Smith (Macy’s).

During the lunch break on Saturday the students had an opportunity to began building their professional network through “HR Speed Networking”.  Students met 10 HR professionals (in five minute increments) and then had additional time to network with the professionals over lunch.  Thank you to all those that joined in the networking:  Andrew Shelton, Jennifer More, Cheri Baker, Richard Baron, Stacey Carroll, Courtney O’Brien-McFarland, Yvette Herrera-Greer, Amol Shanbhag, Lori Barry, Kailani Chin-Hidano, Susan Rupp, Jo Powers, Jennifer Dupper, Heather Hagle Leneway, Najja Brown, Clinton Donough, Kathryn Reniewicki, Kristina Hayek, Laura Spies. 

This was an event that was months in the making and could not have taken place without the many volunteers that donated their time and energy to assist.  The University of Washington’s Foster School of Business Student Chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management student members and their Faculty Advisor, Jane George-Falvy Reynolds worked many hours to identifying sponsors, speakers, and venues.  Your efforts are much appreciated.   KCTS Channel 9 Studios graciously provided a venue for this event and made every attendee feel welcome; a special thank you to Laura Spies, Executive Director of Human Resources; Candida Tzau, HR Generalist; and Don LaCombe, Production Manager.  The ultimate outcome of everyone’s efforts was a very well run event that was enjoyed by all that attended. 

If you are interested in volunteering for future events such as this please contact our Volunteer Director, Jean Seidler-Thompson at volunteers@shrm-seattle.com.