Yeah, I know. I attend a lot of conferences in the recruiting and HR space.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was someone who had never attended even a local conference before.

I was too busy to be out of the office. I didn’t have the money (or spent the money) in my budget. In an effort to be a good Boss, I made sure that the people who worked on my team got out for professional development opportunities – but I never made it to any.

I put myself and my professional development last. Boo.

Two years ago, I made a conscious decision to invest in myself by attending two of the leading HR and Recruiting conferences – the SHRM Annual Conference and ERE Fall Expo. I use the word “invest” on purpose, because at that time, I was a 3rd party recruiter paid only on commission, so any expenses related to attending came out of my own pocket (i.e. not paid for by my company) – and time out of the office took me away from revenue generating activities for a few days.

Yet I can safely say that getting out to some of these events to learn from many of the big brains in Recruiting, HR and Talent Management, as well as to build relationships with key people in my industry has been one of the best decisions of my career.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn from (and meet) some of the top Thought Leaders in my profession and I’ve listened to case studies and best practices shared by practitioners at leading organizations. I’ve also developed some of the strongest and most helpful business and personal relationships that I’ve ever had in my career.

To put all of that into business-speak – an extremely positive ROI has been achieved.

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As I continue to grow in my career and develop my new business, I’m continuously curious and love to learn – so conferences are one way for me to meet those needs. But sometimes the cost, travel and/or time investment can make attending a no-go.

So I’m really excited that the folks at RecruitingBlogs.com and Monster.com are making the entire October 7th RecruitFest conference in Boston available to view FREE and Live online!

• Big Brains/Thought Leaders/Practitioners from Leading Organizations? Check.

• Opportunity to view and participate LIVE in the conference from the comfort of your office or while viewing at home in your pajamas? Check.

• Easy to sign up and – did I mention – FREE? Check.

I’d recommend clearing your schedule from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST on Thursday, October 7th to be there.

You’re Boss will love you because you’re saving T&E dollars + you’ll get smarter = WIN.

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Will I “see” you there?