Going to conferences was always hard for me – the crowds, not knowing anyone.

It became a little easier when I started speaking and then in 2019 when I was a blogger for a huge HR conference, I met so many people who I had known just from Twitter, that then became good friends.

I spoke at this conference too, and my new friends showed up to cheer me on.

And when we saw Erich Kurschat was delivering a presentation on “Network like an Introvert” the introverts showed up! I went with and sat with fellow quiet HR friends Paul LaLonde, SHRM-SCP, CCAP and Christopher Orozco, MBA, THRP.

Last week, I got to finally see Paul again in person, five years later. And Erich again too! (We missed you Chris!)

Paul is not only a leader in the People space, but he’s also a speaker, with a particular focus on nonprofits and a passion for philosophy which shows up in all he does. If you aren’t following him you should be!

What I do has changed, how I approach the world has changed, the conferences I go to and organizations I align with have changed, but my friends from back then? They have not. I’m so grateful for having Paul and so many others from those days in my life, and so lucky I got to see many of them last week!

hashtag#HRCommunity