Maine HR Convention: May 8 – 11, 2023

Thursday, May 11, 2023

6:30 am - 3:00 pm
Registration

REGISTRATION SPONSOR:

6:45 am - 8:15 am
Breakfast

BREAKFAST SPONSOR:

8:15 am - 9:30 am
KEYNOTE: In it for the Long Haul

Meeting today’s needs, while protecting tomorrow’s possibilities

What comes to mind when you consider the longevity of your organization – Is it ethical leadership? Well cared-for employees? Environmentally conscious business practices? It turns out that true systemic sustainability is achieved when we are mindful about each of these factors and more. Today, Elba Pareja-Gallagher will explain the three pillars of sustainability – environmental impact, social impact, and corporate governance (ESG), and how she found her “why” in pursuit of corporate sustainability. We’ll study both top-down and bottom-up approaches to achieving sustainability; begin to define your organization’s north star for ESG; and, learn the ripple effect that these practices have throughout an organization – from employee recruitment to financial impact and everything in between.

Applying for SHRM credit and HRCI Business Credit

Program Faculty: Elba Pareja-Gallagher

9:30 am - 10:00 am
Break Time

Visit the EXPO. Support our Sponsors. Grab a coffee and visit the Convention bookstore, open 8 AM – 12 PM.

BARISTA SPONSOR:

MOBILE HUB SPONSOR:

10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Choice of Two MegaSessions

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Lunch

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
CLOSING KEYNOTE: HR Business Leaders as a Force for Good

Info coming soon! Stay tuned for our announcement.

Monday, May 8, 2023 Tuesday, May 9, 2023 Wednesday, May 10, 2023 Thursday, May 11, 2023

Maine HR Convention

Full Schedule by Day

Additional Specialty Tracks

HR Basic Training: May 8-9, 2023

Katie’s Corner: Reflections
This morning, I was browsing through some memories of the #MaineHRConvention in years past, and was overcome with feelings of nostalgia, energy, and PRIDE for the human resources community our event serves. Our return to the Samoset in May is a long-overdue homecoming for the HR professionals of Maine. This crowd has been through the wringer in navigating the health & safety, emotional wellbeing, and workload of their fluctuating workforce. It’s about time that we all get in a room and take one big (masked!) EXHALE together. I can’t wait to reunite with friends new and old, and produce an event worthy of this group’s time and energy. As you ramp up your plans for May – join the hold a seat list, book dinner reservations in Rockport, and wait patiently to book that coveted Samoset room – please consider the 2022 Maine HR Convention my team’s bottom-of-our-hearts THANK YOU to the people who take care of their people. We are truly in a debt of gratitude. Katie Jones Creative Director, COO The Maine HR Convention Katie@StrategicHRus.com
A Note from the Curator: 500,000. HR, Gratitude, and Hope
For our friends in the HR orbit who deal in numbers and people. (That’s all of you!) On Monday evening, the President said, “We often hear people described as ordinary Americans. There’s no such thing. There’s nothing ordinary about them. The people we lost were extraordinary.” The HR community also has been extraordinary this past year, balancing numbers so organizations survive and recognizing that analytics matter little without seeing the people behind the numbers. There are countless stories of HR leaders rising to the occasion, tending to their employees, and reaching beyond their immediate circles. So, how do you grasp 500,000? Some draw the connection to lives lost in the wars of the last century. I imagine the combined populations of Bangor (my hometown) and Portland (which I now call home). Times FIVE. That thought nudged me from a self-defensive numbness to a gentle ache – and an elixir with two-part chemistry. The first part involves gratitude for frontline employees. Nurses jabbing arms. Clerks bagging groceries. The second part of the formula is hope – that uniquely human gift. Teachers planting seeds that will blossom into ideas. Ideas that might cool the planet, cool our heated political rhetoric, and warm the way we think about work, life, and the people we love. If you haven’t seen the Mars landing – watch this 3-minute NASA clip, which is awesome and sweetly geeky at the same time. If you want a little music to inspire – watch and listen to this clip created by “From the Top”. Here’s hoping that you are in good spirits, and that if you have lost a friend or family member, that this person resides in your heart as extraordinary. Bud Bernstein Curator for Strategic HR U.S.
A Note from the Curator: HR Superpower Alert
We’ve witnessed the Maine HR community in action these past few months, and you’ve done extraordinary things, calling on your superpowers to make a difference in the lives of your employees and the continuity of your organizations. We intend to reward those efforts with an extraordinary Maine HR Convention in May; so please watch for the opening of registration next week. I’ve called on the superpowers of my Strategic HR team, a faculty scattered around the U.S., and a virtual platform in London, England called HopIn to provide you with something unique. An online experience that leaves you informed and inspired across three learning tracks, a Maine Great Leader series, six keynotes, and a journey around America to meet HR miracle workers in action. In just a few days, you’ll see what we’ve been cooking up behind the scenes. For now, here’s the start to an Emily Dickinson poem: “Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all Bud Bernstein Curator for Strategic HR U.S.