Buzzword Bingo and HR Tech Conferences
We all know the game. We usually play it, at least in our heads. But there would be something very refreshing about one of the big shows making it part of the scene. How much fun would it be to have buzzword bingo as part of a big HR technology conference?
Silly? Maybe. But the intent shouldn’t be to take away from a presentation or display by making a game out of searching for keywords. I’d suggest instead it should be done to discourage their use, forcing marketing teams to describe their product in meaningful terms rather than joining the nearly indiscernible mob migrating toward the hottest topics of the day.
No more buzz. No more gamification, big data, cloud computing, or social technology. Forget about seats at tables or employee engagement as abstract terms. Move past trying to jam facebook and twitter into every possible crevice. And lay off of Pinterest.
Our technology conferences make it easy to lean on these tired terms and trends. They could just as easily lead the charge in asking for fresh ideas and terms in getting the message out to the HR practitioners of the world.
Let’s talk to each other with real words. Let’s see what the customer needs, what the vendor has, and if there is a match. Let’s focus on solving problems together and building partnerships. And let’s leave the buzzwords behind.
