The conference season is upon us; here’s my list of the top 5 People Analytics conferences to attend this year. For those of us implementing and praciticing HR People Analytics, it’s inspiring and fulfilling to get around others who have the similar interests, challenges, and experiences – and to learn and be inspired from each other. I’ll look for you out there…
People Analytics Conferences
1. Wharton People Analytics Conference 2018
March 22-23 | Philadephia, PA
The Wharton School, of the University of Pennslyania, hosts its 5th annual conference on people analytics. This year’s speakers include Mary Barra (CEO General Motors), Stewart Butterfield (CEO Slack), and Daniel Pink (author).
From my perspective, this is the most-credible and established People Analytics conference in the U.S. presently. This is certainly possible to change as interest grows. The biggest threat is likely bigger HR conferences that shift to more analytics. At present, if you’re in the U.S. – this is the conference of the year.
The conference has a number of keynote presentations this year, and I’m happy to see a discussion about the role of visualization. The full schedule, tickets, and info here.
If you can’t attend, you can still learn from the Wharton team. The Wharton People Analytics course is available on Coursera.
2. People Analytics World 2018
April 11-12 | London, UK
The biggest and best of the People Analytics conferences. Already in it’s 4th year, this conference attracts the biggest names and interest in People Analytics. Leaders such as David Green, Max Blumberg, and Laurie Bassi are involved with the conference. Last year over 420 attended, I’m certain this figure will grow again this year.
The conference also includes additional sessions (for a fee, of course) led by expert pracitioners. With or without these additional courses, I’ve no doubt you’ll leave this conference swimming with ideas and itching to explore your data.
Without a doubt, if you’re in Europe, the Middle East, or your travel dollars will stretch this far, get yourself to London in April. Full details here.
3. The Re-Imaging Work Conference 2018
May 31 – June 1 | San Francisco, CA
True to it’s location near Silicon Valley, this conference seems to lean heavily to machine learning, artifical intelligence, and even robots. Asking thought-provoking questions, this conference is sure to be cutting-edge.
The agenda does break into applications for today, not just of the future. If I’m attending, here I’m looking foward to the topics of Ethical & Conscious use of Data. As we move rapidly into measuring and tracking everything about people (maybe the robots won’t mind?) this is fundamental and needs to be established early. Full details here.
4. 2018 Human Capital Analytics & Workforce Planning
June 11-13 | San Diego, CA
This conference appears geared towards those just starting out on their journey and even those looking to get started. Full details on the-tma.org.
5. HR Technology Conference
September 11-14 | Las Vegas, NV
A massive conference, and the only one in the second-half of the year, perfect if you need another round of inspiration, or challenge if you’ve accomplished your goals from the earlier conferences.
The technologies supporting HR are all chasing one thing: data. The conference topics, speakers, and vendors are largely focused on the use of data. There are so many good sessions that you’ll get a bit frustrated with the scheduling, which makes sure you’re in the Expo Hall often with nothing to do but visit with vendors.
Full details – be prepared for sound (which is unnecessary, as is the video intro) – here.
HR Conferences
1. Greenhouse Open Conference 18
April 2-4 | New York, NY
Photo by John-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash
