Perspectives from the OI Partners Booth

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July 12, 2007 - By Kevin Pallardy

Sunday, June 24
Sunday, June 24, was the opening of the 59th SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition. And what an opening! More than 750 vendors participated with exhibit booths, and 22,000 attendees explored the exposition hall. After a series of registrations, pre-conference workshops, conference orientations, Super Sunday sessions and a packed general session, the conference attendees were more than ready for the reception held at the Exposition Hall. From 4-7 p.m., attendees socialized and enjoyed their favorite refreshments. It was quite an experience for attendees and vendors!

Monday, June 25
Monday marked the first full day of the conference. The OI Partners booth was in an excellent location near the center of the floor in a high-traffic area. At 9:30 a.m., the Exhibit Hall opened, and we had a steady stream of visitors all day.  Our daily iPod giveaway drew lots of booth visitors, as did the golf swing analysis provided by Dave Bisbee, PGA golf pro from Sedona, AZ. OI Partners met hundreds, maybe thousands, of HR professionals who stopped at our booth.

One of the visitors is a bit of a celebrity. Matthew Lesko, the Question Mark Suit Guy,visited our booth and had his golf swing analyzed. You’ve seen Lesko’s Free Money commercials on TV. As it turned out, he’s been a member of Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C. and is a pretty good golfer. And yes, he did wear the Question Mark Suit.

Your OI Partners representatives greeted booth visitors throughout the conference.  Thanks to Dan Leathers, Burt Burrell, Roger Sommer, Lateyfa Ali, Melanie Miles and from Strategic Solutions International, our partner for helping improve individual and team effectiveness, Connie Charles, who brought Dave Bisbee and the golf swing analyzer.

Once again, we noticed that Roger Sommer seemed to know almost everyone that visited the booth.  How does he do it?

Tuesday, June 26
Elvis is in the Booth!

Elvis was seen at the OI Partners booth having his golf swing analyzed by PGA Pro Dave Bisbee. “The King” had a bit of a slice, and Dave showed him how to keep his right shoulder back and his head behind the ball. True to form, Elvis was grateful for the tip and said “thank ya...thank ya very much!”

The crowds at the booth were constant during exhibit hall hours. We had visitors from all across the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. We also met with HR people from Korea, Australia and Canada.  OI Partners’ global presence, with 108 locations, was a topic of much discussion at the booth. Three iPods were awarded to SHRM attendees who participated in our drawing. 

The Exposition Hall closed Tuesday afternoon.  We quickly dismantled the booth and packed for shipment to next year’s 60th SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition Hall in Chicago.  See you there!

Kevin Pallardy is managing partner of OI Partners, St. Louis.  He can be reached at 314-523-2206 or kpallardy@oipartners.net.