There's this old yarn about how a bratty kid goes to school one day and comes home to find his family has moved. That's how I felt when I roamed about at HRO World. Although it was an outsourcing conference, it could have been "Automotive World" or "Widget Expo." I understood the underlying business model was essentially the same, but the vendors, the leadership, and the customers were so different from what I've been accustomed to in the IT outsourcing space, I felt like a tourist. I did run into some of the old-timers including Bill Bierce, Mark Hodges, and Joe Vales who were warm and welcoming. Joe Vales was especially helpful and generous with filling me in on what was going on and how I might be involved in the HRO space.
The best fun I had was at a party held at the 21 club by vendor Convergys. I met three analysts there with whom I could commiserate and laugh. One, in particular, has an exceptional blog that I had stumbled upon. If you want to know about HRO, don't come here. Visit Jason Corsello's blog. Jason has a real blog. He promised to teach me how to blog like a pro, so that was definitely worth the trip into Manhattan.
