To innovate and to transform is also to disrupt.
Since its last local appearance in 2019, DisruptHR is returning to the Triangle for its seventh iteration on Thursday, Nov. 9 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the American Underground Bullpen in Durham.
Originally founded in Cincinnati in 2013, DisruptHR is a global information exchange designed to inform and empower HR leaders, business professionals and community leaders. The events are organized by community volunteers from cities worldwide to bring together different ideas and perspectives that aim to “disrupt” the traditional view of the HR field.
The one-day event consists of drinks, networking and presentations from 10-14 speakers, similar to the style of TedTalks. However, the difference is that each speaker is given only a strict five minutes to speak with slides rotating every 15 seconds. This “disruptive” form of a TedTalk not only creates an eye-opening experience for the participants, but it also creates one for the speakers themselves, as they have to think and speak about different ideas in very untraditional formats.
Daniel Vent, the founder of Raleigh-based recruiting firm Intraview, attended his first DisruptHR in Boston in 2019 after stumbling on it while looking for something to do. After he left, he said he was blown away by the format, the camaraderie and the essence of innovation that the event had.
Now, not only is Vent a recurring speaker at other DisruptHR events in other cities, he is also one of the official organizers for RDU’s DisruptHR event, hoping to bring the same experiences he had to the Triangle.
“I think it’s so beneficial to give people the chance to think in a different lens while being in that safe learning environment,” Vent said. “It’s meeting people with their hair down, making some lasting connections and getting immersed in learning about how to do things differently and better.”
Vent is organizing the Triangle event alongside Amy Robertson, the Founder and CEO of Soul Advantage LLC; and Candice Keenan, the Founder of Elevated Talent Solutions. Speakers include past GrepBeat story subjects Jessica Mitsch (CEO of Durham-based Momentum, who was also a Friday Nooner guest), Brad McGinity, and Sarah Glova (who was also a Friday Nooner guest host).
Although it is an HR-centered event, DisruptHR provides an opportunity for any business professional who cares about people to “let their hair down” and connect on disruptive ideas, a concept not commonly practiced in the business world, let alone in the HR world.
Vent said that HR is a field that needs to be updated and redefined. Most may think of HR as the complaint department, the corporate spokesperson, or the “keep us out of trouble” hub for businesses.
This new, “rebellious” age of HR—which DisruptHR plans to empower—focuses on how holistic approaches and perspectives toward a company can enable its people to become more excited and involved about their work, while improving workplace culture and community at the same time. In a way, the events bring the human element back into “human” resources.
“There’s something electric and alive about disruption or transformation or innovation,” Vent said. “Maybe you go just to see a speaker, meet someone new or to learn something new—whatever you’re looking for, DisruptHR will have something for everyone.”
You can find out more about the event and purchase tickets here.
