Back Home Again And More Relevant (Reflections on NPA Denver 2015)

March 23, 2015

Fresh back home from the Mile High City with a higher level of thinking, the 2015 NPA Conference did not disappoint. Insightful speakers, inflatable monkeys, plenty of networking time, new connections and reconnections, great sponsors, “A-Ha” moments and a new NPA benefit – A recharged recruiting relevance.

Relevance? Really? Let’s discuss relevance from slightly higher than 5,280 feet for a second. As an independent recruiter, you don’t have the time to maintain your continuing education in relevance. Where you gonna get that trending stuff? Tapes on your Walkman? Past, dusty issues of that industry letter thing that – are they still publishing that?

One epiphany I had, mid-meeting, was the added benefit of attending – recruiting relevance. Bill Boorman and Johnny Campbell armed with affirming trends and a few warnings for the industry along with effective tools for your day-to-day work. Gary Harvey with Sandler training people pay a fortune for and Barb Bruno helping you simplify your desk – a solid lineup there for the perspective taking.

Another takeaway, I found myself listening to people introduce themselves in Trading Group sessions – asking myself – “How can I work with these people more?’ “How can I work with that person more?” Would I do that if I wasn’t there? I had to be there. I had to be there to have a takeaway.

I owed Dave Nerz a blog post centered around a trust or… better said – a lack of trust conversation I had recently with another affiliate. I finished that post in Denver. Being a part of a split network, you have to have an element of trust with your affiliates, right?  You need to start with trust actually. Before you start though you need to show up and do something at some NPA thing somewhere, somehow – much easier to start with trust when I can see you, hear you, allow you to buy me a beverage on Thursday, reciprocate on Friday and uncover something resembling likemindedness.

As I wait for the rest of the Complete John Denver Collection to download – let me say – certainly many of you had excused absences and hated to miss the meeting (and we missed your unique contribution) – this post is one guy’s opinion and I’m not intending to preach but encourage you to celebrate your recruiting independence in Washington, DC in 2016.

Andy Gregory, NPA 3590