Spring has officially sprung! In Minnesota, that means that the grass is getting greener, the flowers are blooming, and the snow has (almost) all melted. It is also the time of year that you will find the ThinkTalent team busy getting ready for OHUG 2017 Global Conference! What is OHUG, and why the excitement? OHUG stands for Oracle HCM Users Group and every year the OHUG Global Conference is an opportunity for clients and partners across the Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft and HCM Cloud (including Fusion and Taleo) applications to gather for a week of knowledge sharing and networking. This year’s conference will be June 6th-9th in Orlando, FL.

 

As an Oracle Gold Partner, ThinkTalent makes the commitment to attend OHUG each year. We use this time for staying up to date on Oracle roadmaps, participating in break-out sessions, problem solving and brainstorming with other attendees, and making new connections within the Oracle family.  Between the sessions and everything else, there are always many take-aways each year that we  can share with each other and our clients. We also take our commitment to fun rather seriously- our exhibitor booth has been known to have a line of people waiting to play black jack, “beer” pong or Yahtzee!

 

One of the most valuable offerings at the conference are the break-out educational sessions. This year, you will find the ThinkTalent team leading or co-leading 8 of the sessions with topics ranging from addressing audit requests, custom integrations, evergreen and seasonal requisitions, background integrations within the onboarding process and the power of reporting.

 

A question we often get from clients is “why should I attend OHUG? Is it worth it?” Absolutely. Aside from the educational content that is highlighted at the conference, the networking opportunities are worth your time and investment. Attendees have the chance to meet other practitioners who are using the same products and hear about how they have encountered and overcome challenges. The break-out sessions draw people with similar interests, but the Regional User Groups (RUGs) and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) provide an especially unique opportunity for attendees to meet and brainstorm with people who have similar business requirements or challenges that they need to solve for.

 

If you are planning to attend OHUG 2017, the team has put together a list of important to-dos to make sure you get everything you can out of your time! We hope to see you there!

 

  1. Start by preparing a list of priorities, questions or challenges that you are currently struggling with. If you do not find break-out sessions that address these, seek out the experts to help you! If you don’t know who the right person is, ask other attendees or Oracle team members.
  2. Review the break-out session content and find those that align with your priorities. If you have multiple attendees from your company, divide and conquer and then circle back after the conference to teach one another.
  3. Attend a RUG or SIG! The open forum discussion between different companies is invaluable.
  4. Visit the vendor exhibition and seek out conversations with vendors that offer technology/tools that are a high priority to your business. And while you are there, seek out ThinkTalent!
  5. Network, network, network. Introduce yourself to people and ask them questions about their business—you may find you have similar interests!
  6. Bring your business cards and exchange them with the people you meet! Jot down the interesting topics/conversations you had with people on the back of their cards.