By Holly MacDonald

Twitter has been described as the world’s biggest online cocktail party.  Similarly, the annual BC HRMA Conference provides a pretty great gathering spot in the real world, so I went to work with BC HRMA to find a way to bring the two great things together.

Maybe you need a tour guide or someone who can help you navigate the party? Well, consider me both your Twitter guide and excited about what we have come up with to highlight a bit of HR social media savvy.

To be clear, Twitter is capable of conveying more than 140 characters of celebrity witticisms.  Charlie Sheen’s ‘winning’ insights aside, Twitter’s flexibility as a platform is capable of so much more – which is why I am pleased to announced the first ever “Who Thought HR?” Twitter Scavenger Hunt (#WTHR?).

Using Twitter, BC HRMA has created a tweet-hunt promotion/contest anchored by a pair of basic word jumbles: one preceding (phase one) and one during Conference 2011 (phase two). The first is open to anyone and is promoted as widely as possible preceding the event and the second is open to anyone walking the floor at the BC HRMA Marketplace at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

It’s a Twitter Hunt. It’s a word jumble.  It’s dead simple.  Morever, the first phase of the competition might just win you two tickets to Up Close and All Business with Kevin O’Leary on April 13, 2011 and a $250 Visa Gift Card. Stick with the second contest to be run during BC HRMA Conference 2011 and you might just walk away with an iPad 2.

If you need a hand getting started with Twitter, here’s help.  Those readers who are Twitter-savvy, you can jump right in!

How the #WTHR? contest works (phase one)

1. Starting March 28, 2011 @bchrma will tweet a daily clue and link. Each of these clues, 5 in all for the first phase of the #WTHR? contest, will be a phrase (2 words or more) buried within a particular sentence.
2. You’ll collect these individual clues for five days and after that time you’ll have a bunch of phrases that will form a sentence.  Simple.  Except they’ll be jumbled up. (Hint: It answers the contest question: “Who Thought HR?”)  If you miss them, you can come to hrvoice.org to see the recent tweets on the home page.
3. Once you’ve solved it, you’ll Direct Message (or DM) your response to @bchrma.  You’ll have to follow @bchrma first (and we’ll follow you back).

How the #WTHR? contest works at Conference 2011 (phase two)

On April 13, 2011, @bchrma will tweet a series of clues in the form of booth numbers across the Marketplace.  Once more, special words will be revealed to be collected and rearranged for the #WTHR? contest entry as outlined above.  While open to the public attending the Marketplace, the clues will also be highlighted throughout Conference to let everyone in attendance on April 14, 2011 get into the fun as well.

So, we want to help you get used to Twitter, get into the interesting conversations (we’ll avoid references related to Mr. Sheen) and have a little fun with us.  A chance to rub elbows with the Kevin O’Leary, nab a few Visa dollars and lay hands on an iPad 2 is always intriguing too.

That said, we hope you’ll also see others in the tweetstream that you think are interesting and want to connect with.  Moreover, we hope it gets you tweeting about Conference 2011.

But, even if you don’t win the prize, you’ll all be winners, because you’ll get a chance to spend time on Twitter with @bchrma redefining how HR plays with the 2.0 world – and me (@sparkandco) as your tour guide.  Stay tuned to @bchrma for the first #WTHR? clue to be released on Monday, March 28, 2011.

Holly MacDonald is an independent consultant with well over 15 years of experience in the learning & development field.  Holly is a bit of a techno-geek and can often be found playing online.  When she steps away from her computer, she spends time outside: hiking, kayaking, gardening and of course walking the dog.  She lives on Saltspring Island and is a leader in the live/work revolution.