Get Ready to PowerUp and be Energized at OKHR 2014!
The 2014 Oklahoma Human Resources State Conference and Expo will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 6th – 9th. We are very excited about 2014 as the conference will be moving to a new venue, the beautiful Downtown Tulsa Convention Center. This new venue will allow the 2014 conference to be bigger and better than ever with more speakers, sessions, vendors and events. We will also be able to utilize the new Tulsa Ballroom, the largest convention center space of its kind in Oklahoma. Bringing the conference and expo to downtown Tulsa will allow conference vendors and attendees to take advantage of the numerous restaurant choices and entertainment opportunities in Tulsa's revitalized downtown districts!
We look forward to seeing you in Tulsa!
Keynotes
Opening Keynote: Talent Anarchy
Jason Lauritsen is the reformed corporate guy. For nearly a decade, he spent his days in the belly of the beast as a corporate Human Resources leader where he had to actually "walk the talk" each day. Today, he consults with organizations to help them transform how they approach talent and leadership development. Since his first management job as a corn detasseling team leader at age 13, Jason has been studying people and why they do what they do. Classically impatient, curious and well groomed, Jason's early career was a rapid progression of sales and management roles including launching, leading and ultimately selling a small business in his mid-twenties. He's a leader, sales guy, entrepreneur and corporate executive — all rolled up in one.
Joe Gerstandt is the sage consultant. He's a middle-aged white guy who is a national thought-leader on issues of diversity and inclusion — need we say more? He brings a unique and powerful perspective to everything he does. The core of Joe's work is to help organizations solve issues of diversity, culture and innovation through consulting, training and speaking. Listening to Joe speak, you will hear tales of his days as a U.S. Marine and Gulf War veteran blended with his experience in sales, education, and community-building. To say that Joe is intense and passionate about his work would be an understatement. He is one part professor, one part philosopher, and one part "not quite right." Be prepared.
Friday Keynote: Margaret Morford
Margaret is CEO for The HR Edge, Inc., an international management consulting and training company. Her clients have included Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Time Warner, U.S Secret Service, HGTV, Nationwide Insurance, Homeland Security, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Vanderbilt University, The Nashville Predators national hockey franchise, the U.S. Naval Nuclear Submarine Group and various local and state governments. Previous to owning her own company, Margaret has worked as an attorney, specializing in employment law as well as been Vice President of Human Resources for three large companies. She is often quoted as a business expert in newspapers and magazines across the country including Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, MSNBC, CBS Money Watch and Entrepreneur and appears regularly on local ABC, CBS and Fox television affiliates. She is the author of two business books, "Management Courage – Having the Heart of a Lion" and "The Hidden Language of Business – Workplace Power, Politics & Influence."
Closing Keynote: Jeff Havens
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vanderbilt University, Jeff began his career as a high school English teacher before following his father Rex Havens into the world of stand-up comedy, where he began looking for an avenue to combine both of his passions into entertaining and meaningful presentations.
The results are Uncrapify Your Life!, How to Get Fired!, Unleash Your Inner Tyrant! and Becoming a More Annoying You!, and since their introduction Jeff has brought his unique, side-splitting, message-based presentations to General Electric, Ford Motor Company, USBank, McDonald's, and hundreds of other corporations in the United States and Canada. Original, informative, hilarious and powerful, Jeff's ability to help people achieve success in leadership, customer service, communication, generational issues, corporate culture and more by talking about what they should and shouldn't do guarantees that his audiences manage to laugh and learn at the same time. His stated goal? To provide all the content of a traditional presentation with all the entertainment value of a comedy show. Because improving your business doesn't have to be boring.
