In addition to complying with hundreds of leave laws, employers must support employees more holistically to attract and retain top talent. But how? Hear insights from the 2024 DMEC Annual Conference from Bryon Bass, CLMS, DMEC CEO; Kristin Jones, CLMS, DMEC director of education programs; and Jess Dudley, CLMS, DMEC education manager!
Listen in and register for the 2024 Virtual Annual Conference on Sept. 18 for five of the top-rated sessions and a pre-recorded panel about lessons learned from the Colorado and Connecticut paid family leave implementation: https://dmec.org/conferences-and-events/annual-conference/virtual-event/
[35:11] Kristin Jones: I love seeing the questions. I'm just going to start there. I think getting to moderate the questions is a lot of fun and really interesting, and it's enjoyable that you kind of feel like the liaison between the attendees and the presenters and kind of bridging that gap for people. And I think that's a lot of fun. The questions run the gamut. I think that stands out to me quite a bit in the questions consistently, both in webinars, in conferences, and in all of our conferences, is we have some, a lot of people would probably consider some pretty basic or foundational questions around programs, compliance, things like that. And that shows, you know, we're getting people maybe earlier into their experience with these programs, or a little less certain. And so they're really looking for that foundation of content and of knowledge and then we also get some more complex ones with specific scenarios. Those are always the most challenging. You know, I work really hard to try to make the questions applicable for a broad audience out there. So, you know, and being cognizant, if we have lawyers who are presenting for us and don't, you know, can't be in a position of giving specific advice, legal advice, you know, but making it feel like it is really helpful and moves the needle for attendees. So that's always an interesting balance to try to find. Those questions tend to get voted up a lot, the specific questions, people want to kind of see it in action they like seeing, or even if it's not a scenario that necessarily applies to them. I think sometimes those more complex questions get voted up because it is the opportunity to see the application of what has been spoken about. But we also get a lot of votes on those foundational questions as well, which, again, I think that is that audience who's really looking for that basic foundational information. And so I think that's really informative to the overall programming of our conferences as well. It is a really sweet, delicate spot to try to hit, especially for general sessions where it's one session at a time for the full audience to make sure it's not too much for those who are looking for that or who need that foundational knowledge. And it's not too basic for those who are maybe at a more senior level with their experience in that particular topic. And that will vary because someone who's at a really experienced level of knowledge with, say, the FMLA, maybe isn't as experienced with ADA or with the PWFA or with other areas or emerging technologies and things coming about there, really just making sure that on the whole, that content can fit everyone, a really broad audience. And then as we go into the concurrent sessions, there's the opportunity to really round out that knowledge and that educational experience. But I think to me, that really stands out if it just really shows the diversity of the audience that we see questions on both ends of that spectrum getting, I would say, almost equal attention.
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[50:55] Heather Grimshaw: Okay, perfect. Yeah. It was really wonderful to hear people as they left the conference talking, as Kristen mentioned about how they felt so inspired and were looking forward to getting back to their offices or workplaces and sharing some of their take home and putting things into place. So that's always wonderful to hear attendees say and share. So I'd like to wrap up our conversation today by noting that DMEC is preparing for its virtual annual conference on September 18, and we encourage listeners to visit the DMEC website to see the agenda and register. This is a unique opportunity to hear four of the top-rated sessions from the in person conference, along with roundtable discussions that provide attendees with an opportunity to engage with industry experts and peers. We will include the URL in the notes section of this episode and hope you join us on September 18. So with that, I'd just like to thank Jess, Kristen, and Bryon for their time today. We really appreciate your thoughts here and weighing in on takeaways from the conference.
