In December 2007, inspired by gatherings of sourcers overseas and groups like the Association of Executive Search Consultants, I started a local group for sourcers in Australia and New Zealand. At the time, sourcing in Australia was a fairly new phenomenon. The group was set up as a place for people who loved Internet search to get together to talk about topics such as new techniques, challenges, and innovation. I also wanted to see sourcing become known as a viable career path in the recruitment industry and treated like the specialist role that it is rather than a support role.

So this year when I was approached by Phillip Tusing of Destination Talent to help him organise an event around sourcing I jumped at the chance. The industry here has grown a lot in the five years since I started working in it and there is currently quite a bit of interest in sourcing as well as some successful sourcing throughout the country.

There was a diverse range of topics covered throughout the event. Looking back I had to ask myself what do Gollum, Kanban walls, and Charlie Sheen have to do with sourcing, as they all got mentions. These topics and more are really indicative of the holistic focus the event had. More on that later…

There were a couple of presentations in particular that, when combined, seem to cover the broad range of sourcing.