SourceCon Musings from @infosourcer

As per the request put forth by Amybeth last Friday, I definitely wanted to share my personal experience with SourceCon because it was a special part of my previous career as a recruiting researcher!

My involvement with SourceCon officially began when I took on the first ever Sourcecon challenges back in the summer of 2007. This post sums up the challenges quite well: “48 hours into Challenge #2 and the feedback is that it is just too hard. The feedback we received from Challenge #1 was “too easy”.

Well, Challenge #1 was won by Mike Notaro, but again, it was too easy (hehe Mikey, sorry, I just had to say something about that). I had a whale of a time trying to figure out Challenge #2, but when I got the “final answer” and won, I was pretty pleased with myself. You can check out my step-by-step methodology here.

Last, but not least, Jeremy Langhans completed the Three Amigos team when he won Challenge #3. All of us were flown to Atlanta, GA for a chance to compete in the dreaded “Grand Master Challenge”. This was exciting for several reasons:

What I remember most was the excitement and buzz that was in the air. There seemed to be a mutual feeling of being a part of something cool, new, exciting and special. And indeed it was all those things. The presentations were all informative and engaging, the networking events were fun and mutually beneficial to all involved, and many of the friendships made have lasted to this day.

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While I did not win the Grand Master Challenge (Mikey did, and did so again the following year), it was a wonderful time to be in the Sourcing industry, and I will remember SourceCon 2007 as being kind of like that first blockbuster movie – though the sequels may be unique and awesome in their own right (and in some cases better!), the first one will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Cheers to all of you going to SourceCon 2010 and Source On!

Suzy, a self-professed Web Ferret, is a tech-savvy transformational professional with broad experience in global cutting-edge strategies and outcomes, including Talent Intelligence, Employer Branding, Innovation & Inclusion, Competitive Intelligence, & Sourcing. 

While Suzy initially joined Cloudera as a Senior Tech Sourcer in 2015, she quickly moved into hybrid roles, starting with spearheading and owning the company’s Talent Branding initiatives. Currently, she leads Cloudera’s Global Talent Research efforts, which encompass talent mapping, global competitive intelligence, sourcing, benchmarking & reporting, and a host of other strategies we can’t mention here. Suzy is also very active in the Cloudera Employee Resource Groups and regularly contributes to on-going Diversity and Inclusion efforts, often at the C-Suite level.

Prior to Cloudera, Suzy consulted on high-impact assignments at companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Glassdoor, utilizing sourcing and social recruiting tactics. However, in the mid-2000s, she “cut her sourcing and sleuthing teeth” at Deloitte LLP, where she implemented innovative sourcing strategies  Her transferable skills then got her working for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.(DTTL), the global headquarters, during a serious economic downtown (2008-2009)  as Manager, Global Online Communications. Here, she was responsible for working with Deloitte member firms in 54 countries and communicating and deploying DTT’s global online communications strategy using various online outlets, including nascent social media platforms. As such, she was instrumental in shaping DTTL’s and Deloitte Analytics’ global social media presence and footprint.

During this time, in 2007, Suzy got super-intrigued by the first Sourcecon challenge and was doggedly determined to solve the challenges. While the first challenge was won by Mike Notaro (hey - it was easy - ha!), she won the second, more difficult challenge, and Jeremy Langhams won the third challenge. All three of them went to Atlanta to participate in the first-ever Grandmaster Challenge (Mike Notaro won that one). It was here that the sourcing community really became one tight-knit family and to this day, Suzy and her sourcing brethren are still close and share tips and tricks.

Prior to that, Suzy worked as an internet researcher in various roles for and in various marketing and research roles in the music, renewable energy, publishing, and recreation industries. She has some fun anecdotes to share, especially in the music industry, where she was Label Manager for A&M Records in Paris, and when diving with sharks while working for a South African shark-repelling device company (SharkPOD).

She is also a Global Nomad, having lived in South America and Europe in her formative years, and worked in France in her professional years. She speaks French, Italian, Spanish fluently, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from Florida International University.

 

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