Last night saw the second #connectinghrMCR where a number of HR-type people came together for a few hours of chatting and drinking in Manchester and we had a fantastic evening. #connectinghrMCR is part of Connecting HR (The social community for HR professionals).

Some brief reflections:

(1) If you want something to happen then don’t moan, just make it happen. A few of us (me, Damiana Casile and Ryan Cheyne) kept travelling to London for Connecting HR events and decided it would be great to have something in Manchester. So, we did it. Simples.

(2) I’ve read comments that Twitter and social media make us less social and that relationships can only ever be shallow in so few characters. My experience of #connectinghrMCR is the exact opposite. Social media provides a global platform where you can form connections. We even received gifts from our friends in New Zealand, #NZLead

(3) People are awesome. There is great power in developing those social media relationships into ones where you meet in person. There is immense power in a room full of great people with a shared passion, as we witnessed last night.

I had an absolutely awesome evening, but I’d rather you see it through the eyes of the attendees so I’ve curated a Storify which tells the story of the 2nd #connectinghrMCR through the Tweets of the attendees. There’s lots in there so you may need to click ‘read next page’ a few times!