Built By People

The SHRM26 Edition

An honest field guide

Making SHRM26 worth the trip

25,000 HR people, 375+ sessions, and what feels like nine miles of expo carpet. Here’s what actually matters.

Kristy McCann

BBP Contributor · LinkedIn

I’ve done these conferences from every seat in the house. Attendee, speaker, vendor, and the person regretting her shoe choice by 11am. The first time I spoke, right after launching my own HR tech company, strangers came up afterward just to say thank you. A few of them became our first customers. That’s what these events can do when you let them.

And yes, before anyone emails me, I have opinions about SHRM. We’re keeping it light today. I’m showing up to learn, to give, and to hug people I’ve missed. That’s the plan.

The goal is not to consume the conference.

It took me years to learn that, and it’s the one thing I’d tell anyone packing for Orlando. The pressure to squeeze value out of every minute is the fastest way to get nothing out of four days. Aim instead for two or three real relationships and one idea you’ll put to use. Everything past that is bonus.

This weekend’s homework

Download the SHRM Events app and log in with the email you registered with, then build your schedule now, not in the security line. The app isn’t the easiest to navigate, making this essential to do before landing in Orlando.

Pick one non-negotiable session per day and get there early. Do your future self a favor and choose now instead of scrambling for a seat mid-session.

Book one dinner now. 25,000 HR people descend on the same restaurants. One good table beats any session. My pick’s at the bottom.

Pack a fresh LinkedIn. It travels better than business cards. (Pro tip: your QR code is hiding behind the app’s search bar, so handing it over takes two seconds.)

01 · The sessions

Pick sessions that change your first Monday back.

That’s the only filter you need. Favor real case studies (“here’s what we tried, here’s what broke”) over tidy frameworks, and the forty-person breakouts run by working practitioners over the big headliner rooms. Less shine, more honesty.

Two topics earn their slot this year.

Financial wellness and total rewards. Employees feel the squeeze on what everything costs, and the employers who help are the ones keeping their people. (Oddly, benefits only gets 7% of the agenda, so the good ones are easy to find here.)

My contender

Beyond the Benefit: Creating a Culture that Encourages Mental Health & Well-being

Wed Jun 17 · 4:00 PM · Roundtable

Culture and trust. Only 29% of employees say they trust their own manager, a record low per DDI’s 2025 Global Leadership Forecast. The sessions wrestling honestly with that are the most relevant rooms at the show.

My contender

Adapting to Change: What Workers Really Need in an Age of Economic Uncertainty

Wed Jun 17 · 12:30 PM

Skip the AI-hype rooms for the honest ones about giving people back their time. And if a session turns into a 60-minute product demo (you’ll know by minute five), you’re allowed to leave.

My picks, at a glance

Master the Neuroscience of Decision-Making

Tue Jun 16 · Lorne Epstein · Preconference workshop

Mastering Priorities While Beating Burnout

Tue Jun 16 · Glenn Anderson · Preconference workshop

Managing Change

Mon Jun 15 · Two-day preconference seminar

(Yes, all three are preconference add-ons. I like the smaller rooms before the crowds land. If you’re main-conference only, start with my two contenders above.)

02 · The floor

Work the floor like a city.

Not like a checklist. You won’t see all of it, and the people who try are useless by early afternoon. My ritual: walk one full lap before you stop anywhere. Mark the eight or ten booths worth your time, then go back on purpose. (You can also scout the published exhibitor map beforehand.) And go early or go late. The bookends of the day can get you a real conversation.

Shameless plug: the one booth where you can get an astrology reading, a shot at 1 of 100 iPhones being given away, and a benefit that costs your company nothing is Previ (booth 4921). That’s where I’ll be. Come say hi.

03 · The people

Collect people, not swag.

This is the whole reason to go. A conference is really just a reason to be in the same building as people you want to know, and most people do it badly.

•

Have your intro ready. An honest one. Mine: “I’m an HR veteran. I did twenty years of time, how about you?” It gets a laugh and hands the conversation right back. I’m an introvert, so I say that out loud too; it builds in a graceful exit for when I need a breather. And if big rooms make you want to hide, SHRM’s first-timer orientations and smaller meetups are the soft way in.

•

Aim small on purpose. You don’t need two hundred business cards. You need five to ten conversations you’ll follow up on. A few good connections beat a stack of contacts every time.

•

Be helpful before you’re impressive. Lead with a question, an introduction you can make, or something you can offer. Asking someone what they’re hoping to figure out opens more doors than any pitch about yourself.

•

Follow up within two days. The connection doesn’t happen at the conference. It happens in the LinkedIn note you send Friday before you forget their face. Almost nobody does this, so be the one who does. (Remember the LinkedIn QR code trick from your homework.)

The part nobody admits

At some point you’ll stand alone in a room full of strangers who all seem to know each other already. It happens to everyone, even the twenty-year veterans. We’re all tired, we’re all pushing through, and people rarely say this out loud. So I’ll say it: dip out when you need to. I straight up hide when I need a break, and I don’t feel bad about it.

My spot

An outdoor space not far from the conference, usually near a fountain. Florida has plenty. Hear the water, take a breath, admire the sky, then go back in.

Since I’m local — one Orlando tip

For that dinner you’re booking: skip the convention bubble and get to Winter Park. Yes, it’s worth the 25-minute Uber.

My go-to is The Ravenous Pig, where the mushroom and gruyère beignets are absolutely scrumptious. If ramen is more your speed, DOMU is a few minutes down the road and every bowl on the menu is excellent (walk-ins only, so go early). Both are in the Michelin Guide.

Go get what you came for: two or three real relationships and one idea you’ll put to use. Make it worth the trip. And when you need that breather, come find me at Previ (booth 4921). I’d love to meet you.

See you in Orlando,

Kristy

Built By People

Sponsored by . Real benefits that put money back in employees’ pockets at no cost to the employer.

First sent to SHRM26 attendees on June 11, 2026 · All issues