I have a talentcrush on Assal Azodi: “Employer Branding conference Gravity+ — be there or be square!”
Assal Azodi is a Conference Manager at Quadriga Berlin and responsible for the great success of Social Recruiting Days and Gravity+ — which are among Berlin’s biggest HR conferences. Let’s value more the peeps who are behind the scenes who give us the opportunity to connect, share knowledge and grow!
How come you joined the conference business?
Well, that just kind of happened. After university, I knew that I wanted to do something with marketing and project management. So I started a traineeship program at Quadriga Media Berlin after working in a marketing department in a start-up for a year. And since I had worked in an HR department as a working student for more than two years, they offered me to work in the HR conference team.
What was your dream job as a child?
I’ve always loved Christiane Amanpour, so I always wanted to become a journalist, preferably investigative or war journalist. As a student, I realized that you need to do a lot of internships for that and since I had to work during semester breaks to finance my studies, I let this one go. And to be honest, I realized I didn’t like journalistic writing that much ;).
What is important for you when it comes to organizing conferences?
The concept is very important to me. I always have to be up to date to know how to build that specific conference. As soon as I have this I start looking for cool, innovative, and informative case studies. There has to be a balance. I want the participants to get as much input as possible, but also a wide range of topics that are or might be important for them. And to me, fun is also important.
‘I want our participants to leave a conference not only with the information they hoped they would get but want them also to have fun and not be just another conference they attended.’
Which conference did you organized and you are super proud of?
Of course, I’m proud of all of them, but I am personally most proud of Social Recruiting Days 2018. It is the third biggest conference and it was a huge success. That really made me proud. It was so much work and I spend so much time with the concept, case studies, event itself, and so on. So, to see that one really happening after six months of work and getting the great feedback was amazing and worth all the extra effort. (Read my summary here: Social Recruiting Days — Hot AF or Boring Shit?)
Why are you especially taking care of HR related conferences?
Since I worked in an HR department I already had some pre-experience. So it was obvious that I started with HR topics, but the more I got into it the more I began to love it. As a young professional, you are aware of what company you want to work for or what you expect from an employer, so for me that is the thing. I love talking to HR managers, recruiters, employer branding managers, and so on at my conferences to see what they are struggling with in their daily work and to put that into my work.
“I think HR deserves more credit for what they are doing in their companies.”
And that is what we are doing with our conferences, giving HR more credit for their hard work and helping them to get new insights.
What are the trending topics in 2019 in HR?
Definitely DIVERSITY (has always been very important, but I think more and more companies start to realize it), from Human Resources to Human Relations, digitalization continues to be a hot topic as well.
In 2019 it’s the third time for ‘Gravity+’. What kind of conference is that?
I call Gravity+ my baby since I love this conference and the idea behind is so huge! It is our biggest conference for employer branding. Gravity+ is also partly PR topics since many HR departments work with their PR departments on their employer brands. It is a young, fresh, and very cool conference with a lot of different topics.
Why should I attend Gravity+?
Because it’s my baby. Just kidding. I am very proud of this year’s program to be honest. It is very diverse, so many great speakers! We will have much more interactive sessions and workshops than last year. A bigger venue, more event experience. So I can only say: be there or be square!
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Gravity+ is on 4/5.04.2019 in Berlin. Most content of the conference is in German this time, but they are planning an English version as well.
I will give a workshop at this year’s Gravity+ conference about data-driven employer branding. Would love to meet you, share knowledge and connect.
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