Focus on Manatee | Upcoming talent conference is ‘a new event for a new age’

It’s an all too familiar scene. The cold ballroom is packed. The spotlight is on the podium and the keynote speaker steps up to deliver his 45-minute address.

But nothing is familiar these days, and CareerSource Suncoast’s fifth annual State of Talent Conference on May 12 is a new event for a new age. Instead, take a comfortable seat behind the keyboard as our virtual conference on a custom-built platform will deliver a streaming service channel with TedTalk-style presentations on the issues most impacting business leaders.

From company culture to workforce trends, the topics at State of Talent will be a sprint rather than a slog. Presenters such as Bob Chapman, Inc. Magazine’s third-ranked CEO in the world, and economic developer Ted Abernathy will provide thought-provoking questions around the privilege of leadership and economic wellness, respectively. Interspersed with all of the presentations will be legal interpretations from Williams Parker and local labor market data from national firm Emsi.

The conference will have a great local flavor (literally) with success stories from Rise & Nye’s, EarthBalance and other local companies sharing how they’ve found and developed people to meet their workforce needs. State of Talent was conceived to provide one day of content to ensure that our local employers, competing for workforce in a market with 4.4 percent unemployment, recruit, train and retain top people.

Our ask is to consider this conference a reflection point on workforce and economic development in our region and nationally. Much of the last year has caused us to question nearly everything about our work lives and we hope this event will further spur executives at our local companies to improve systems and operations for their workforces.

Thanks to the generosity of our speakers and sponsors like Bank of America, this year’s State of Talent Conference has a complimentary registration. Sign up today at https://careersourcesuncoast.com/sotc_register/ to be a part of the festivities on May 12 and we look forward to continuing the conversation in the months to come with follow up events.

Ted Ehrlichman is president and CEO of CareerSource Suncoast.