Episode Overview

Welcome to the Staffing Buzz Network! In this episode, our host Bob Pettke had the pleasure of speaking with Lance Snider, Co-Chair of the 2025 Midwest Staffing Conference, and President of the Illinois Search and Staffing Association! Lance was also joined by Clay Pautz President of the Wisconsin Association of Staffing Services and Laurie Bradley, President of the Michigan Association of Staffing Services. In this special episode on The Staffing Buzz Network, hear why you should consider attending the upcoming Midwest Staffing Conference taking place on April 23rd and 24th at Drury Lane in Oak Brook, IL. Spoiler Alert: You don’t need to be in the Midwest to attend!

Listen to the Episode:

Episode Transcript:

Bob Pettke: [00:00:00] Coming to you from the Ultra- Staff Studios in Chicago. Welcome to the Staffing Buzz Network with your host Bob Pettke.

I like that too. I like that. That’s some groovy stuff. Hey, Bob Pettke again here from ABD Ultra-Staff EDGE Chief Sales Officer here. And we are that, one of a kind ATS/CRM staffing solution. And I have the Chief Sales Officer. I might have said that already, that music da da that kind of got to me a little bit, but we’re good.

We’re good. So again excited. Maybe I got a little bit of, a little bit more of a different demeanor. I. I’ve got some real exciting guests, and that’s right. I said guests on our podcast today, and it’s another segment or another installment where we’re really dedicating this time on The Staffing Buzz Network to talk about the Midwest Staffing Conference.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. It’s a beautiful, big, glorious conference for staffing folks here in the Midwest. It [00:01:00] is gonna be held April 23rd and 24th at the Drury Lane Conference Center in Oak Brook. Ladies and gentlemen of the Staffing World, it is a tremendous event. As people will say that it’s a highlighted two day highly anticipated event.

It’s designed for staffing professionals like you and me from all over the Midwest. We’re all gonna come together, right? And we’re gonna share. A common bond and knowledge, but there’s gonna be some professionals there. There’s gonna be partners there, and they’re gonna share their expertise.

They’re gonna, we’re gonna collaborate collectively, and we’re gonna learn from people, other people in the industry, these leaders, right? And, people like, like-minded people. I’ll say that again. Kind people like, like-minded people. If you’re like me and I like you, good chance we’re gonna get along, right?

We’re excited about that Midwest Staffing Conference. What’s nice about it is it’s the location’s great. So we’re just outside of Chicago. So if you’re not from the area [00:02:00] and you wanna build your stay and visit around that, it’s great. You’re not far from getting into downtown Chicago.

It’s located centrally between two airports, O’Hare, and Midway. And there are accommodations right there near the property to stay as well. And it’s gonna be a good time. And so we’re excited to, be a part of it. Personally I’ve been there a couple times for myself. I had the good fortune of being able to present last year and I’ll be moderating a sales panel with some sought after sales professionals from the industry.

So it’s gonna be a great time. With that said, I, I tease to it we’re, we’ve got some guests that we wanna bring on. Again, it’s it’s almost like watching the Brady Bunch, but just not as many kids. I’m dating myself. We got the screen there. Hi guys. Hi there. Hey Bob.

Hey. Welcome to this edition of a staffing bus network. Brought to you by the Midwest Staffing Conference, April 23rd, 24th. Hey, we’re gonna start out, I’m gonna do introductions ’cause these are some key [00:03:00] players and putting this whole event together and influencers in different areas. And I’m just gonna, I’ll start with Laurie Bradley.

Laurie. Hi.

Laurie Bradley: Hi

Bob Pettke: Bob. How you doing?

Laurie Bradley: Thank you for inviting me.

Bob Pettke: Hey we’re glad to get you here. How you doing?

Laurie Bradley: I’m doing well. So I’m the head of the Michigan Staffing Association and we’re probably one of the newest groups to participate in this conference. But I’ve been a staffing owner for more than 20 years and I sold my own staffing company in 2016, and now I’m an investor in several staffing companies and.

So I really see this conference as a way to help the staffing companies that I mentor, improve some of their processes and sales techniques, and just get to be part of the staffing community. So it’s a good size with great attendance, but not so big that you can’t really make some good personal introductions and connections.

Bob Pettke: We’re glad to have you here. Thank you for your involvement and your encouragement and your [00:04:00] participation. We’re gonna get back to you, but we’re gonna move on over to Clay, Paul’s Clay.

Clay Pautz: Hey Bob, how are you?

Bob Pettke: Morning brother. I am good. Good to see you again. Clay is a repeat visitor to the Staffing Buzz Network in our second annual version of this podcast, bringing ’em in on board.

Clay, talk to us about who you are, your involvement. Give us the rundown.

Clay Pautz: Yeah. First, always a pleasure to be on the podcast. Thanks for having me. I represent WASS Wisconsin Association of Staffing Services. I’m the current board president. We’re very excited to be partnered with Michigan Staffing Association, as well as ISSA.

Shout out to Lance Duke, Snyder and his team. For putting together a fantastic event. Really, I’ve been lucky enough to sit in on and be a participant in the planning committee where the sausage is made for this event. And these guys put a lot of time, effort, and work into putting up a great lineup of speakers and putting out just a great [00:05:00] event.

I really like the word that you used Bob at the beginning of the podcast, and that’s collaborate or collaboration. I feel like that this event is exactly that to a T. You have fantastic attendees. Members from all associations. You have some fantastic industry partners that are supporting this event and helping with content and just making the whole event pop.

And then, the lineup of speakers and talent and content is really top of the line. So we’re very excited to be a part of it and excited for April 23rd and 24th to get here.

Bob Pettke: No. Hey, Clay I’m right with you there. And, it’s really just a good event. It’s a comfortable event, right?

It’s a it’s a good spot where people just can come together, collaborate, and learn, and all just very similar backgrounds and such. But hey, last, but by no means least, the slugger here on the call, the Slugger Lance, the Duke, Snyder, Lance brother. How are you?

Lance Snider: Really good, Bob. [00:06:00] Hey Lori Clay, thank you for everything. Bob, you and your Staffing Buzz Network audience. We really appreciate this time here. Plain and simple, everything they said. You said we’re very excited about the Midwest Conference, but it is really growing because we’re all in this together.

That big C word, that collaboration. There’s so much business out there that we can all lead each other. We can learn each other, we can learn from her. Failures our successes and help each other out. The more that we stand together, the better that we are in this industry that we’re all very proud of.

I’ll turn it back over to you, Bob.

Bob Pettke: Lance, I’m gonna come right back to you, but I’m gonna, I’ll let you know what you know. I’ll lead the witness here. Yep. Tell me, what does it take to pull off something like this? Like, when does planning start? For a conference like this?

Lance Snider: That’s a really good question.

I was co-chair last year and I’m co-chair this year. I’m also the president of the Illinois Search and Staff Association, but it’s all about everybody getting together a big team. One, we have a very strong board, but then we break up, obviously our subcommittees, this committee [00:07:00] for. The Midwest Staffing Conference we started getting going there in probably the September October timeframe just to get the wheels going.

We really try to make it a mission to try to get everybody, speaker wise, bound before the new year just so we can really try to. Start rallying everybody, getting the marketing going out. Obviously, thrive in 25 is our theme this year, so it does take some time. But we have a strong committee.

Lori and Clay are part of that, and we have, I think 13 folks in this committee that really get together to make this happen. It’s a great team effort. Bob.

Bob Pettke: Yeah, thanks. Lori, I’m gonna go to you and Clay, it’ll be the same question after Lori. What are you finding from the people in Michigan?

What is their, what is their response? What is their interest? What do they have to think? When it comes to, this event each year?

Laurie Bradley: I think in Michigan, there’s certainly a place for these large national staffing conventions, which, I attend, but I think a lot in the Michigan area, like the idea of a smaller group where you have hundreds instead of thousands.[00:08:00]

And they can make some more connections. Part of how we do our business now is involves a lot of teaming. So you get to know other staffing companies that can maybe do things you can’t do, and you could bring a broader solution to a customer or you can hear about their problems, the networking aspect to these.

Aside from having great speakers. I really encourage the staffing companies that I work with to say, you gotta broaden your horizons and learn from your peers. It’s, I think there’s a lot more trust in the industry. I’ve been in it 35 years and, we were all very guarded about what we would tell our competitors.

That’s gone now. I think people really embrace collaboration and this is a great vehicle to improve on that.

Bob Pettke: Clay, how about you and the land of cheese up there in Wisconsin? What is your, take your vibe on, on, on your fellow Wisconsin folks is when it comes to this event?

Clay Pautz: Yeah. We’ve been lucky that we’ve had some really good participation over the years here, and I hope and I think we are going to have [00:09:00] strong participation again. For me it’s really the best bang for your buck, like Laurie said. I want to piggyback a little bit on that. There are a lot of conferences out there to choose from.

I think for what is offered in the programming here, really the cost. And even the time sometimes it’s difficult to get folks outta the office for, a week at a time. And this is a nice, two day conference with just packed with information and opportunities. And I think, again, without having to break the bank, you can send multiple team members.

Like you had mentioned the beginning of the podcast, Bob, it’s easy to get to. And we even have a couple of our reps coming from our New York market to, to attend. You don’t have to be in the Midwest to enjoy the benefits of this conference. And it’s just gonna be a darn good time on top of all that.

Don’t miss it.

Bob Pettke: No, I’m glad you brought that up in with all seriousness and when the glasses come off, and I don’t think I’ve ever taken the glasses off. Jennifer, my producers on the other side here. Let the record show and clay hold. Hold [00:10:00] on. Let the record show with all serious, with all sincerity.

You don’t have to be in the Midwest. To ha to attend the Midwest Staffing Conference. And it is worth the trip. It is worth the trip, that’s a great, it’s a great point. We’ve mentioned that on prior podcast, and I’ll be interested to see, Lance, when we get the rosters and everything all said and done, I’ll be interested to see, what was our furthest attendee.

And maybe if we figure out who that is, I can, we can make sure that the furthest attendee know they, they can get an edgy, brought to you by ABD Ultra-Staff EDGE, full front office back office, CRM/ATS solution. And look at this here.

So yeah, maybe we could do something like that, if we could figure out who the furthest attendee is. Lance, you’ve been doing this for some time, co-chair and an attendee and a lot of things in between, what have you seen as far as the evolution of the Midwest Staffing Conference?

Lance Snider: That’s a great question, Bob. I think Lori was right about that before. Maybe [00:11:00] folks didn’t wanna share things. I think one of the biggest things is we’re all lean each other, we’re trusting each other. I think with trust you tear down things that never you could discuss. And now we’re all like, Hey, let’s do this, let’s do this.

And I. Not just among staffing partners, but boy have we got a heck of a strong sponsor slash vendor partnership. We’ve got at least 34 vendor partners coming to this. That’s all wanting to be a part of this. It’s just, I think we’ve all been starting to lead each other and especially over the years.

You start to see, I think this industry that we’re all proud to be a part of, we do need to lean into because I think sometimes there’s things that come or maybe stones are throwing that I don’t think are right. And the more that we get together, the more that we show how darn good we are I think it’s better.

So I think we just continue to grow and trust each other more. And that’s why this conference last year. I think we hit about 270 total attendees. I hope to see us get over 300 this year and for just this past week, I think we’re over 160 and we’re just the start of March. [00:12:00] So goals to get over 300.

Bob Pettke: No, that’s great.

Laurie Bradley: I think the other thing that’s really important is, for some of these smaller staffing companies, and I talked to ’em about going I don’t know anybody I don’t know anybody be there, I dunno, anybody, and I share with them when I went the first time, I didn’t know anybody.

And I will say that the group, all of the attendees, they don’t all sit in the same place for lunch. People come up and introduce themselves to you. Lance became my friend the first time I was there, asked me what I did and all of that. And I gradually got to know more people. So I do think we make an effort as a team to make new attendees welcome and to avoid that clicky thing where the new person thinks I don’t fit in that.

That’s the biggest impediment to growing something. That’ll, we have a lot of smaller staffing people that own their own business and come, they need to feel welcome and they need to feel that it is a friendly environment. And I will say nobody does it like the Midwest,

Bob Pettke: So Agreed. I don’t know if it’s a Midwest [00:13:00] thing or if it’s a staffing thing or a combination thereof, but you’re right.

People just welcome each other. It doesn’t take long, unless you’re just not a huggy person before you’re hugging people either, soon after you’ve met ’em or on the way out it, it really is just a fraternity and a very unique, very warm and welcoming group.

I think at the end of the day, staffing’s not easy. If it was anybody and everybody would do it. If you needed to fill a recruiter job, you could just. If you have an office, you can put a sign out in front of your door and say, come on in, we’ll pay you every week or every two weeks and do the job.

It’s not easy, it takes a unique person to do this and there is blood, sweat, and tears that are involved in what we do. I. And I say that, and I know I’m on this side of it now, but I spent, majority of my career in the staffing arena doing the things that, y’all are doing and the people that are gonna be attending on April 23rd and 24th at the Drury lane conference center.

Wow. That was almost gone, but it came back right away. Yeah, we’re like-minded people. There there’s a [00:14:00] warmth and. And if people are coming in from New York, they’re gonna see it. And if they’re in staffing, there’s a good chance, that they’ve got that as well.

And so yeah it should be a good time clay, same kind of thing. And I know you’ve, been in this, you haven’t been in as long as Lance, but what have you seen as far as the evolution? I’m seeing probably attendance continues to go up and caliber up. But tell me what your thoughts are and what you’ve seen from the time you’ve started to now.

Clay Pautz: Yeah. I. I think they’ve maintained a very high standard here of content. But, at the same time, there’s been a definite evolution there. And I think the content now what you’re seeing for speakers, people like John Devore or Robert Reed, some of our our keynotes this year are really second to none.

And these are, folks that are speaking at national conferences. So to be able to, have them at our Midwest Staffing Conference is pretty special. And I think that just continues to evolve. Every year I see a better lineup and more speakers that I’m excited to see and I. It’s a little bit of a good problem to have, but that was my [00:15:00] struggle last year, was trying to figure out, which ones am I gonna go see during, sessions where there was 2, 3, 4 different good speakers?

Try to follow some of those different tracks. But that’s the challenge is figure out which one is best for you. And then I run to the other folks that attended one of the ones that I didn’t go to and say, what did you learn? What did I miss? There’s so much content.

It’s sometimes it’s takes a little planning.

Bob Pettke: No, I, yeah. There’s so much to see and do and the venue is not, I’ve been to the national conferences where you’ve gotta walk a mile to go from conference to conference. This is a, just a, it’s large enough to handle a group.

300 plus. And the layout of the room is great. There’s a center point of the whole event when you first come in and you go through registration they’ve got always got good food and snacks always there for you.

And then, basically, there’s, there’s a circle there or what do they used to say? And. I’m dating myself again in Hollywood Squares. The circle gets the square, right? So it’s basically like a square or a [00:16:00] rectangle. And that’s when you’re gonna find companies like us like a, b, d, we’re gonna be there as a partner.

Talking to people as they wanna come and learn about us, our ATS, our CRM and take a look at that, but then right next to us is gonna be maybe somebody who does backgrounds, right? And then right next to them is gonna be somebody that works with WOTC and somebody next to them is gonna handle maybe some type of accounting or payroll. It’s just, there’s gonna be just such a good vast venue, a good vast amount of different partners that are gonna be able to help. Hey, I got a trivia question for you guys, and I already talked about this earlier, so we’ll see how much you were paying attention or how.

Maybe you were really focusing on what you were gonna have to say next, which I’ve done myself. But my question for you, and you could just blurt it out and if you get the answer right first and Jennifer, I’m gonna have you be a judge with me. The question is, what is the name of this guy quickly? Somebody.

Laurie Bradley: EDGY.

Bob Pettke: Oh, Lori. [00:17:00] Good job. Lori. Lori, we got, we’re gonna, let’s give this one to her, right? Okay. All right, Lori, when you come and see us. We got it.

Laurie Bradley: I’ll be claiming it.

Bob Pettke: You know what we’re gonna do here? I’m gonna do this. Just to prove it here, I’m not autographing it, but when you come and see us, you’ll have an EDGY with your name on it.

Okay? I’ll be there. You have your name on it, so let’s make sure she gets that right.

Lance Snider: Hey Bob, I was more interested in how you were sitting there squeezing, EDGY. I was losing that. I like the way you squeezed the EDGY.

Bob Pettke: You were entranced by

Lance Snider: that,

Bob Pettke: like those old cartoon eyes where it looks like they’re going in circles.

Exactly. Yeah. No, that’s Lori, thanks for She is, she’s a sharp. I was paying attention. This, Lori Bradley. Let’s watch out for her. She’s gonna be all over it. Guys, this has been great. I’m I really, there, there’s a genuine excitement for us as a partner with this and.

Being able to see, the list of, some of these top [00:18:00] speakers in, in, in the industry are gonna be there. And we’ve had them on, right? We’ve had several of ’em on already. So if you don’t know who they are and you wanna see, go back and look at some of our most recent podcast and you’d be able to see who was on and hear what their message and listen to what their takeaway is.

‘Cause one of the things we did when we had the keynotes on and the speakers is we ask them like, what is one reason why they should come and hear your message? But I’m gonna go ahead and open that up even wider. And we might’ve even talked about some of these things as we dialogue with the three of you.

But I’ll start with Clay. What would you think would be one reason for somebody who hasn’t enrolled to come to the conference yet? What would be one reason why you think they should.

Clay Pautz: I would just say there’s something for everyone here. It doesn’t matter if you’re in sales, if it doesn’t matter if you’re in operations recruiter there is something for you.

There is content for you. And, the other part is I think some of this is we talk a lot about the content but some of the best. Information. Some of the best conversations I’ve [00:19:00] had we’re walking around and talking with industry partners and vendors and sponsors that are there at the event.

Folks like you, Bob, and, those have been some of the most fruitful conversations, so you don’t have to go far sometimes to just find the best value there.

Bob Pettke: So I, yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I appreciate it. Lori, what about you? What is a reason, one reason maybe, that you think, man, somebody, maybe they’ve never gone and they’re contemplating it and they’re thinking, should I take the time?

Should I, should I make the investment in the team? What would be a reason why you think somebody should attend?

Laurie Bradley: I think you have to invest in your own ability to be bold and to be brave. And I, I think when you go to these conferences. To Clay’s point you meet a lot of the sponsors that give you ideas in the breakout sessions, you get good ideas, you sit and have lunch with different people, and it really is inspiring to, to embolden you, to get outta your comfort zone, maybe in your sales and broaden sort of your prospect and what you’re selling and how you’re selling.

So I think to be [00:20:00] successful, you have to be bold and you have to be brave. And this starts to percolate that in people. When you get with a group of like-minded people, it is really inspiring.

Bob Pettke: I think that’s great. Absolutely. Duke, what about you? What are your thoughts?

Lance Snider: Yeah I think both Lori, myself, Gil, all of us are pretty much in line with the theme.

Thrive in two or Thrive in 25. We want folks to come in there. We want folks to lead our network, learn, and then really be jazzed about that conference coming out in this wonderful area. And then really going out in the industry with the tools that they learned, maybe with the partnerships they’ve adopted and adapted that they go out there and really just enjoy this year.

And let’s make the best of it.

Bob Pettke: No, I think it’s great and I want to thank each of you. Individually and as a group, thank you for being on today, and I look forward to seeing you all. April 23rd and 24th, the Drury Lane Conference [00:21:00] Center in Oakbrook. And just for those that wanna make sure that they wanna attend, listen to this, listen to the message.

Take the advice and register today. So with that said, thanks guys. We’ll see you then.

Laurie Bradley: Thank you. Take care, Bob.

Lance Snider: Thank you. Staffing Buzz Network. Take care. Thanks.

Bob Pettke: Just a real good group, right? A good group of professionals but also just, just salt of the earth. People that have, they’ve done the same things that you’ve done to, to do staffing. Staffing is not easy. It’s not for everybody. They understand the value in being able to get together as a group and collaborate, and so it’s gonna be an exciting time.

I’ve said it many times. I’ll say it again. April 23rd, 24th at the Drury Lane Conference Center. You can go ahead and you can search on Midwest Staffing Conference 2025. There’s a bunch of information there, including the speakers. You can go ahead and also email [00:22:00] info@issaworks.com.

Lemme make sure that’s right before we cut away. Yeah, it is info@issaworks.com. You can email there to get more information or just say, Hey, I wanna register and somebody could either email you back or give you a call. But don’t miss out, don’t miss out on this event. Invest in your team.

Invest in yourself. Invest the time. A little time away from the office is not gonna hurt anybody. As a matter of fact, it’s, it could be a breath of fresh air as well. With that said, remember we’ll be there, we’ve got I’ve got, I got the one with Lori’s name on it, but I got more EDGYs on the way.

I think we’ll have a few of these, but we might be doing some other things as well. So I don’t know exactly what they will be. So you might want to come and check that out. Teases, hint. And come talk to us as well. Come and talk to Ultra-Staff EDGE. I will be there. I might even have a fresh haircut, although I just got a fresh one, but it’s a month away, so I might need to get another haircut come by, say hi and learn a little bit about what we’re trying to do [00:23:00] here with the staffing world as well.

And with that said, until next time, thanks for watching us on the Staffing Buzz Network. Oh, before I forget, if you haven’t already. Repost this. If you’re seeing this on LinkedIn, repost it, share it with your friends. Hit the subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform, or on YouTube, but get the word out that The Staffing Buzz Network is here.

And we love the staffing world and the staffing community, and we wanna be able to talk to as many people about things that are gonna help you advance your business and grow to your bottom line. So again, thanks everybody for watching us on The Staffing Buzz Network. I’m Bob Pettke here at ABD Ultra-Staff EDGE.

Thanks.