As much as we live for online social media, it's the in-person experience that allows us to truly learn from and trust each other. You can attend big trade shows to connect with colleagues, but not everyone can swing the travel and expense. Craig Fisher (@fishdogs), VP of Sales-South Region for Ajax Social Media, wanted to offer a solution to big cost-prohibitive meetups with Talent Net Live. It started as the first-ever hashtag Twitter chat for recruiters, and has grown into the largest regional conference in human resources. Localization keeps attendance up and opens communication lines betwen local groups all over the world. Talent Net Live is extremely interactive as all participants share concepts, such as talent pools and talent communities, that are becoming common in our vocabulary. It utilizes top tools and trends worldwide to help find the right recruiting practices. What’s interesting is how much this group is learning from recruiting overseas. Fisher explains that in the UK, recruiters have been texting with candidates for 10 years and now it’s considered passé. In the U.S., however, it’s just starting. The UK is learning from the US, too – a year ago they were hesitant to use Facebook for recruiting, but they're now diving in headfirst. Fisher says they've actually been more successful than the US in using job-sharing platforms for referrals through Facebook.