Top 100 Influencers in HR, Recruiting & Talent Acquisition

Top 100 v1.53 Dave Shadovitz

Posted on 22. Jan, 2010 by JohnSumser in Top 100

Top 100 v1.53 Dave Shadovitz

16 Times a year, over 75,000 decision makers in the HR universe receive their copy of Human Resources Executive Magazine. In an era that is supposed to be the death of print periodicals, this foundational industry publication just keeps on trucking.

According to their PR. “Human Resource Executive® was established in 1987 and continues today as the premier publication focused on strategic issues in HR. Written primarily for vice presidents and directors of human resources, the magazine provides these key decision-makers with news, profiles of HR visionaries and success stories of human resource innovators. Stories cover all areas of human resource management, including personnel, benefits, training and development, HR information systems, relocation, retirement planning, workplace security, and health care.”

While some competitors my quibble with the characterization, there is no doubt that Human Resources Executive Magazine has had a strong hand in shaping the industry.

Most of readers will be familiar with the HR Technology conference put on by the company behind the magazine, LRP Publications. Human Resources Executive Magazine. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. LRP produces a handful of conferences including HRWeek and (returning this year) The HR Executive Forum. Always one of the top 3 online HR offerings, LRP’s online properties are diffused. A little late to the web game, LRP focuses on webinars, mailing lists, direct marketing and the vastly more profitable print advertising.

At the editorial helm of this industry standard is David Shadovitz. A career journalist, Shadovitz has run the show at
Human Resources Executive Magazine since its birth in 1986. After nearly a decade in B2B publishing, Shadovitz found a permanent home. He’s a journalist and a publisher at heart.

Somehow, you believe him when he says, “We never publish the same thing twice. We’re always looking for the new angle, the fresh way to tell the story.” 23 years later, David remains passionate about keeping his audience engaged and informed.

Things are very different now.

In the beginning, the publication was small and HR was more personnel than HR. The idea that the function should have executives and be strategic was not quite mainstream. With support, encouragement and inspiration from LRP’s founder Kenneth Kahn, who was once a practicing employment law attorney), Shadovitz dug into the assignment.

Today, /component/page,shop.cart/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,62/vmcchk,1/”>cialis ordering HR increasingly plays a strategic role, spends huge dollars on technology and programs and is moving closer to business issues. “It’s been fun watching the community grow and evolve,” he says.

In trying to keep the content fresh, Shadovitz is the consummate networker. He talks with industry executives, vendor leaders, consultants and academics during most of his day. A team of seven editors and a stable of freelance writers (here’s how to get in print) power a content engine that produces rich, high quality journalistic material every 3 weeks.

In David’s case, stamina is a large part of his influence. The magazine and conference deadlines are relentless. So while he appears to be a mild mannered and very gracious fellow, there’s always a crisis /component/page,shop.cart/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,62/vmcchk,1/”>cialis ordering brewing somewhere. Deadlines are just like that. Shadovitz makes his mark by staying smooth in the storm.

One way of thinking about influence is the way we’re measuring it in the digital influencer project: Reach, Resonance and Relevance. Shadovitz is the embodiment of all three.