The trade association for the world’s job boards is changing its name, broadening its scope, and opening its membership to practically every vendor in the HR tech space, so long as talent acquisition is a part of the company’s products or services.
The International Association of Employment Web Sites (IAEWS) has renamed itself TATech: The Association for Talent Acquisition Solutions (its website, TATech.org is under construction). The organization’s new direction, according to a press release this morning, is to”now serve all organizations that advance talent acquisition through technology-based products and innovative services.”
The organization also detailed three areas of concentration. In the area of advocacy, TATech says it will launch a fall expo “focused exclusively on promoting TA technology enterprises and their products and services to the customers that need them.”
That puts the organization in a head-to-head competition with the multiple HR and recruiting conferences already held in the fall, including the largest HR technology show of the year, HR Tech.
Peter Weddle, founder and executive director of the IAEWS and now CEO of the new group, couldn’t be reached to discuss the refocusing of the job board trade association and its planned fall show.
However, the Job Board Doctor, Jeff Dickey-Chasins, an industry consultant who attended the IAEWS conference earlier this month, blogged after that “the fall conference will morph into something more like HRTech, with an expo floor — plus plans for an as-yet-unnamed European conference, too!”
In the press release from the new group, two other areas were cited:
- Interoperability. Noting the complexity of the multiple technology solutions, TATech says it will “work to optimize performance and promote customer return on investment by leveraging its conferences and other forums to facilitate open and continuous dialogue, understanding and coordination among all industry participants.”
- Standardization. On this point TATech says its goal is to develop and promote a common nomenclature for the industry.
Weddle, quoted in the press release, said of the new group’s mission, “The individuals and organizations in the talent acquisition solutions industry deserve a trade association positioned to provide them with the insights, resources and connections they need to succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s marketplace. TAtech fills that role.”