Canberra resident Stephen Collins is one of the keynote speakers at RecruitTECH 2009.

Stephen is a thinker and doer in social media and user experience. He’s recognised internationally as an innovator, community builder and engaging public speaker.  Having worked for many years in the Australian public sector and consulting industries, Stephen founded acidlabs in late 2006 to help bring his philosophy of a more open, collaborative and hyperconnected world to his clients. It appears to have worked.  Stephen now works with a range of organisations in the public and private sectors helping them change old corporate culture into a new model - one where conversation, collaboration and community are at the heart of everything they do.

Come and watch Stephen speak at RecruitTECH…

Public Sphere: Government 2.0 - Stephen Collins from Kate Lundy on Vimeo.

What is your name?

Steve Collins. But everyone, including my local Senator and my Mum call me trib.

Your position/title?

Founder and Chief Troublemaker at acidlabs.

Where do you live?

In Canberra’s southern, outer ‘burbs. Close to the bush, but not in it.

Give us a quick elevator pitch for your business…

Everything you do is about people. I make it easier for people to use your business and for you to understand the users of your business.

How old is your business?

acidlabs was born as a concept in October 2006 and I opened my doors officially in February 2007.

Why are you passionate about your business?

There’s no business without people to work in it, run it and to use the services or products you provide. But so often, people are treated as a last consideration. It’s my job to change that.

Name your three favourite business-related websites - the ones you visit religiously in your business

I actually don’t visit many web sites. I read a lot of them. Hundreds every day. Honest! But I use RSS tools to do it. My must-reads are extensive, but you can’t go wrong with:

MIT Sloan Management Review
Harvard Business Review
Johnny Holland

Name your three favourite websites - the ones that you visit in your spare time

If it’s spare time, I like to read stuff that’s brainless and nothing to do with my work. So, for me it’s:

Pajiba
GoFugYourself
QuestionableContent and xkcd

How many hours do you work in a typical working day and do you work weekends?

The old work-life balance question. A normal day for me is about 8-10 hours. I try not to work on the weekend, but I usually do a few hours.  Not too many.

What do you do in your spare time?

What’s spare time?

I’m getting back into going to the gym and on my bike. This Summer I’ll get back to triathlons. And during Super14 season, it’s going to the Brumbies’ home games. All that plus spending time with my girls - my wife and daughter.

How many followers do you have on Twitter?

A lot.

How many friends do you have on Facebook?

Not as many as Twitter, but still a pretty significant number.

Do you blog?  Where is your blog located?

Naturally. My blog is at www.acidlabs.org.

If you were able to invite any three people to dinner, who would they be and why?

Barack Obama, Joss Whedon and anyone who’s ever spoken at or attended TED.

Why? Obama is a transformative political entity and I want to know what makes him tick. I am a huge Joss Whedon fan, so it would be a complete fanboy thing. And the third? I got to go to TED this year and it was a life-changing experience. The TEDizen family are an incredibly inspiring group.

Do you have a business mantra or favourite saying?  If so, what is it?

No.

What is the biggest mistake that you have ever made in your business?

I make mistakes all the time. The thing to do is fail fast, cheap and often. From these things, you can learn and innovate.

In your eyes, what are the three top trends in the recruitment and technology space?

Relationships and social media have changed recruiting completely in the past two years. Trouble is, so many organisations, particularly recruiters, don’t put the effort in and continue to rely on nothing more than their candidate databases. With any luck, these types of organsations will die soon.

What are you going to talk about at RecruitTECH and why is it important?

People, relationships, change, fish, connections.

Come and watch Stephen speak at RecruitTECH…