OK, if you're not a geek as defined by an interest in a) technology, b) talent management software, or c) a mixture of the two, check back in Monday.  Today we're geeking out about talent management software, mainly since we're at HR Tech - that's what you do when you're at a show that discusses talent management issues solved by technology, people.

Here's an interesting tradition at HR Tech - the shootout.  Each year, Bill Kutik pits software providers in similar spaces against each other, having them walk through the solution their software can provide to common business problems that HR pros and companies face.  Here's this year's description of the shootout that was held late Thursday afternoon:

"Our 13th Shootout – and signature event – will be an epic software battle now that two ERPs – Lawson and SAP – have agreed to go up against two Talent Management suite vendors – Plateau and Salary.com. For years, the smaller suite vendors have sold new customers by contending the ERPs’ applications for Talent Management are not as functionally rich or as integrated