October 31, 2014
Dear Everyone:
Happy Halloween to all you merry little
Goblins out there.
I spent the first half of this week at a
Conference in
San Diego.
A little history.
Approximately 13 years ago the large, international Corporation that I
was working for acquired yet another large, international Corporation.
Both companies had a
Records and Information Management (RIM)
Program.
When the combined Company began to merge the two RIM Programs together,
not surprisingly, they were very similar.
Two companies, both in the same (xxx) business, both of which
used the same RIM consulting companies, had very similar programs.
In fact, “Doris Fork”, the head of That Other Company’s RIM Program,
made a joke that our two companies had probably paid to put the twin
granddaughters of the owner of one of the consulting firms through
college. Not long after the
merger, “Doris” opted to “take the package” (the often-generous
severance offer) and retired.
I remember “Doris” for a number of reasons, one of which was her
very distinctive hair style.
Last weekend I flew down to San Diego to attend the 59th
Annual Conference held by ARMA International.
On Sunday morning, as I was walking from the hotel to the
Convention Center “across the street”, I saw that very same hair style
up ahead of me.
I called out her name and she turned around and saw me.
It was, in fact, the very same “Doris Fork”.
She gave me a big hug.
And told me that she had “gotten bored” with retirement and was
now working for yet another xxx company in “Hobby”.
In Records and Information Management, of course.
A former Supervisor told me:
“Once you get into Records Management you never really get out of it.”
A few hours later, inside the (immense!)
San Diego Convention Center, I
heard my name and turned around to greet yet another former co-worker,
“Bertha”. “Bertha”, you may
recall, became a Certified Records Manager back when I was still working
in “Livermore”. In fact,
through our connection in ARMA, I “proctored” her in taking the (final,
and sometimes dreaded) Exam Part Six.
Which means I arranged for her to sit in one of our small meeting
rooms for four hours while she hammered out two essay exams.
Not too many years later, she started working for our company and
eventually wound up in the same (RIM) workgroup as I.
We never really got along all that well.
She was one of the first RIM people to get the same axe that
finally felled me during yet another inevitable “restructure”.
Moved to Chicago, didn’t like it much (or maybe they didn’t like
her) and is now working in
Bakersfield for yet another
xxx company.
(Are we beginning to see a pattern here?)
(Most recently, she contacted me through
LinkedIn, the professional
social media. She wanted my
hairdresser’s phone number.
Apparently, she was going to be in the
Bay Area for a bit and hadn’t
found someone in Bakersfield that could cut her hair to her
satisfaction.)
“Bertha” also gave me a big hug.
Apparently, being at each other’s throats back in the Real World
means nothing during a Conference.
Everybody loves everybody else.
For two-and-a-half days, at least.
In the meantime… The
Conference.
Big. Very big.
The Convention Center is only slightly smaller than some
Third
World Countries.
Significantly larger than
Noah’s Ark.
Capable of hosting multiple really big conferences at the same
time. It actually got to the
point where one might choose the next educational session based on how
close one was to the meeting room, rather than the content.
And the Exhibit Hall. Also
very big. I would advise
taking food and water with you, but that’s where lunch and “beverage
breaks” were held, so enough said.
All the Big Vendors were there.
Recall.
IBM.
Iron Mountain, which is sort of the
Godzilla of Records and
Information Management. Even
the University of Oregon had a booth.
(Huh?)
And, while the Convention Center was “right across the street” from the
hotel, the actual entrance was about two blocks further away.
I got a lot of exercise just getting from Point A to Point B.
Also, it’s a little bit frightening how many familiar faces I saw.
After nearly forty years in the business, I even managed to get
some of the names right.
Everyone have a Safe and Happy Halloween.
Love, as always,
Pete
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