Back to the Wild

by hr bartender on December 1, 2009

I met Mr. Bartender when we were both working at Sea World in the animal care department.  Animal care is the department that takes care of the untrained animals (not Shamu, he’s trained.)  But the otters, dolphins, manatees, whales, etc. in the petting areas or rescued and nursed back to health.  Once we had a rescued otter spend the night at our house.

Then Mr. B moved on to be the Duck Master at The Peabody Hotel.  If you haven’t heard the story of the Peabody Ducks, check it out here.  But that also meant there were times when we had mallards living at our house.

Needless to say, we’re very fond of animals and animal-related causes.  Mr. B has a degree in wildlife biology from Ohio State University (go Buckeyes!), so we enjoy going to zoos and nature preserves.

Which brings us to this post.  Mike VanDervort, over at The Human Race Horses, decided to include a charity component in last week’s HR Carnival.  Each blogger was asked to provide the name of their charity of choice with their post.  For me, there was no question the charity would be focused on taking care of animals.

Years ago, we discovered the Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation and Nature Education Center.  It’s located near where my father-in-law lives in Ohio and we try to visit every time we’re up there.  The facility takes in injured and orphaned wildlife with the purpose of rehabilitation and release back to the wild (hence the name.)

In addition, they are equally committed to teaching the need to preserve and protect our environment.  Back to the Wild hosts over 50,000 students and visitors each year.

I am truly impressed with the accomplishments of Back to the Wild.  And, in fact, so are others.  In 2006, Mona Rutger, director of Back to the Wild, was named Animal Planet’s “Hero of the Year.”

Because Back to the Wild operates solely on gifts and donations, I named them my charity of choice during the HR Carnival of Global Giving and have created a donations page on HR Bartender to help further their mission.  Mr. B and I hope you’ll consider tossing some spare change in the Bartender’s “Tip Jar” for Back to the Wild.  Thanks and Cheers!

(Editor’s Note:  All proceeds raised will go directly to Back to the Wild.)

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Mango Martini

by hr bartender on November 30, 2009

You might have noticed a new photo on the blog…

My good friend (and photographer extraordinaire) Nancy Newell has shared with me another fabulous drink photo.  This one is particularly special because I happen to know exactly when this photo was taken.

Nancy and I both serve on the Membership Advisory Council (MAC) for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  The MAC acts as a conduit between SHRM members and the board of directors.  I’ve had the pleasure of serving with Nancy on this year’s MAC.  It’s one of the reasons I’m a member of SHRM and I volunteer – the lifelong friendships that I build along the way.

This photo was taken at a dinner with Nancy in Phoenix during the SHRM Strategy Conference.

Thanks Nancy for sharing your photographic expertise in this breathtaking photo!  You’re the best.

Mango Martini

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Improving the Travel Experience

November 29, 2009

Since the holiday season is considered to be one of the busiest travel times of the year, it seems only fitting to talk about travel.  I travel quite a bit.  In a prior life, I worked for an airline where I traveled a lot.  So I really don’t mind traveling.  But I realize I’m in [...]

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A Tug of War

November 25, 2009

This headline in a MSNBC article caught my eye – “Consumers are changing, but are retailers?”
The article goes on to talk about Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the changes being seen in consumer spending habits.  My take away from the article:  there’s a huge tug of war game going on right now.
On one side are [...]

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2009 Encapsulated in a Single Quote

November 24, 2009

As part of a year-end report, Mary Ellen Slayter at SmartBrief on Workforce asked each member of their Advisory Board to write a blog post about a workforce trend that shaped 2009.  When I first got this request, frankly I was a little stumped.  There are so many things that have happened this year.  But [...]

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RIP ~ The Handshake

November 19, 2009

At a recent conference, the emcee announced that some attendees might be reluctant to shake hands (with all of the media talk about colds and flu) and suggested it was perfectly acceptable to find an alternative greeting such as the fist bump.  At first, I thought this was kinda weird.  I mean, a public declaration [...]

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The HR Profession – Part Two (People)

November 18, 2009

OK…now that I’ve recovered from my rant about the human resources profession, let’s discuss the people part…
I’ll start by pointing out the 800 lb elephant in the room.  Are there crappy HR people in organizations?  Yes.  There – I said it.  And, there may actually be a lot of them out there.  Which is why [...]

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