December started with a huge disappointment – my father-in-law passed away. It wasn’t totally unexpected (he was 92) but he was a great guy who will very much be missed. I was blessed to have terrific in-laws. A few weeks ago, I put up the HR Bartender Tip Jar to raise money for his favorite charity (and one of mine) – Back to the Wild. Check it out if you have the chance. I think I’m going to leave it up a while longer in the hopes I can raise some more support for this great organization.
When I got back in town, the past few days have been a little hectic…with all of it being good.
First, a huge shout out to SmartBrief on Workforce. I’m on their advisory board. And I just can’t say enough nice stuff about Mary Ellen Slayter. She was kind enough to include my year-end wrap-up and my predictions post in their newsletter. I subscribe to several of their briefs…they are so worth it. If you’re not getting their info, you should definitely check it out.
Then, I had the privilege of being a panelist on HR Happy Hour. Steve Boese and Shauna Moerke are terrific co-hosts of this blog talk radio program about the latest trends in human resources. I was equally thrilled to meet Alexandra Levit, business/workplace author and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, who was on the panel with me.
And if that wasn’t enough, John Sumser from Two Color Hat launched a new digital magazine called HR Examiner. The featured story was on the Top 25 HR Digital Influencers and I was gratified to be included on the list. Yep, HR Bartender comes in at #12. Very cool news. If you’re like me and trying to stay on top of what’s happening on the internets, this is a good place to start.
While this recognition is awesome and I’m so totally appreciative, I realize none of it would exist without you. Thank you for reading, commenting, suggesting, and challenging the conversation.
Now let’s go celebrate together – because today (December 20) is National Sangria Day. Cheers!
Steve Boese says
Sharlyn – my condolences to you and your family on the loss of your Father in-law.
Many thanks for appearing, and doing a kick-butt job at that, on last week’s show, it was really a great discussion and I hope you can join us again soon!
Thanks so much.
HR Minion says
I’m sorry to hear about your father in law. Thanks for coming on the HR Happy Hour and for the shout out. I hope the coming years goes better for you.
Alexandra Levit says
Sharlyn – I’m so sorry to hear about your father-in-law. My condolences to you and your family.
The show was so much fun and I was equally thrilled to finally meet you. I hope we get to connect in person sometime soon.
Best,
Alexandra Levit
Author, New Job, New You
http://www.newjobnewyou.com
HRJEFE says
Thank you for the awsome job you do spreading the good works of HR and challenging us to do better. You are one of the first blogs I started following as I enjoy your wit and wisdom and down right common sense.
So cheers to you, HR Bartender, let the next round be on me!
Mark Stelzner says
So sorry for you and your husband’s loss Sharlyn. I love the mission of Back to the Wild and appreciate you sharing it with your readers.
All my best, Mark
Michael VanDervort says
Just catching up on posts backlog. Condolences to you and Keith!
hr bartender says
Thank you everyone for your kind words. I really appreciate it.
HR Hooligan says
Sorry for the late post but I just got to it now. My condolences, first of all, on the loss of your in-law. It’s nice that you mentioned his favorite charity. It sounds like a wonderful place, and as someone who volunteers with dog breed rescues, I can appreciate the need they have for donations.
I have a story about Back to the Wild. My husband is a truck driver and was passing through Ohio one night when an owl flew into the side mirror of his truck. The owl was stunned from the hard impact, and my husband was on a freeway (in a construction zone) and felt helpless as to how to help the owl. Long story short the owl ended up in the truck on the floor of the passenger side. My husband drove with the owl until he got to a place where he could look up a wildlife rescue. Well guess where he took the owl! He used up his remaining hours of driving to drive the injured owl to Back to the Wild. He spent the night in their parking lot once the owl was safely inside. He called to tell me what a wonderful place it was and how they were taking great care of the owl. He told me about the website so I recognized it right away when I clicked on the link. Small world isn’t it.
Happy New Year Everyone! Cheers to the Bartender!
hr bartender says
@HR Hooligan – thanks for sharing your story. The world is getting smaller all the time. I think it’s really cool that we are able to share experiences like this one with Back to the Wild using social media.
mary ellen says
I’m sorry to hear about your father in law, as well.
Meeting you and the other Advisory Board members was hands down the favorite part of my job this year. What a great group to work with.