Monday, November 11, 2019

Chamber recognition as "Member of the Month"

Catching up to a little self-promotion: "Member of the Month, Steve Sherlock, of Franklin Matters"

"When Steve Sherlock was nominated for URCC Member of the Month, it was said that he “likes and shares all of our posts.” OK. We ask everyone to like and share our posts. But when you or I like and share a post, we are on a completely different level. When Steve likes and shares the chamber’s posts, the word REALLY gets out. The brains behind the website, Franklin Matters, Steve is a one-man digital news powerhouse for the town of Franklin. He has been sharing information to empower the voters and residents of Franklin since 2007.

Steve attends around 60 meetings each year – taking him out of his house at least one night and, sometimes, as many as three nights each week. These meetings include Town Council, School Committee, and the Finance Committee, to ‘follow the money’. He records the meetings and creates posts and podcasts for his audiences. And did we mention that this is a volunteer job?

Seems like a lot and it is, but now newspapers are cutting back more and more and the first thing on the chopping block is local coverage. So, the work Steve does is even more important now than it had been in the past. Franklin Matters has more than 4,000 people in its Facebook group; more than 2,000 Twitter followers, and an email list of over 1,000 that continues to grow. And when Steve posted recent election results, more than 20,000 people viewed the results on his site. Franklin residents count on Franklin Matters and Steve for their news because they know that they can rely on his level head and just reporting.

And the volunteering does not stop there. For several years, Steve also volunteered for the Franklin Food Pantry, where he held the positions of chairman as well as secretary.

In his real life day job, Steve is the Senior Director of Information Protection for John Hancock. He has held this position, which involves security and privacy, for more than four years now. We would guess that he probably logs in more than 60 meetings a year at his day job. Steve and his wife, Dolores, have lived in Franklin since 1995 where they raised their two daughters. He is a fixture in Franklin and the town is oh so lucky to have him. Not many towns or cities can say they have such a dedicated resource.
Chamber recognition as "Member of the Month"
Chamber recognition as "Member of the Month"

On LinkedIn, Steve says he has a six-word resume – Project delivered, team happy, customer elated. We can say that about Steve not only for his day job, but also for his second job – bringing the news to the people of Franklin.

So, the next time we are watching that baseball game, binge watching our favorite shows, or reading a book, we can be grateful to people like Steve Sherlock who bring our news to us without any bias. And that is more than enough reason for Steve to be the United Regional Chamber of Commerce member of the month.

Join us in congratulating Steve. Franklin Matters has been a member of the chamber since 2008 and we are grateful that he is on board with us – liking and sharing our posts. He certainly helps us get the word out."

This was shared from the Sep 3, 2019 newsletter
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/New-Jobs-on-Our-Job-Board--Executive-Express-O--Ribbon-Cuttings--and-More.html?soid=1100642858535&aid=KCq4Qlk8_Ts

Note: I did retire from John Hancock as of Sep 30 and I am thoroughly enjoying retirement!

Tuesday, October 01, 2019

Now in the retirement world


“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn!_Turn!_Turn!

To reap that which has been planted. Yes, Pete Seeger, I am about to. I officially retired from the corporate working world effective Monday, Sep 30, 2019. 

I am fortunate to have had a long and successful corporate career. I started in February 1982 with Burroughs which became Unisys, switched to Fidelity in 1995, to Citizens Bank in 2010, and then most recently with John Hancock/Manulife (from 2015-2019).

I did spend the better part of two years during the recession (having been let go by Fidelity) on the job hunt before landing a contract position at Citizens which then converted to a full time position.

Walking out the door on Monday was a different feeling in that it was the first time that I knew I wasn't going to be walking into another corporate office. 

To help celebrate I put together a 'retirement' play list that I shared with my Hancock/Manulife co-workers.



Bonus: (take it to 11)
End of the Line – The Traveling Wilburys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMVjToYOjbM

If you have a song or two to suggest, please let me know

The former Hancock Tower (now 200 Clarendon St) from the Public Gardens in Boston
The former Hancock Tower (now 200 Clarendon St) from the Public Gardens in Boston


PS - while I am retiring from work, I will continue to spend time with Franklin Matters.  https://www.franklinmatters.org/


Thursday, September 05, 2019

Rising Appalachia - Resilient (video)

my new 'anthem', that is, a song I turn to for inspiration - there is so much to like about this video and lyrics. I hope you enjoy!

"I am resilient
I trust the movement
I negate the chaos
Uplift the negative
I'll show up at the table
Again and again and again
I'll close my mouth and learn to listen"

https://youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8

Sunday, December 02, 2018

yes, it is birthday time

That time of year has rolled around again. I try not to make too much of the day, it is really just one more to be grateful for waking up in this wonderfully challenging environment.

I won't do a birthday challenge with Facebook. They don't need your data. There are way too many opportunities for them to misuse it.

If you do chose to mark my day with a donation to a worthy cause, I have several suggestions where you can make a donation.

Honor Flight - the group organizes trips to the war memorials in Washington, DC. My brothers and I were fortunate to take Dad there before he passed on and it is a very worthy cause.
https://www.honorflight.org/

Reading is Fundamental - yes, learning is lifelong and reading is one of the keys to that process.
https://secure.rif.org/page/7549/donate/

American Cancer Society - I lost both my parents and a number of other relatives and friends to this disease.  https://www.cancer.org/

Crohn's and Colitis Foundation - coincidentally. Dec 1-7 is awareness week. One of my daughters has Crohn's so this is also a cause close to home.
http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/

Horace Mann Education Association - a Franklin based org doing wonderful work with those challenged by a disability. My cousin had Down syndrome so this is close to home too.  https://www.hmea.org/

Franklin Food Pantry - and last but not least, if not Franklin, every community should be serviced by a food pantry or food bank to help those challenged by food insecurity.  https://www.franklinfoodpantry.org/


Mark, Bob, and Mike listen to Jerry
Dad recounting a story for Mark, Bob, Mike and I in WDC 2007

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Podcasts Recommendations

Yes, it has been a while since I lasted posted. Folks are asking for podcast recommendations so I put together a quick listing. I had not subscribed to Serial but am considering it this season. Considering as I already have more in queue than I have hours in the day to listen to.



Podcasts Recommendations:

Serial
All the rage two years ago, season three just started
https://serialpodcast.org/


99% Invisible
Interesting stories about design
https://99percentinvisible.org/

Roman Mars did a TED talk on flags that is delightful to see how he does what he does
https://www.ted.com/talks/roman_mars_why_city_flags_may_be_the_worst_designed_thing_you_ve_never_noticed?language=en

This one on curb cuts would be a good indicator of what they do
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/curb-cuts/


Marc Maron = WTF Podcast
Marc is a stand up comic and a good interviewer, he talk with a wide variety of folks
http://www.wtfpod.com/


On Being
“The groundbreaking Peabody Award-winning public radio show and podcast. Conversation about the big questions of meaning in 21st century lives and endeavors — spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, and the arts. What does it mean to be human? How do we want to live? And who will we be to each other? Each week a new discovery about the immensity of our lives. Hosted by Krista Tippett”
https://onbeing.org/series/podcast/


RadioLab
“Since 2002, Radiolab has been devoted to investigating a strange world. Created by Jad Abumrad and hosted by Jad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab has won Peabody Awards, a National Academies Communication Award “for their investigative use of radio to make science accessible to broad audiences,” and in 2011 Abumrad received the MacArthur Genius grant. The show has an archive of hundreds of episodes and has toured in sold out shows nationwide.”
https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab


More Perfect - a project of RadioLab focusing on Supreme Court decisions
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/481105292/more-perfect


Other NPR podcasts can be found in this directory
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/organizations/1