| 1986
Cindi Bigelow has added Shaun Holliday to the board of directors at Bigelow Tea. Shaun was able to connect Cindi with Bob Michell, and they are working on a possible business project. That shows that the connections we made at Kellogg can pay dividends years later.
Nikki Pope took a family vacation to Los Cabos. Some families add excitement to their vacations by going mountain climbing or whitewater rafting. Nikki's family likes to vacation in the eye of a hurricane to add excitement to an otherwise dull vacation. Their vacation started one day before Hurricane Jemina began. They were able to play dominoes and Scrabble to pass the time. The vocabulary of preteens is limited, but is also surprising. Nikki spends time daydreaming about living next door to Michael Jackson or moving to Boston so she can vote for Charlie Baker for governor. Or maybe becoming the attorney general for Massachusetts. Since my nephew is 14, it might be good to have a friend in the administration. Nikki also congratulated me on the Packers' defeat of the Bears.
Nikki was also able to convince Craig Brennan to contribute for the first time in a long while. Her photo collection must be something to see. Craig reported that he is back in the saddle again after taking a couple of years off for his third software CEO gig with a company called Overtone.com. They help large consumer companies, like Microsoft, T-Mobile, Sony and Walmart.com, understand the millions of online consumer conversations about their companies and turn them into customer insights. He landed there almost two years ago, and he has been having a blast building an early-stage SaaS software company. Kirk Elliott hosted him and his partner this summer on an East Coast bike tour from D.C. to NYC, and Gordon Kane has been a great sport advising Craig and his team on sports marketers.
William Kotas hosted the Kellogg Alumni Club organizational meeting in August for the Brazil chapter. The experience is very different from the alumni club in Miami, where Willy originally was on the board (fortunately, he later had a small team of collaborators). In Sao Paulo, Brazil, they have about 11 alums who want to be on the board. They sorted out the leadership structure. Willy might end up as president or he might just be named club ambassador to Brazil's famous beaches (OK, that probably will not happen). He gave me a hard time about the Milwaukee Brewers and their lack of foresight in picking up some great ball players at bargain prices.
Carolyn Bolz Glah and Martin Suter had a grand reunion in Aspen, Colo., in July with their families. Martin and family arrived in Aspen for the Fourth of July celebration.The visit included rafting the Roaring Fork River, participating in the parade, steaming a dozen lobsters for the Glah Annual Lobster Bash, exploring the Ashcroft ghost town and hiking Arches National Park (where they managed to slow down for a few minutes to take a picture). It was fun for all the kids to get to know each other. Martin and Carolyn are planning future cultural exchanges. Carolyn lives in Aspen, and has retired from corporate life to run many volunteer organizations. Martin and family live in Borex, Switzerland. Martin works for a Swiss company called Kudelski SA, active in the digital-TV encryption and content protection business, and tries his best to "manage the company talent" in his function as vice president of talent management. Martin, I can consult on any and all topics.
Brad Kime stepped down as president of Irwin Union Bank on June 30 after 23 years. His new position is with On Deck Capital Inc. as the chief operating officer.
Mark Schwartz's brother Steve has moved to Milwaukee. We went to a Brewer game in September and nearly caught a foul ball. Mark's wife, Mary '85, is still at Northwest, oops, Delta. Her role is in transition. Her group relocated to Atlanta last spring so she is just trying to hold down the fort in Minneapolis until they can get everything transitioned.
Happy 20th anniversary to John Timms and his wife. Willy, you have seven years to get a house with lots of guest rooms.
I (Todd) am teaching at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and Chris Holliday '87 was nice enough to recommend a person who might be able to guest lecture during one of my classes. The rest of you need to step up. Laurie and I took our annual vacations to Door County (the Cape Cod of the Midwest) and Spring Green, Wis., for bad golf and outdoor theater. I will visit Kevin Damon in January in Park City, Utah, so he can laugh at my bad skiing. I mentioned before that I am on the board of directors for a retirement community near Milwaukee. This has come in handy since my dad became a resident in July. He has been battling Alzheimer's since 1994 and it became too much for my mother to do on her own. Dad made the adjustment very quickly. When I visit him and he asks where he is, I just tell him he is on vacation at a nice resort. He seems to like that. There has been some confusion as to my e-mail and phone number. For the foreseeable future, please use toddbrachman@yahoo.com and 414.617.7402. Keep sending in those updates and enjoy the holidays. |
