What is going on around here?

October 22, 2007 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

After posting about the “loss” of Deanna Sorge to promotion a couple of weeks ago, two more friends are heading off into the fog, and I’m very sad to see them go.

One of the men who taught me this business is moving on up to the big time. J.R. Shaw has accepted the position as Executive Director of the Washington County (PA) Tourism & Promotion Agency. It’s a great opportunity for JR, who has worked for many years promoting Pittsburgh, and now can continue to work with his comrades in “Pittsburgh and it’s Countryside”, yet has a new office located literally one mile from his house. I can still remember years ago (in High Point, NC) winning “Rookie Of The Year” from North Carolina Motorcoach…one of the first people to come congratulate me after the dinner was JR, and I was able to thank him then, and again now, for all he taught me.

As usual, I feel like Paul Harvey, sharing “The Rest Of The Story”…what a lot of people don’t know is the living nightmare that JR and his family went through as a result of Hurricane Katrina. He had children directly in the path of the storm, and you know the rest, if you read a newspaper or watched TV during that horrible time. So I can’t blame him a bit for taking this new position, as it enhances his “real job”…being Dad. And that is so much more important than anything we do in this industry, as much as I love this job.

The other loss is more personal, and someone that many of you may have never met. My sister (second family, that is) Michele King is leaving the Lancaster Host Resort after a lot of years working there in one capacity or another. Michele was (and still is) an “up and comer” in the biz…someone relatively new to Group Sales, but with a huge background in tourism, and someone who instantly grasped how this industry works, and built positive relationships on both sides of our big table faster than anyone I’ve ever met.

But she’s getting married this coming June, and needs to be home to finalize plans for her wedding. I can’t argue with that…as above, family comes first. So even though we’re losing a sister, we gain an entire family in the process, so that’s positive!

Every industry goes through times of turbulence, change, and upheaval. And for every person changing jobs, there are hundreds still in place. Yet it doesn’t lessen the sting of losing a pair of traveling companions and good friends. Hopefully, like Deanna, both these good people will be back into Group Sales sooner, rather than later. But both are making the perfect decision for their future, and for their family. But that doesn’t make it any easier for those of us who are going to miss them terribly!

And that’s the bottom line, ’cause JR & Michele said so!

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