What Did You Get Me For My Anniversary?
Five years ago today, I walked into the offices of People Newspapers to address my new staff. When the 14 of them (14!) and then-publisher Jason Heid assembled in the conference room at our old place on Oak Lawn, I told them I had written down a few words I had wanted to say. Then I pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket and said, “I wrote those words on a piece of paper that is not this one.”
That was a crazy week. My younger son was born at 3:33 on a Saturday morning. He and my wife came home from the hospital on the following Tuesday afternoon. And the next morning was my first day doing this job. So you can probably understand why I grabbed the wrong piece of paper on my way out the door.
Given that I was trying to be a boss for the first time while also trying to be a father of multiple children for the first time, my first year at People Newspapers is kind of a blur. As I recall, I didn’t really figure things out until just about the time that we moved into our downtown digs in October 2009.
But the time since then has been a blast. This is the longest I’ve ever held a job, and this is where I’ve done my finest work, in my humble opinion. Let’s see where it goes from here.
Congrats on a great 5 years of work Dan, much appreciated!
Best wishes for many more happy years at People Newspapers! We appreciate all you do for the community. And happy (late) birthday to young Master Koller.
My lovely wife brought me some lovely yellow roses and a lovely lunch to mark the lovely occasion.
Dan, you just needed one more “lovely” in that comment to equal your years as chief. I’m gonna mark that on the calendar, too.
Are you makin’ fun of my lovely? Congrats, Dan. You’ve survived M Patterson, Laying-on-the-grass-gate and Wick Allison. You’re ready for prime time.
You da man, Dan.
Shouldn’t it be Lying-on-the-grass-gate?
Indeed it should, Avid Reader. Good catch!