Not Coming to Next Year’s Dinner…
Written May 2nd, 2008 by Aaron HolbrookI received this letter from Neal Linkon from Aurora Health Care this morning:
I’m not coming to next year’s dinner. And it breaks my heart. But it’s still the right thing to do. You see, I’m taking the plunge into the vendor side of things, so that makes me ineligible to join you.
After nearly six years of managing Aurora’s interactive marketing, including the award-winning AuroraHealthCare.org, I’m moving on to join Greystone.Net as Senior Vice President. It gives me the chance to do what I like best for health care systems and providers all over the country.
Why would I do such a crazy thing? Three reasons:
- Developing strategies and coming up with ideas are what I enjoy best, and with Greystone I’ll be able to do that for a large number of health care systems and providers.
- The web team at Aurora is so small that I found myself spending a disproportionate amount of my time on small things, little fixes and updates, etc. That’s not what I’m best at and it isn’t what I enjoy the most.
- I really like the people at Greystone and have a lot of respect for what they have done and are continuing to do for our industry. They helped get Aurora’s web site headed in the right direction, and that was no small trick.
I did a lot of talking to people in the industry, and the vast majority spoke highly of Greystone. But I am aware that some of you had a less than terrific experience with them, and I want to hear about it. To the extent possible, I want to make sure we don’t make those mistakes again.
I’ll certainly keep my eyes on the blog in Webiscope, but I’ll miss you all and the excellent conversation in the forum. If you want my input on anything raised in the forum, you’ll have to email me at nlinkon@greystone.net. Otherwise, if you want to see me at dinner, we’ll have to make plans for another night during the conference!
I hope to see you all there, and I’ll certainly miss the ‘Scope!
It’s sad to see anyone go, but I know that Neal will be able to bring something to the vendor side - a sense of perspective from the mind of a former client.
Good luck Neal.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Neal, your insights will be incredibly missed. Not only that, but it was great speaking with you at last year’s conference. I don’t have any doubt that you’re going to do great things for Greystone; I’m extremely envious that you will now be able to do what we all strive to achieve: use innovative thoughts and ideas to advance organizations. (Not to mention I’m envious of you being able to rid yourself of those small, menial tasks.. lucky!) All the best to you, Neal. You’ll be greatly missed.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 am
You will definitely be missed in the forums Neal! It’s sad to see you go, but you are on to much greater things. (And I second the motion of you being very lucky to get rid of the small, menial tasks!) Although we may not see you at the WebiScope dinner this year, I hope to run into you at the conference! All the best to you Neal!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Neal,
You will always be welcome… your ideas, your professionalism and your candid sense of humor- are unmatched.
As your friend and colleague, I congratulate you and applaud Greystone’s commitment to excellence.
With your addition to the team- I am confident that they will continue to see around the corner and have a true veteran to help them shine a light.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Neal -
While I’m sad for the loss to the Webiscope community, congratulations on your move to the vendor side. Your positive influence will now have a greater effect on a broader range of people - including the vendor side as well.
Congrats again, good luck, and hope to see you at the conferences all the same!
Jake
(Capn!)
May 5th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Thanks to everybody for your wonderfully kind comments, on the blog and privately. But I’m not dead yet (cultural reference for those of the proper age and sense of humor)!. I’m just missing from the forums. I hope to see you all in Orlando, if not sooner!
Neal
May 5th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
no, you’re just “pining for the fjords”…good luck and stay in touch.
May 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Good luck with the move! Your frustrations sound… frustrating and your new role sounds like it will be great for you.
Prosper.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Congrats on the gig, Neal! Hands down, you’re the person in the industry who I referance the most when talking about the way things should be done and I can’t think of a better person for the job.