I had that empty feeling yesterday. The one you get when you hear some real terrible news. This one was a couple of years in the making, even though we had hoped it would never come. I received an e-mail informing me that our good friend Joe Dougherty had lost his battle with brain cancer.
Many of you knew Joe as the affable president of Thomson NETg. We were all saddened when we heard the news of his cancer, and we were amazed at his courage and resilience as he battled the disease.!@!
Joe was a great friend and supporter of Chief Learning Officer magazine. He gave a keynote at the first CLO Symposium that set the tone for the event to become the major meeting place for learning leaders.
Because we were both living in Chicago at the time, my wife Gwen and I had a great opportunity to get to know Joe on a personal level. My fondest memory of him was during Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, which was a thrilling victory for New England over the Carolina Panthers. Coming from Boston, Joe was a die-hard Patriots fan. He and his wife Judy joined us at our club for the game. Their sons were watching the game at home in New England and the cell phone never stopped ringing. Everyone in our group could see how close and loving this family was.
Our heart goes out to Judy and rest of the Dougherty family and to all of us who had the opportunity to know Joe.
