November 10, 2016

Ombuds Blog Marks Decade of Service

This week marks the tenth anniversary of my the first post on this blog.  It was born out of my desire for more public information about the profession.  At the time, UCOA and TOA were still in the midst of their merger and their most valuable information was available only to full members, especially job postings.

Overall, it's become the type of website I had envisioned early on: a resource for aspiring Ombuds and job seekers, an easy summary of links to important information, and news about comings and goings.  I now feel like this blog has become a real-time annotation of the history of the field.

Some things I anticipated did not come to fruition.  For example, I thought I would have the chance to visit other Ombuds and write about their offices firsthand.  I thought people would submit photos of their lobbies, signage, and visitor comforts.  I thought I would offer more opinion pieces.  I also thought there would be a lot more commentary from readers.  Instead, virtually all of the published information comes from routine searches of the internet.  (I do embargo a fair amount of news, pending an organization's formal announcement.)

One happy and unexpected benefit has been the many personal connections.  I have gotten to know many more Ombuds because of this blog.  I hope that it has also helped build a spirit of community.

The Ombuds Blog by the numbers:
  • 10 years in publication
  • 42 Google followers
  • 339 email subscribers
  • 637 Twitter followers
  • 1,149 published comments
  • 4,106 published posts (one post on average every 1.12 days)

16 comments:

  1. Thank you, Tom, for this service to our community.

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  2. Kudos to you, Tom, for providing us with such an excellent resource and thoughtful comments. I rely on your hard work in providing us with the Ombuds Blog to stay on top of what's going on in the profession. Thanks for all you do.

    Elaine Newell
    Iowa State University Ombuds

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  3. Congratulations Tom! Invaluable resource over the years. Looking forward to many more years of The Ombuds Blog.
    -Reese Ramos

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  4. Part of my morning routine is to check the blog. Tom, thank you for this amazing service!

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  5. Congratulations, Tom! As a new ombuds, I greatly appreciate the wealth of relevant information you provide through your blog. So many thanks for all you do!
    Julie Weber
    Montgomery College Ombuds

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    1. Thanks Tom! This has been an amazing resource!

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  7. Thanks for blogging Tom! I always look forward to reading it in the morning over my first cup of coffee. Keep up the good work. Maybe some of your other visions for the blog will come to fruition within the next decade.
    Liz Hill
    University of Colorado - Boulder

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  8. Thanks, Tom!

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  9. Tom, this has been an incredible service ... consistent with the many other ways in which you have been of huge service to the ombuds community!

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  10. Thank you for this important resource.

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  11. If it weren't for this blog, I don't think I'd be in this field. Thanks so much for all you do!

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  12. Congratulations Tom on this milestone! The Ombuds Blog is an incredible resource not only for ombuds but for others interested in our work and what we do. Many thanks for your continued commitment and support of ombudsing.

    Shirley Nakata
    University of British Columbia

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  13. Thank you so much for your initiative in starting the Blog, and your hard work and consistency in keeping it up.

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  14. Tom,
    Thanks for providing this resource for the field.
    Nick Diehl

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  15. Happy anniversary, Tom, and thank you for this valuable resource.

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