thoughtsignals

Well, big news to me, at least. I’ve changed jobs. I left The Business Journal a couple of weeks ago and joined RLF Communications as a senior account executive. I just finished up my first week on the job.

In the newspaper world a shift like this, going from journalism to public relations, is usually called “moving to the dark side.” In fact, as a going-away gift, my Business Journal colleagues got me a little Darth Vader figure.

If you’re wondering, though, I left what was a pretty good job as a newspaper reporter because RLF, and this position, will provide me with new challenges. I’ll have more opportunities to put what I’m learning in business school to use and more opportunities to more deeply explore online media.

Speaking of online media, I’ll be at ConvergeSouth today. Come over and say ‘Hi’ if you see me.

Yesterday, we went down to the Haw River Festival in Bynum, in Chatham County. We used to live in Chatham County, so on the way back we thought we’d drive by our old house just to see if there was anything new that had been done to the exterior or the yard. Instead of a new flower bed or a different paint job, though, we found crime scene tape and several Chatham County Sheriff’s Department vehicles. Our old home had been turned into a crime scene.

The News & Observer this morning has some details:

Deputies were called to 29 Red Pine Road about 9:10 a.m. to check on a woman whose parents hadn’t heard from her in a week, police said. What they found was the body of Tracy Lynn Baldwin, 38. Investigators consider her death a homicide.

We sold the house to Tracy in the summer of 2003, and I remember seeing her twice: Once when we closed on the sale, and again a few months or perhaps a year later at a restaurant in Chapel Hill where she was waitressing. She seemed happy with the house.

Our hearts go out to her family today.

Link.