January 23, 2012, my friend and super HR influencer, Laurie Ruettimann, new my super fragile ego needed a boost, so without me knowing she rallied the other HR influencer in the space that had blogs and she created the first-ever “Tim Sackett Day“! We used that date moving forward each year to recognize other individuals in our space who we felt were awesome but underappreciated.
Today, that same friend, Laurie, wants to start a new day for those who have put tireless effort into the profession of HR, but are not as recognized as they should be, for the effort they’ve given! Which is why she reached out to that same group of influencers and bloggers and asked us to write about our friend John Jorgensen.
So, what can I say about JJ on his roast day?
– John is an old white dude. He’s so old, he’s become diverse. I think he might have been SHRM Member #1. That’s his actual SHRM number: 00000001.
– John has the worst twitter handle of all time. I’m guessing he made it so he could remember it, not so anyone else could remember it. “jkjhr”? The two “j’s” I get, we can guess the “k” is probably his middle name. Let’s just say it’s “Ken”. Ken is very white and old, so it fits! “John Kenneth Jorgensen HR” – there, now we can all remember how to find him on Twitter!
– JJ (what I call him, but I’ve never heard anyone else call him that) is an undying Big Ten sports fan and loves to interact around that subject. The Iowa Hawkeyes are his team, so you know he’s a glutton for punishment!
– SHRM Illinois would not be where they are today, without his tireless and bitching volunteer work.
– John is SHRM’s biggest fan and one of their biggest critics. This makes an organization like SHRM better. Support them, and work to make them better from the inside.
– John invented the phrase ‘resting bitch face’. This is his actual LinkedIn bio photo! 
– John has forgotten more HR than most of us will ever know.
John tries to come off as mean and ornery, but the reality is he’s a big teddy bear. He’s the first one to volunteer, and he just loves this profession!
So, today, search out John Jorgensen and get to know him. He’ll act like all of this is annoying, but deep down he will enjoy the attention, and when you’re at SHRM National in 2019, make it your mission to search him out and take a selfie with him!
Happy JJ Day!