Meet Marilyn

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love!
March, 2008

My name is Marilyn Kraut, and I can’t believe that we are all less than 60 days away from a fabulous conference in my city, Philadelphia. As a 38-year resident of Philadelphia and an active member of WorldatWork, I am proud to be your member host for the Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition, and I’m busy thinking of all the best places for you to visit while you’re in town.

I’m thrilled to announce that more than 100 of you have signed up for the Constitutional Walking Tour on Tuesday afternoon as part of your conference experience. We must have a lot of history-buffs like me in HR! This will just give you a taste of the history of this city, so I recommend that if you have time after the conference, you make sure to go back for an extended visit to do justice to places like Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell Center and Franklin Court.

For those of you more interested in science, you have to check out The Mutter Museum. The museum was founded in 1858 to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Not for the faint of stomach, you’ll see the collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people's throats, the tallest skeleton on display in North America or a cancerous growth removed from former President Grover Cleveland. For a more tame, but just as interesting experience, the Franklin Institute won’t let you down.

Whether you walk around the city or tour it by car, it may help you to know that city founder William Penn designed Philadelphia with five original squares that are still the heart of the city today. Rittenhouse Square is an elegant, shopper’s neighborhood, full of pedestrians and great food and entertainment day and night. Washington Square is an open-space park that is also part of the Society Hill neighborhood. See the lightning bolt that marks the spot where Ben Franklin conducted his famous kite-and-key experiment in Franklin Square, near the National Constitution Center, site of Wednesday’s Social Event. Logan Circle or Logan Square is marked by the elegant Swann Fountain and the gateway to art museums, and Penn Square is in the center with a compass at City Hall in case you need help getting oriented.

-Marilyn

P.S.: If you missed my previous blog entries, you can read them here.

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love!
February, 2008

My name is Marilyn Kraut and I’m a proud 38-year resident of Philadelphia and an active member of WorldatWork. I’m so excited to have my professional association coming to my city for its annual conference that I’ve been asked to be a member host for the WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition 2008.

The word is getting out about how terrific Philadelphia is, and I couldn’t be more excited. WorldatWork told me that already more than 20 conference registrants have signed up for the Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia and it’s only February!

When you sign up for the conference, make sure you select the walking tour on Tuesday afternoon. If you don’t have a lot of time and you want to see and learn more about the birthplace of Democracy, this is the best way to do it. Seeing Philly by foot is an excellent way to really experience the city and, come on, a little walking will do you good, especially if you’re going to lunch on cheesesteaks while you’re here.  Remember — Bring your camera!

Another thing to keep in mind as you visit Philly — take your WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference badge with you to get discounts and specials. Thanks to a terrific program through the Philly Visitor’s and Convention Center you can get reduced admissions, buy-one-get-one-free deals and other discounts at participating businesses. Here’s a list of all the discounts and specials. Take advantage of this, especially if you’re traveling with family (take the little ones to the Crayola Factory) or on a budget.

I want to thank those of you who have contributed to my Web page already. Even keynote speaker Dr. Jonas Ridderstrale took the time to say a few words about Philly and mention some of his favorite attractions! Keep the ideas and comments coming! I look forward to reading them and I know they will help our fellow total rewards practitioners discover the best secret spots off the beaten path. Until next time.

-Marilyn

If you missed my first blog entry, you can read it here.

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love!

My name is Marilyn Kraut and I’m a proud 38-year resident of Philadelphia and an active member of WorldatWork. I’m so excited to have my professional association coming to my city for its annual conference that I’ve been asked to be a member host for the WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition 2008.

Wow! Me? A Member host! This is an honor! I’m not sure why WorldatWork picked me, although I have been a member since 2005, I'm a WorldatWork faculty member (I teach work-life courses), and I love cheesesteak sandwiches. I don’t know how WorldatWork knew I loved cheesesteaks, but I assure you they picked the right person for the job because I simply love Philadelphia and I want you to love it too! (If you don't know what a cheesesteak sandwich is visit my personal favorite Old Philly Sandwich maker, Tony Luke's.)

In addition to loving my city, I also love my job. I work as the Human Resource Director, Quality of Work-Life Programs, for the University of Pennsylvania, Philly’s largest private employer. What I’m most looking forward to at this year’s conference is that all of total rewards will be represented, with a stronger representation of the work-life component like never before. I heard that WorldatWork is planning some special work-life networking events, workshops, awards and other stuff that I’m not suppose to announce just yet.

Now, even though I work in the work-life realm today, that wasn’t always the case. Early in my career I did compensation. So as someone who has both comp and work-life experience I can tell you that a total rewards conference is really ideal – no matter what your specialty, you’ll find all that you need to advance your career, and your company.

Okay, enough about me. This Web page is supposed to be about Philly, so here’s what you need to do. I want you to come back and explore this site every once in a while and begin planning your trip to Philly by reading about all the fun things to do here, with recommendations from your WorldatWork colleagues. (There might be a Web contest with prizes, so come back often.) And if you have any questions for an insider like me, I want you to e-mail WorldatWork (they said they would forward your questions to me) and I will answer as many as I can and I will try and help.

Now, before I sign off, I’m calling out to all WorldatWork Philadelphia members to contribute to my Web page. What!? You thought I was going to do this alone!? I know you’re out there — I searched the Member Directory! I want you to send me (via WorldatWork) your favorite Philly lists so the 2,000 people who are coming here will know exactly where to go and what to do. I want all of us Philadelphians to band together and guide our fellow colleagues to the best our city has to offer. Send in your lists —  you know — your favorite cheesesteak joints, your favorite dance clubs, your favorite kid restaurants, whatever!

Seriously, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I love my  profession and I love my city. I want to personally invite you and your family, friends and co-workers to Philadelphia to experience all that it has to offer while attending this year’s premier total rewards event.

And don’t forget to introduce yourself to me when I see you at the Pennsylvania Convention Center this coming May. I can’t wait to meet you there! Until next time.

Marilyn

P.S. Be sure to read the December workspan magazine article about me!