Fred Brack Raleigh, NC Last updated August 24, 2009

Contact Me

	Online with AOL Instant Messenger as fbrack
	My Facebook networking page
	My LinkedIn networking page
	My inSide919 networking page

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Business (retired, running my own small business now)

	I worked in software development and human resources for IBM for nearly 31 years, but I retired in 1999. I took time off to whittle away at my home project list and to "smell the roses" before deciding what to do next.  From the Fall of 2000 to the end of 2006 I worked part-time from home for IBM Human Resources at RTP to help maintain the Lotus Notes databases I left behind when I retired. When I retired, I was a Senior HR Professional, and my core HR responsibilities were primarily executive and technical resource development. However, during the last three years there I spent over half my time developing applications using Lotus Notes for use by my IBM HR teammates and internal customers, mostly software development managers, a position I held prior to joining HR.
	In the summer of 2003, I started my own small business as a distributor for a unique line of wine racks called VintageView® (sample pictured left).  I named the business BRACKSCO and named the website Bracksco Wine Nook (www.bracksco.com).  Since then, I have been adding other unique wine-related products (many personalized), and I help people design wine rooms.  Please visit the website and see what's available; some of the items make great gifts!
	I am also a web page designer and webmaster.  I have designed and now maintain eight websites.

Personal

Kathy and I love wine, and we built a wine storage room in our new house.  I started Bracksco (www.bracksco.com) in August 2003, selling wine racks, and I have added other unique wine-related products since then.  I have a monthly wine newsletter featuring new products, discounts, and features about wine accessories associated with our Bracksco business (Sample Bracksco Wine Newsletter).  There is a sign-up form at the link. Other interests include computers, exploring the web, music, photography, amateur radio (I'm N4ECU, though inactive), tandem bike riding with my wife, walking, nature, fine dining, and occasional skydiving (well, I skydived once...).

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Family

My family consists of:

• Wife Kathy, who is the Director of the Client Assistance Program for the NC Division of Vocational Rehabilitation under the NC Department of Health and Human Resources. Read about her Award of Excellence from Universal Disability Advocates here!
• Daughter Michelle, 30, who graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, in 2001, having also completed a year abroad at James Cook University in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia (read about her trip here). She worked at Duke University as a research lab assistant for 18 months, then as an animal technician for a local vet. In May 2008, she graduated from Watts School of Nursing (affiliated with Duke University) and now works at Durham Regional Hospital as a Registered Nurse.
• Son Dan, 27, graduated in 2007 from UNC Wilmington, having graduated from Millbrook High School in Raleigh and Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington. He is a fitness buff, who was formerly a volunteer fireman, lifeguard, bartender, waiter, and drummer.  In 2005-2007 he cleaned boat bottoms to earn money for school, utilizing his new found hobby, scuba diving.  He did an internship with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network as a licensed insurance agent, but he held out for a pharmaceutical position and got a great job opportunity with Novo Nordisk as a pharmaceutical sales rep for insulin products.  After a training assignment in Las Vegas for 8 months, he now works in a territory outside Vancouver, Washington, where he lives with his dog, JoJo, and cat, Snoopy.
• Kathy's Seeing Eye dog, Rozen, a black lab

We have lived in Raleigh, North Carolina since 1981. Previously, we lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and the suburbs of Boston, where Kathy and I grew up (in Melrose and Needham, respectively). In the past, we used to go back to visit Cape Cod every couple of years, but now we have really grown to love Emerald Isle, NC as a vacation spot, and we have been there many summers (including the last two).  My work in building a high school reunion website and college radio station memories website has renewed some old acquaintances, which I find most delightful. 

I am a graduate of Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island; and Kathy is a graduate of Boston College and Emmanuel. I also attended IBM's System Research Institute back in the early 70s.

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Charity Interests

• Arts Access of Raleigh, where I am the 2nd longest serving board member, former President, an Audio Describer (a person who narrates the visual images of theater and other arts for persons who are blind or visually impaired), and Webmaster
• Triangle Radio Reading Service (which serves primarily people with visually impairments who listen on special receivers) where I am a board member, and I have a half-hour weekly show reading "Our State" magazine
• For five years, I was Vice Chair of the Family Selection Committee for Wake County Habitat for Humanity.
• The Seeing Eye, because Kathy is a long-time user of guide dogs from the Seeing Eye®
• The Alzheimer's Association and The Nature Conservancy, in memory of my mother, Virginia Wood (Brack) Cordes, 1917-1998
  

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Fred Brack,