Alan Rimm-Kaufman (1968 – 2009): a Tribute
On Saturday July 18th our friend and founder, Alan Rimm-Kaufman, died from leukemia. For the past 16 months, Alan endured countless rounds of chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant in hopes of finding a cure. Alan was 41. He is survived by his wife, and two young children.
We are deeply saddened by this loss. Alan was a man of integrity, intelligence, and humility, which he combined with nearly boundless energy and a joy of life few can match. We will miss his exuberance and his tremendous generosity of spirit.
The Rimm-Kaufman Group remains a strong and vibrant company. We remain committed to providing both thought-leadership in the industry and peerless results for our clients. Like any good leader, Alan built this team to be stronger than any individual member. Our growth and continuing success during his 16-month absence is a tribute not only to his vision, but also to our well-established shared vision for the company.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alan Rimm-Kaufman Legacy Fund, CBI Preschool, 301 East Jefferson Street, Charlottesville, VA, 22902. Donations may be made online at CBI Preschool’s website. We hope also that individuals will consider regular blood donations and will join the national bone marrow registry at www.marrow.org.
The outpouring of support we’ve received this morning has been almost overwhelming. A real tribute to Alan that clients, friends, competitors and some folks who only met him once or twice nevertheless felt a strong connection to him.
The folks at Shop.org, Internet Retailer and Search Engine Land all wanted to run tribute pieces to Alan, so we thought we’d simply ask folks who knew Alan to submit their remembrances as comments to this post.
Thank you for keeping Alan’s family in your thoughts. We are all grieving right now, but in the days ahead we will realize how fortunate we were to have had Alan in our lives.
I never had a chance to meet Alan in person. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and colleagues at RKG.
What a huge loss on so many levels. I only met Alan once, but in the 30 minutes or so that we chatted, he left an incredibly strong impression with me. I immediately felt that he was a person of integrity and he had such strong enthusiasm for the business. His knowledge and passion were second to none, a true advocate. My condolences to all of his family and friends.
I met Alan several years ago at a NEMOA event and had a dialog regarding search and catalog marketing. I purposely sought him out at each event and wanted to listen and learn from this scholarly man. He was always patient while answering my many questions. And yet he had a spark in his eyes and connected higher level concepts. I believe he helped thousands of people along his path.
I had reached out to Alan when I learned my brother was diagnosed with Leukemia and wanted to understand his mindset and how he had attacked previously. It was comforting to have a dialog with him. Alan will be deeply missed by a very large community.
I was on a panel at NEMOA with Alan in Boston, in the spring of 2007. We shared a love of Charlottesville as my wife and I lived there for two years while I attended graduate school.
He was an impressive co-panelist. Knowledgeable and open to the thoughts of others. Calm and confident as he had back-up to everything he said and could productively challenge others.
I will miss him. Indeed, his professional legacy will thrive if it adhers to his core values.
I remember well the first time I met Alan. My advertising/marketing firm was asked to meet with Alan and key members of the company he worked for at that time. I was asked to consult on a number of issues and after listening to management air their questions, it became eminently apparent that one key element would be invaluable to addressing their needs…..so I asked the question, “Do you have a marketing plan?” After several sideways glances and non-committal nods, everyone turned to Alan who responded with, “That’s the same question I’ve been asking since I got here!” Right then and there I decided that I genuinely respected this guy. He was forthright and he asked the right questions!
Alan and I developed a mutual respect for each other that day and it continued on until his death. He was always a man of great integrity, intuition, and corporate ethics. Indeed, he always asked the good questions. There was one question, though,that he surely never asked….”Why did this happen to me?” No, HE would NEVER ask that question….it’s too egocentric, and that was certainly NOT Alan. He will be sorely missed. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and colleagues….he was one-of-a-kind!
I grew up with Alan in his young adult / old kid years. I spent many days hiking, rock climbing, and spelunking with Alan. I had many adventures with him. Alan had a wonderful sole and great sense of humor. I’m sorry for the loss of Alan. The last time I saw him was in Santé fe New Mexico. I’m glad to see he continued to live a full life even after I lost touch with him. I will truly miss him.
I am so sorry to hear this. I pray for peace for his family and all employees at Rimm-Kaufman Group.I wish everyone connected to Alan inner peace and offer my condolences.