NAID & PRISM International 2020 Conference: Saying Good-Bye to Two People Who Made a Big Difference

January 21, 2020

By Bob Johnson

By far the most significant benefit of my nearly 30 years involvement with NAID and now i-SIGMA has been the number of inspiring people I’ve come to know closely. In fact, without a spec of exaggeration, I can honestly say they have profoundly changed my life… and always for the better. I dare say, as well, through their contribution to our industry, by their example or by their leadership, that most of them have affected the lives of every NAID and PRISM member, even if they don’t realize, or have never met them.

Today I’d like to tell you about two of them, both of whom will be honored at the upcoming conference.

Scott Fasken

In October of last year, anyone who knew Scott was heartbroken and shocked to learn that he had passed away. Shocked, not only because it came unexpectedly, but because he was such a vital personality. Heartbroken, because so many had come to love him. You see, Scott had an innate ability to develop strong relationships, having just the right combination of authenticity, humor, and intelligence, topped off with the uncanny ability to stay in close contact with the many, many people he considered friends. I can’t tell you the number of members who after his passing said they had just spoken to him, or that he had just sent them a useful article. But more than that I heard from those he helped. Despite his low key, easy-going nature, and the way he injected humor into every conversation, Scott was an amazing businessman, and incredible marketer, with him and his wife Jill building a six truck mobile shredding business in Western Colorado after I and many others said it was impossible. But what is even rarer, and what made him so special, was his generosity; happy to share his knowledge and experiences with anyone who asked (as long as they were more than 300 miles away).

As for his leadership and support of the industry, he was equally generous. After joining NAID when he bought his truck in 2003, his firm was NAID AAA Certified the same year. Within 4 years he was on the board, and a couple of years after that he was president. When NAID created Downstream Data Coverage, he was the first customer, and became its biggest cheerleader.

It is, therefore, more than fitting that Scott Fasken will be posthumously presented the President’s Award at this year’s annual conference, at which time 800 or more industry professionals, many who knew him, others who benefited from his involvement, will have the opportunity say thanks.

Evelyn Jefferson

Many readers already know that Evelyn retired on December 31, 2019, after a long career as sales manager with Allegheny Shredders. And, while it is well deserved and while we wish her the best, we do not intend to let her off that easy. And so, by popular demand, she has agreed to attend the upcoming conference for one last grand good-bye.

There may be no single individual as well known, more liked, and more admired in the secure destruction industry than Evelyn Jefferson. For more than 30 years, she has attended every NAID Conference (give or take) and most PRISM International conferences over that same time period. She is known to the world as Shredder Mom, precisely because she offers a healthy helping of motherly love and attention to everyone she knows, customer or not. Her office has baby pictures of her clients’ children. She is invited to weddings of NAID members who sold their businesses 20 years ago. She can talk torque, shred width, and throughput with the best of them, while being just as concerned, if not more so, with how someone is doing. Not only has she helped hundreds of people succeed in our business, but she has also been a shoulder to cry on, an endless fountain of encouragement, and some who by her words and example shows us that money is no substitute for family.

The i-SIGMA Conference Committee has some special things planned for her, which is all I can say here, and we’re guessing that there will be lots of hugs, tears, and laughs as we send her off to make sandals on the beach.