Welch to speak at Staff Recognition and Development Day

April 8, 2015

University Relations

Geoff Welch
Geoff Welch

Geoff Welch, co-owner of Date-Line Digital Printing, will deliver the keynote speech at UAF's annual Staff Recognition and Development Day. His presentation, "Powered by humanity: why we desperately need more humans at work," will take place Wednesday, May 13, at 10:15 a.m. in the Wood Center Carol Brown Ballroom.


Welch is a humorous and engaging speaker who cares deeply about helping people reject the status quo, do their very best work and build lives that matter. At Date-Line Digital Printing, he uses his business as a platform from which to take care of people and enrich his community. His efforts have attracted local and national awards, and inspired his free ebook, "Powered By Humanity." Date-Line's "Thanks Fairbanks" project has given away more than 20,000 free thank you cards to local residents and was the topic of Geoff's talk at TEDxAnchorage.

"Organizations across the globe are asking their people to do more with less, and yours is no exception," Welch said. "These overwhelming demands can make it easy to focus strictly on organizational efficiency, but being better at following policies and procedures is not what your organization needs from you. Anyone can follow the rules. What your organization really needs is for to you be willing to think, feel and act like a human in service to your co-workers and customers. I will make a heartfelt case for why your humanity is a tremendous resource with which to meet the challenges you face, and how it can make you incredibly difficult to replace."

Staff Recognition and Development Day will kick off with breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by a welcome from Chancellor Brian Rogers and the longevity awards ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Workshops will have professional and personal development sessions, as well as wellness tracks. A health fair will take place in the Wood Center multilevel lounge. Lunch and ice cream will also be served.

Watch the Cornerstone newsletter for the schedule and registration information.

Email the Staff Recognition and Development Day Committee for more information.