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I mourn Carl Frappaolo's sudden passing on St. Patrick's Day.

His life work is a testament to our community of razor sharp, idea-driven, independent-minded, interconnected, and slightly quirky colleagues. We decided to pick up the same mantle that Carl helped shape and even define as a knowledge management champion with Delphi Group, Information Architected, AIIM, and finally as KM Director at FSG Group in Boston.

I just conferred with Carl a few weeks ago in preparation for a recent AIIM expert community blog post on picking the right search provider. Carl ruefully shared a bit of clairvoyance about a market prediction that came to pass. Turns out a certain giant of search media was pitching him on their enterprise platform and the pitch was more than familiar. Basically, they were selling Carl, the project leader with prophesies that Carl the analyst had foretold years before in his former consulting life.

The story has less to do with the plagiarism among sales reps than it does with Carl's gift for vision and pragmatism. It's in the crossroads where Carl traveled. It's a journey we can all learn from.

Writing in this morning's SIKM listserv, Kate Pugh added the following memoriam:

Dear SIKM Leaders

It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you of Carl Frappaolo's death Sunday, March 17th. I was reluctant to write to this big group, but as I shared the news with people outside of Boston, I began to see the impact he has had across all of us. Carl has been a tremendous leader, mentor, advisor and friend to me and to many of you. In my last conversation with him just a few weeks ago we were talking about how to teach KM, and he said, "I'd just love to teach that!" (Even now I can hear his raspy voice rise and see the twinkle in his eye.)

Recommended Links

A Conversation with AIIM Fellow Carl Frappaolo (With Bryant Duhon)

Carl's bio

Managing Knowledge (With AIIM Director Bob Larrivee)

Obituary

Some tributes from the Boston KM community