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Tuesdays with Tom: What 10,000 Miles (and Counting) Can Teach You About Records

Tuesdays with Tom: What 10,000 Miles (and Counting) Can Teach You About Records

Road miles, real stories, and practical fixes for your paper problems

If you ever catch Tom sitting still, take a picture—it might be the only proof you get.Over the past year, he’s put thousands of miles on the odometer traveling across Iowa (and beyond), visiting city halls, county courthouses, clinics, schools, and every kind of office in between. He’s been in basements, attics, maintenance closets, unmarked storage rooms, and once, a converted broom closet that now holds a century’s worth of meeting minutes.

When we say Tom has seen it all, we’re not exaggerating.

Every Stop Has a Story—and a Stack of Paper

Tom’s road diary includes:

  • A courthouse that stored bond documents in a filing cabinet… with a broken key since 2003.
  • A city clerk who “just had a few records” in three different storage sheds.
  • A school district using a basketball gym for file overflow (during off-season, of course).
  • And an office that had been storing permanent records in a cardboard box labeled “Shred Eventually.”

Every stop is different, but the common thread is always the same: people who are doing their best with what they’ve got—and who need a hand figuring out what comes next.

That’s exactly where Advantage shines.

What Tom Brings (Besides a Good Story and a Travel Mug)

Tom doesn’t show up to point fingers or push a one-size-fits-all plan. He shows up to listen, walk the space, ask the right questions, and help you build a solution that fits:

  • What to digitize
  • What to securely shred
  • What to keep, where, and for how long
  • And most importantly—how to stop the paper from piling up again

Whether your records are managed down to the folder or barely hanging on by a binder clip, Tom’s seen something similar—and helped someone solve it.

Need a Visit from a Road-Tested Records Expert?

You don’t need to have a perfect plan. You don’t even need to clean up before he gets there. Tom’s ready to stop by, take a look, and figure it out with you.

Email him at tom@advantageds3.com
and schedule a walkthrough. He’s probably already headed to a town near you—and odds are, he knows where your paper is hiding before you do.

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