©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Maureen Werther
After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus while caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Joel Goodman of The HUMOR Project is back in the area and continues to tickle people’s funny bones while teaching the benefits of humor in the workplace.
Created by Goodman 39 years ago, The HUMOR Project, based at 10 Madison Ave. in Saratoga Springs, gives lectures, presentations and seminars on the benefits of humor in all situations. With its mantra to “do well and do good at the same time,” the organization has spread the benefits of humor by giving grants to almost 500 nonprofit organizations, human service agencies, hospitals, and schools throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Goodman said in the past few months, his company has been “delighted to donate 5000 back issues of our LAUGHING MATTERS magazine to a variety of wonderful organizations that are doing good work.”
The magazines have been distributed locally to Saratoga Hospital, Ronald McDonald House in Albany, Saratoga Springs Senior Center, C.R. Wood Cancer Center in Glens Falls and the Alzheimer’s Association in Albany.
In addition, they have donated magazines to a wide range of organizations across the country that would benefit from the healing powers of humor.
Goodman, who has spoken in all 50 states and all seven continents, likes to quote a line from Tom Peters' best-selling book, "In Search of Excellence":
"The number one premise of business is that it need not be boring or dull. It ought to be fun. If it's not fun, you're wasting your life."
In his presentations and seminars for businesses, Goodman teaches people to embrace their inner child and use humor and openness to their advantage at work. The HUMOR Project's speaker's bureau has reached out with its message to more than 3 million people in presentations to businesses, schools, hospitals, human service agencies and conventions.
Goodman recently received a call from the national headquarters of AARP, informing him that they will be including The HUMOR Project in its September 2016 bulletin, which is distributed nationwide to approximately 25 million readers across the country.
On a more local level, Goodman will be giving a special presentation for the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce sometime before the end of this year, and he will also be the guest speaker at the Saratoga Hospital Volunteer Services annual dinner on Nov. 10.
The HUMOR Project is also continuing its tradition of hosting "play days," a yearly week-long celebration of ways to spread humor and joy in life and work. This event takes place in the week following Labor Day and "provides a playful prescription for work-life balance," said Goodman.
Goodman continues to spread his message of humor and balance by offering presentations to groups and businesses of all sizes. For more information visit www.TheHumorProject.com or call them at 587-8770.