Since the beginning of August, I've been participating in a Twitter chat with other public relations and marketing professionals. Twitter chats aren't a new phenomenon in the social media-sphere. In fact, there are 2 other Twitter chats that I know of happening on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
Even though this concept isn't new, it is for the target audience of this particular chat. School PR Chat was started by Shane Haggerty (follow Shane on Twitter). Shane is the Marketing & Communications Director of Ohio Hi-Point Career Center and he's started a new venture called Social Learning Lab. I encourage you to check out Hi-Point's website and Social Learning Labs.
One of the goals of School PR Chat is to bring together school district public relations and marketing professionals to share insights about a very challenging area of communications and marketing. Since its inception in early August, the venture has struggled to get a high level of participation. One of the biggest reasons is that school PR professionals are still slow to embrace Twitter as a viable channel for communications.
So, what's the point of this post? First, I wanted to bring attention to a chat that, as I write this, needs more participants. School district public relations professionals need to work together to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of the internet and social media. School PR Chat can help connect school PR pros with one another
The other reason is to encourage you to think about starting a Twitter chat for your area of expertise. Use Twitter as a way to network with other professionals in your field or with current and prospective clients. Use the social media channel to show your knowledge or to learn more to expand your knowledge. Don't be scared of Twitter. You never know when it might just lead to your next client!
If you're a school district public relations professional, I'd like to invite you to the next School PR Chat. Just search #schoolprchat at twitter.com!
When you were little, did you ever wish you could be a super hero? I’ll be honest; I was obsessed with action heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. I would always daydream about having some life-altering experience like Spiderman and suddenly having my own super powers. Sadly, I could never seem to pin point what my power would be if I had the ability to choose. After 22 years and one State of the Schools Address later, I think I’ve finally figured it out.
I’ve decided that my super power would be……Drum roll please…...
The ability for things to run PERFECTLY the first time around; I’m talking smooth as a baby’s bottom, fly off the handle, no issues here, PERFECT!
Why out of everything in the world would I choose this, you might ask? Have I bumped my head? How could I turn down things like immortality, the ability to fly or the strength of the Hulk? Well, first things first, I don’t think green is really my color and I don’t know how I feel about spandex, but second after Rock Solid’s first shot at the Bucyrus City Schools State of the Schools address it might have come in handy and brought a little ease into our lives. Too bad my hopes and dreams are unrealistic, right?
Now, don’t get me wrong, the night went well and we were thrilled with the turnout, but we did learn a few things. A few things that I think we can improve upon and while allowing us to do bigger and better things at next year’s event, without any “outside” help.
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice, practice, practice and then if you have time practice again. I realize we are all busy and never “really” seem to have time for extra meetings or run-throughs, but think about it this way, would you rather set aside some extra time to make sure you get things right on “game day”, or be humiliated in front of a crowd of people because you didn’t put enough time into perfecting your presentation? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never enjoyed giving a speech and looking out at a group of people falling asleep or even walking out because I couldn’t keep their attention and interest. Adequate practice will help you blow them away and keep them asking for more.
Don’t Assume
Never assume people are on the same page with you. Whether it be PowerPoints, layouts or overall presentation skills, it’s dangerous to just assume everyone knows what you are talking about or that they understand the way to effectively accomplish the task at hand. Talk with them one-one-one, ask questions and don’t be afraid to give suggestions. Remember, assuming makes a you know what out of YOU and Me. Don’t fall victim to this old, yet important life motto.
Timing Is Everything
Remember to give yourself enough time in advance, that if problems or issues arise you have time to fix them. Always allot time for changes, mistakes or an overall revamping of your presentation; sticking to a well-planned time schedule will allow you to do things with ease and avoid the horror of literal, “last-minute” changes. Take it from us, fixing things the day before is much better than dealing with them five minutes before an event is about to begin.
So let’s be honest, you can’t leap a tall building in a single bound and you’re not faster than a speeding bullet, but who cares! You don’t need those silly super-hero powers to pull off a top-notch affair, it’s as simple as 1,2,3. I bet super heroes wished their jobs were that easy!
T-minus 30 minutes and counting, palms sweating, heart thumping and the smell of spaghetti in the air, myself and the other members of the Rock Solid crew anxiously await the kickoff of the first annual Bucyrus City Schools State of the Schools Address. The question on everyone’s mind, will we achieve success, or will our hard work and dedication have been done in vain?
If you know what I’m talking about, please raise your hand. I think it’s safe to say we aren’t alone on this one. Anyone that’s ever planned an event feels like they are in the hot seat moments before the kickoff begins. There are so many unknowns that just seem to drive you crazy. Do we have enough food, will the media show to cover the story, are there enough chairs, will the presentation run smoothly and of course the most important question, but the one no one really wants to ask, will people even come? So how do you get through this “stressful” situation without feeling the need to grab a beer or chew off the few remaining nails you have left? The keys to success; stay calm, keep cool and always appear collected.
Breath In, Breath Out
Staying calm is good for your health. It allows you to think clearly, quickly react to unexpected events and keep everything in perspective. Remind yourself you aren’t in a life or death situation, no one will get hurt if things don’t go the way you’ve planned and at the end of the day you’ve done everything within your power to make the event, whatever it may be, a success. If you’ve done your best, there is no sense in stressing yourself out for nothing. Remember, if there is a fire you don’t run around like a chicken with your head cut off, you stop, drop and roll. Sometimes in a situation like this you need to do a mental stop, drop and roll just to put out any “mental flames” that may have ignited inside your head. (I do not suggest a literal stop, drop and roll. As your fire safety instructor might be proud of you for remembering after so many years, your client may think you’ve lost a few marbles.)
Never Let Them See You Sweat
Keep cool, literally! No one likes a sweaty, pit-stained professional running the show. If you need a few minutes to “cool off” excuse yourself to the nearest exit or restroom, and take a few minutes to put yourself back together and freshen up. If you’re not sure how long is appropriate to be out of the room, sing your ABC’s (probably better to sing them in your head rather than out loud, again, people might be concerned) look yourself over in the mirror and head back out to oversee what’s happening.
Be Confident, Not Cocky
Lastly, appear collected. Confidence is KEY! If your client believes you have control of the situation or are unnerved by whatever chaos may be happening around you, they are able to fully trust and rely on you for answers. Now, I understand you may be having an internal “oh shit” moment, but probably better you keep that to yourself. Remember, you’re the professional, you’ve been trained for these moments and the client looks to YOU for advice.
So the next time your worrying about the unknowns, ask yourself three questions. Am I calm? Am I cool? And most of all, do I appear collected? Master these three keys and you can handle just about ANYTHING that might get thrown your way.
As the school year draws to a close, so does our first year as the outsourced communications department for The Bucyrus City School District. As far as we have been able to research, the partnership between Rock Solid Media LLC and The Bucyrus City Schools marks the first time a school district in Ohio has outsourced typical "in house" communication efforts.
We started with the basics, a few releases regarding new building dedications and some slideshows to run during the open houses for the buildings. What ensued over the next year was anything but routine for rural school districts in Ohio.
Let's start with Facebook. Launched in September, the district's Facebook fan page currently has over 565 fans, has received over 7,938 page views, 287 video views and 1171 picture views! But better than all those stats is that 78% of all our fans are age 25 and up! What does that mean? It means we are reaching our target audience, it means that we don't have a bunch of students who are "fans" of the district, but that we are actually reaching important district stakeholders. For districts that don't have the financial assets to build out a specific communication website, Facebook provides a free place to publicize information, pictures and videos.
After Facebook was up and running we turned our attention to creating a monthly Superintendent's video series. Using the video hosting site Vimeo, instead of Youtube, we were able to create professional looking videos specifically branded to the Bucyrus City School District. The stats weren't anything to write home about, but we did manage to get over 225 different people to watch at least one of Dr. Nichols' videos. Here is an example of one of the videos we produced.
While these videos won't win an Oscar, they allow district stakeholders to feel like their Superintendent is actually a person. It allows the audience to hear directly from the administration what important things are going on within the district.
Last but certainly not least, I want to touch on the district's deployment of email marketing. Today over 2,150 emails have been sent to over 340 different people in the district's database. Members of the database can choose 8 different categories of information they wish to receive, ranging from athletics to strategic plan updates. Across the industry email marketing typically sees a 15%-20% open rate, the average open rate for the district's email marketing campaign is 51%. Email marketing can serve as a typically low cost communication tool for school districts looking for new ways to reach a very specific target audience.
There you have it! Are our results earth shattering? Probably not. The only thing we can say for sure is that the district is taking their communication efforts places they have never been. Only time will tell whether or not the partnership between Rock Solid and Bucyrus will be mutually beneficial, but after a review of year #1, I think it is headed in the right direction!
Change is difficult, especially when dealing with creatures of habit. And those of us with experience in education know there are no greater creatures of habit than school administration and personnel. That being said, not all change is for the worse. Making the decision to bring new technology into your district or not, should be just like making any other decision, well researched and thought out. The big problem many school districts face is they are not sure how or why they should use social media and other interactive marketing outlets.
1) Identify Your Needs - School districts are as unique as the communities and students they serve. What works for similar sized districts might not be the best approach for yours. The first question you need to ask yourself is simple; how can we better communicate with all of our stakeholders? From parents, to businesses, to senior citizens, all of a district's audiences need to be taken into consideration when identifying communication needs within a district. Other questions to ask yourself during this step include: Are our current communication efforts effective? How do we know if those efforts are effective? What do our stakeholders expect from our district in regards to communication?
2) Do Some Research -This may sound like a simple step, but it is the step that will make or break the whole process. Over the past 4 years, countless social media outlets have emerged, everything from basic outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, to more niche outlets like Yelp and Foursquare. The important thing about this step is to try to and keep it simple. There is no reason for schools to use unique outlets just because they are the "flavor of the month." Stick to what you think would work best for your district. Our suggestion; a multi-faceted approach. Facebook allows districts to set up their page as an extension of their district website. If it is important enough to have on the district site, it is probably worthy of being mentioned on the district's Facebook page. However, that is simply our suggestion. Remember, your district is unique!
3) Make A Decision - Your needs are identified, and you know what you want. Maybe your district has decided to keep it simple and just launch a Facebook page, or maybe your district wants to try and bring in everything but the kitchen sink. Either way, you need to make a decision! In dealing with school administration, decisions often take long periods of time to turn into results. The earlier your district can make a decision to use new marketing outlets, the sooner that decision can result in action.
4) Hire The Right Help - If you have made it this far don't negate all your hard work with the wrong help. When trying to decide what kind of help to hire, look to the amount of technology and marketing outlets you have decided to utilize. If your district is keeping it simple, paying a district staff member to take on the extra work may be the right direction to go. However, if your district plans on undertaking a communication overhaul, you should probably look at hiring a person or persons from outside the district. There are many firms beginning to break into the education industry with specific concentration on communications and marketing. Like everything else in this process, your help is specific to your district and your fiscal situation.
5) Stick It Out - This change is not going to yield earth-shattering results over night, it will not save your district from a financial disaster and it will not improve test scores. It will, however, ensure improved communication within the district, open two-way communication between the district and its' shareholders and do it all in a very cost-effective manner.