CTE Communicators encouraged to attend OACTE Leadership and Empowerment Summit

2008 Ohio ACTE Leadership and Empowerment Summit
Friday, September 19, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm(Registration at 8:00 am)
Dublin Embassy Suites
There is no registration fee*, but you must register online at www.ohioacte.org. Meeting details and tentative agenda are also available on the Web site.
Purpose:
It’s time to embark on developing our shared vision for the coming year. Ohio ACTE is ready to plan for the future and become a better resource for Career Technical Educators.
Come hear Ohio ACTE’s strategic plan and vision for the future and how your leadership is needed to further the goals of Ohio ACTE.
SPECIAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
What makes associations effective?
J. Clarke Price, CEO, Ohio Society of CPAs
“7 Measures of Success – What Remarkable Associations Do that Others Don’t”
Expected to attend: Ohio ACTE Committee Chairs/Members, Division Presidents and President-elects, Division Treasurers, Division Secretaries, and Division Conference Chairs, Ohio Department of Education Career and Technical Education staff, anyone wanting to take a leadership role in Ohio CTAE.
*This meeting is being supported by several of our business partners who will be in attendance. Their generosity is appreciated!
Questions? Contact Ohio ACTE at 614/890-2283.

Public information and transparency in Ohio

Volume #77, Report #155, Article #3--Monday, August 11, 2008
NEW THINK TANK SITE CATALOGS PUBLIC RECORDS, INVITES PUBLIC TO EDIT INFORMATION
Lawmakers' capital budget requests and public employees' collective bargaining agreements were among the first documents posted on a new website the Buckeye Institute launched on Monday.
The website (http://www.ohiosunshine.org/index.php/Main_Navigation_Page ) will not only post data about state and local governments, but allow the public to edit data and create new entries as they see fit, according to the free market think tank.
Michael Maurer, director of the institute's new Center for Transparent and Accountable Government, said the "wiki" site was designed to provide information on government business in s format that is accessible to the public.
In addition to data already available but hard to find on government websites, the institute will make public records requests for additional documents, Mr. Maurer said. Also on the site: e-mail addresses of school district superintendents and treasurers and local government public record policies.
"With very few exceptions, everything the government is doing should be accessible to us," he said during a news conference to publicize the organization's government transparency initiative.
Other states have made better efforts than Ohio to improve government transparency, he said, noting West Virginia has posted its entire public employee payroll online.
While acknowledging that a publicly edited web site could present problems as to the fairness and accuracy of information, Mr. Maurer said the technology already existed and should be used for the vital function of monitoring government functions.
The organization is also asking candidates for public office throughout the state to sign a pledge for transparency and openness in government that expresses belief in posting financial data, labor agreements and other data online.

Pat Huston
Manager, Products & Customer Services
Office of Career-Technical and Adult Education
Ohio Department of Education
25 S. Front St., Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 466-3430

The Get Social Project: The List of 15

As a supplement to the presentation (see post below this one) on social media marketing given at the Ohio ACTE Conference on August 7, 2008, comes The Get Social Project: The List of 15. The purpose of the list is to introduce you and allow you to explore social media tools on your own time and at your own pace. If you complete the list of 15 you will be more aware of the tools and may even decide that they can be useful in marketing, communications, or recruiting. If you have questions or need help, you shouldn't hesitate to ask by emailing Shane Haggerty at shaggerty@ohp.k12.oh.us or by posting your question or comment on this blog. To get started, you have to understand the reason why social media can be valuable. View this video for an easy explanation.

The List of 15:
Phase one:
1. Read one or two blogs and post a comment on at least one. Here are some blogs you can visit: OHP Office of Communications Blog, DrTimTyson.com, OHP Superintendent's Blog, or do a Google search like "Blogs About..." Posting comments is an important part because it contributes to the online conversation. Read any blog you want and make a comment.
2. Once you find a blog or blogs you are interested in, subscribe to it by adding your email if it has that option. If you can't subscribe to it, subscribe to the RSS Feed on the page. Need more help on understanding an RSS Feed? Watch this video.
3. Create your own iGoogle page where you can host various blogs all in one section. Here you will be able to view the various blogs you subscribe to and see if they have been updated. An iGoogle page is just a way to host your RSS feed subscriptions.
4. Create your own blog! You can create a personal blog (maybe you have something to say!) or create one for your school district or organization. You can use WordPress, TypePad, LiveJournal, or Blogger.
Phase two:
5. Visit Flickr and search around. Then, create a Flickr account to share photos or videos.
6. Watch YouTube videos. There are a number of colleges, especially, that have their own dedicated channel on YouTube for hosting. If you are brave, create a video and post it on YouTube. The thing to remember about YouTube or all online video is that people want videos to be REAL. This means it doesn't have to be slick or have high production quality. People enjoy rough, grainy, unplanned, transparent, etc.
7. Visit other video sites like Viddler, VeOh, and SchoolTube.
Phase three:
8. Visit Wikipedia and see what a Wiki is all about. Also, visit WetPaint and see what you can do there to create a Wiki. WetPaint is a bit more user friendly and controllable, in my opinion. Wikis are great tools for classroom collaboration and for internal staff collaboration. You can use Wikis for long-term project planning, meetings, etc.
9. Check out Yahoo! Groups and Google Docs and see all the tools you can use there. Yahoo and Google Groups are also tools you can use for collaboration and planning. Google Docs also has web analytics, e-commerce options, chat, organizational email services, and other services that allow you to manage better and embrace collaboration and cooperation.
Phase four:
10. Join Twitter and start following people. You don't need to know people you follow, but rather pay attention to the field they work in or what they are interested in. Twitter is a great way to network and seek out advice or professional help. Also, many news organizations and corporations (airlines JetBlue, Southwest) are on Twitter and you can follow them and benefit from their updates. You can follow me @shanehaggerty or follow Ohio Hi-Point @OHPthisminute. If you still don't get it, watch this video for an explanation.
11. Sign-up for a Facebook profile. It's easy and fast and you can divulge as much info as you want. Once on there, search for friends, search for groups (most colleges have alumni groups) or professional interest groups. Many businesses and organizations (especially non-profits) have embraced Facebook.
12. Sign-up for a Linkedin profile. Linkedin is a place for adults and professionals and is a great way to network and seek out professional advice and services. Many organizations and companies have started using Linkedin (which allows people to basically post online resumes) for human resource purposes. There is also a group for Ohio Career-Tech Communicators you can join or create a group that applies to what you do.
Phase five:
13. Explore del.icio.us and sign-up. Use this site to easily bookmark websites you come across you'd like to use later for resources or for presentations or just for enjoyment.
14. Explore StumbleUpon and sign-up. Again, this site can easily help you explore the web and keep track of it all.
Phase six:
15. Visit Second Life and learn more. Visit the Ohio University Second Life Campus video on YouTube to see it in action.

Share what you create, how you are using social media, what works and what doesn't, and your opinions, by emailing shaggerty@ohp.k12.oh.us or by posting directly to this blog. Join our conversation within the Ohio ACTE PR Academy.
Of course, you may not want to do all 15 things on the list so you can pick-and-choose and explore what you wish. By completing everything you are guaranteed to at least educate yourself on what your students are experts at. Career-Tech is an innovative form of education and each of us who work in it should be proactive about these tools and embrace them to lead the world of education in innovative ways to utilize these tools.

Social Media Marketing: OACTE Conference Presentation

Social Media Marketing For Career Tech

From: shaggertyohp, 2 minutes ago

Social Media Marketing For Career Tech

View SlideShare presentation (tags: social media career-tech education)

Shane Haggerty, Communications Coordinator at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, and Kelly Herzog, Public Information Coordinator at Miami Valley CTC, presented on social media marketing at the annual Ohio ACTE Conference in Columbus, OH, on August 7, 2008. For more information visit http://ohioactepr.blogspot.com


SlideShare Link

Ohio ACTE Conference this week!

The annual Ohio ACTE Conference is being held this week in Columbus on August 7-8.  The Ohio ACTE PR Academy will be meeting on Friday the 8th at a time and place to be announced.  Also, several communicators will be presenting sessions during the conference.  The program guide is now available on the OACTE website and features a listing of all sessions and events during the conference.

Brainstorming at Bob Evans

Today Peg Allen from Warren County Career Center, Monica Danseck from Penta Career Center and me, Shane Haggerty from Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, met at a central point in Wapakoneta at the Bob Evans for what turned out to be a three-hour meeting about the Ohio ACTE PR Academy. While relatively new, this group's purpose is for professional development, idea-sharing, venting, and bringing a sense of community and professionalism to the role of the career-tech communicator, marketer, recruiter or whatever your title. We just wanted to share some thoughts and ideas about how to increase membership (it's free, by the way!) and to collaborate more often in order to provide a support system. Moreover, the role of the PR person is sometimes lessened in the world of education and by growing this group and its image and speaking in a collective voice, we may be able to enhance how people view our roles and justify the importance of what we do! We shared a lot of things and will be communicating those to you soon!

Social Media in Plain English

Here's a helpful and brief video explanation of social media from a company called Common Craft.

Podcasting in Plain English

Today I attended a workshop at the Ohio School Boards Association in Columbus on podcasting. The three-hour workshop was conducted by Apple. So, obviously, we learned to do the podcasts on Apple's GarageBand software. Let me just say this workshop was great and the GarageBand software put a complicated process using a PC into the easy category by utilizing this software.
During the workshop the above video was shown to simplify understanding about podcasts.

Career-Tech Communicator Survey

If you haven't already done this, please click on the link below to complete a survey that will porvide some information to other CTE PR and marketing people. It will also help decide when the Fall CTE Communicators Meeting will be held at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in Bellefontaine, OH.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=I0FDrm8wyyHKs_2fnJNpViIw_3d_3d

PR Academy

Peg Allen (Warren County CC) and Monica Danseck (Penta CC) have been working hard to create the Ohio ACTE PR Academy in order to provide those of us in career-tech with an outlet for professional development and also to connect us in order to share ideas or best practices. While NSPRA/Ohio is a helpful resource, they are very focused on K-12 education, and we all know that CTE is a different animal. Here is an article from an email newsletter I receive regularly from Hoeck Associates, a PR firm in Toledo. It is all about how forming professional groups and meeting regularly with peers is extremely helpful and rejuvenating. Just thought I would pass it along to hopefully boost interest and encourage involvement in the PR Academy and other CTE Communicator meetings!

"I just got back from my Mastermind group meeting in Las Vegas — wow! What a way to get jazzed and rejuvenated!
I’ve found Masterminding to be one of the best ways for me to keep myself stretching and motivated, and have tried to be involved in some type of “group mind” since I started my business 24 years ago.
My first Mastermind was in the form of an advisory board I put together to hold myself accountable for how I ran my business, and although that wasn’t a true Mastermind in that it was only one directional, it worked that way for me. Five years ago, I started meeting quarterly with other marketing communications firm owners, a group from which I continue to get much inspiration and support. And the bunch that just met in Las Vegas is online and information marketing based — something I’ve been really interested in recently — and full of high-powered, successful entrepreneurs who are giving me a real run for my money. I love the challenge of learning new things and being encouraged by others of like mind. And there really is a magic to it!
If you’re not yet doing any Masterminding, I encourage you to find or form a group and dig in!
Marcia E. Hoeck, President, Hoeck Associates, Inc.

Masterminding is not brainstorming. It’s not just a few people getting together and generating ideas and coming out with an action plan, although that certainly has its place. Masterminding isn’t networking, either, although many great relationships can be built through Masterminding. Masterminding is far greater than either of these.
In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill describes the Masterminding principle as having two distinct characteristics:
1. The economic advantages of being surrounded by the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of people who are willing to lend you wholehearted aid in a spirit of perfect harmony, and
2. The psychic advantage that no two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.
Magic happens when two or more are gathered in the spirit of sharing, supporting, and receiving support. Masterminding was the secret key to success by titans of business like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and others who changed the modern world. And many of today’s business leaders regularly gather in Mastermind groups to benefit from the powerful group synergies.
Here are the main business advantages of belonging to a Mastermind group:
In Masterminding, challenges are shared and participants are supported by the group. Group energy is used to support and propel participants forward toward individual goals more quickly than could be done on their own.
Participants are held accountable for what they say they want to accomplish, in a way that assists in overcoming obstacles and supports what’s important. This accountability alone assures accomplishment at high levels.
Masterminding gives encouragement and builds confidence in a truthful way. Because everyone has the opportunity to both present their own challenges and to listen and assist others, mutually beneficial relationships form.
Participants are listened to in a safe and non judgemental environment. This is so rare in business today!
Participants have more fun making progress toward goals while others cheer them on to greater results. Ditto here about what’s rare in business — often, we see just the opposite.
If you can’t find a Mastermind group you’d like to be a part of, why not start one yourself? It may take a bit of time to find the right mix of members for your group, but the search will be worth the effort. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
1. Look close to home. By that I mean, take a look at the people you “click” with already, those you find it easy to share ideas with. These could be people in your industry, associations, personal acquaintances, or even online contacts. (Online Mastermind groups can work just as well as in-person groups, as many groups meet by phone for many of their meetings.)
2. Find enthusiastic, like-minded, high-achieving individuals. Make sure you ask people who will have staying power and can commit to regular in-person or phone meetings. Try to find a common thread among participants, such as all are marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, at the same stage of business development, or other common attribute. Ask people you admire and respect!
3. Set some ground rules. There are many resources online for Mastermind group start-ups and guidelines. It’s best to get everyone on the same page as to what’s expected of members, how often and how you’ll meet, and how to best assist each other. Many groups have simple outlines they follow for each session, such as: progress since last meeting, major challenge at this time, and what each member wants help with at the current meeting."