Dear Talking Out of School readers:
First of all, thank you to all of you - to those of you who have been with me for a year and a half and those of you who just joined this past week. I didn’t foresee the impact this newsletter would have and the connections and joy it would bring to me.
The (brief) 2023 recap in metrics and popular topics
As of November, Talking Out of School goes out weekly to about 500 subscribers - tripling the tiny number of year ago - this fall, the newsletter has averaged about 5000 individual views per month. A year ago, I was averaging about 1000 views a month, so a 5X increase.
That’s a humbling, and encouraging, number of eyeballs for this writer!
The most viewed posts have been about crisis response/writing school statements, reimagining the triple threat for boarding schools (REACH also packaged this in their monthly roundup) and my interview with Brad Rathgeber (One Schoolhouse) on creating an internal operations plan.
Individually, I heard a lot of appreciative feedback about my interview with Tom Gorman (Foxcroft School) about the head/CFO partnership. And in general, a lot of positive feedback about the People Talking Q&A series. The triple threat essay started with exceprts from my interviews with Greg Martin (Vermont Academy) and Tom.
And in 2024, the interviews will keep coming. There’s interest in fundraising and development so I’ve booked one great guest so far in that area
I’ve also heard that’s there’s a strong interest in more articles and interviews around governance, so stay tuned.
Moving ahead to 2024: More and varied content and adding paid subscription tiers
Over the past six weeks, it’s been interesting and fun to engage readers as I’ve explored the next step for Talking Out of School and Stony Creek Strategy. I had begun to suspect that the newsletter was not just a vehicle to drive the consulting business but that it could be a core part of the consulting business, supporting many more leaders and schools than a “normal” consulting business could.
School leaders are facing complicated challenges and they’re looking for simple and accessible ways to connect with fresh insights. There’s a ton of content out there but a lot of it is either “same old” or it’s intriguing but not particularly relevant to solving problems right now. People want actionable advice as well as longer term food for thought.
So, let’s move Talking Out of School from a newsletter to a community.
I’ve seen the development of many communities on Substack over the past eighteen months, most notably the oft-referred to Culture Study that provides regular essays, interviews, a podcast, links and recs, and lively and helpful subscriber threads around specific themes and questions. Anne-Helen Peterson provides consistent high quality content and multiple avenues for connection. The whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.
The Talking Out of School vision is a community of people who:
Appreciate the “way we’ve always done things in schools” has its limits
Empathize with the fact people are complicated and change is hard
Are trying to make sense of a post pandemic, tech infused world
Are seeking practical, “doable” ideas and solutions
And here’s the content:
Access to the archive - that’s over 50 posts! With a Guide to the Archive when you’re looking for “that thing you read once on difficult conversations, etc.”
Discussion threads with specific questions and themes
A monthly communications staffers virtual meetup - with perhaps more cohort meetings added over time
Writing seminars on topics such as developing a leadership voice, crisis response writing, and crafting a compelling statement of educational philosophy (asynchronous and with “drop in” Zoom office hours with me)
The “Connections” series - short, helpful Zoom webinars based on popular newsletter posts and live virtual interviews with interesting guests - both with interactive q&a. There will be a School Management series and a Your Career series so both specific school issues can be covered and individuals can get perspective about salary negotiation, resume and cover letter writing, negotiating a head’s contract, etc.
And after much thought and some exploration, I decided to go the subscriber route to build out this vision rather than the sponsor or advertiser route, at least for now. Maybe in the future there’s room for both, but right now I like the low key, relational, grassroots vibe.
There’s still a free subscription that will give you one full post per month, excerpts from the other weekly posts and some occasional all subscriber posts and webinars. For someone looking for a consultant newsletter that offers some quick and helpful perspective, stick with free. TOOS will never become spammy. I won’t bombard you with special offers or discount codes. If you read and like the posts and you want more, join the community.
Let’s get down to brass tacks.
The paywall will go up Monday, January 1st.
There are four tiers - and you can pledge a subscription right now or click here for more information a School subscription as this is not an option in the Substack system for a pledge.
The free subscription:
One monthly essay
Excerpts (in Substack lingo, a “preview”) from other weekly posts
Occasional “free to all” content
The individual subscription ($8/month and $90/annual):
The current Talking Out of School monthly content: Two essays, one People Talking interview, the monthly digest with links and recs.
Access to the archive
Access to the comment section and discussion threads
Occasional free to all content from the premium level
The premium individual ($260/annual):
All of the above
Interactive webinars and virtual Q&As with guests (6-8 per year)
Communications professionals cohort monthly virtual Zoom meetup with Julie and guests
Asynchronous writing seminar programs (3-4 per year)
The school (group) subscription ($754 /annual)
Three premium subscriptions (10% off)
One customized virtual consulting session or webinar for your school
Option for additional school spaces for any interactive webinar, virtual Q&A or writing seminar program
Guilt free sharing of paywalled posts - new and archival
Add Julie to your head of school support system - available to you for individual consultations on tricky issues, conflict management, crisis response advice, etc.
And just to underscore, the premium and school subscription levels includes ALL programming for 2024 - interactive webinars, virtual Q&As with guests, communications staffers monthly Zoom meetups and writing seminars. Do it all or do what you like.
Again, to sign up now, you can pledge an individual or premium subscription and it will be processed January 1st. And if you’re interested in a School tier subscription, click here or email me at jfaulstich@stonycreekstrategy.com. (The School option is a great deal and I’d love to work with your school.)
Otherwise, on January 5th, you can click on “upgrade to paid” when you receive the Talking Out of School post that day and it will take you to the subscription page.
So for 2024, what does that premium content look like?
Communications professionals monthly Zoom meetups will start in late January - the first one will be a get to know you and from then on, a monthly topic will be announced ahead of time.
“Connections” series - webinars and “Julie and a guest” Q&As upcoming topics:
School Management:
Moving to a Talent Management Model - from reactive to proactive hiring and retention
Crafting Effective School Statements
Your Career:
Salary Negotiation Skills
Effective Cover Letters and Resumes
Head of School Contract Negotiation (with a guest)
My promise to you is that any webinar or guest interview will be relevant, helpful and engaging, with interactive elements. They will generally be max an hour in length.
Writing Seminars:
3 days - Exploring Your Leadership Voice (March)
3 days - Writing with Empathy - the School Statement (March)
5 days - Writing an Engaging Statement of Educational Philosophy (Summer)
Writing seminars will be asynchronous reading assignments and writing prompts with daily optional Zoom office hours during session dates. (The format of these seminars was inspired by Summer Brennan’s Substack A Writer’s Notebook and her “Essay Camp” program for writing personal essays. If you’re interested in developing that kind of writing, I highly recommend her Substack.)
And while the offerings of the Talking Out of School community will keep being iterated over time, the more people who join at a paid level, the more time I can devote to this, the more I can offer. And yet keep the price of entry low.
Finally, I wanted to share some reflections on what I’m hearing about this newsletter’s role in the lives of school leaders.
Frequently, I hear, “you have a way of saying things so that people can hear it.” I’ve also heard, “I like how your style is approachable and conversational, like we’re talking over coffee.” And then there’s, “I appreciate that so much of what you share is practical and immediately actionable,” “Your posts make me feel less crazy” and “Your work helps me feel I’m not alone in my worries.”
I’ve heard a number of, “This post came along at exactly the right time for me.” And “I feel like I can count on you to scan the landscape and report back, which is something I don’t have time to do.”
And a lot of, “I can count on your posts to give me a laugh.” And from one reader, “I laugh - and I cry as well because I feel someone is recognizing my experience.”
There’s also a number of people who have reached out to me after my personal Stony Creek Diary posts. The people who are also going through some losses ranging from parents who are also declining to kids going to college to just navigating accepting their own aging process. This has been amazing to me that people are engaged in my writing beyond school management and I thank you. So many interactions have been quite moving.
And there has been a fair amount of enthusiasm for the idea of a podcast on crisis management where guests discuss how they navigated a personal or professional crisis. Once I figure out how to make a decent podcast - stay tuned!
Most of these conversations were from people I connected with because of the newsletter! I’ve met so many people in the past eighteen months as well as reconnected with people I had no time to keep up with in my former life.
I used to say to students as they worried about their futures, the best things in my life I couldn’t ever have imagined or predicted. I’ve usually followed my heart and my curiosity. So too, with Talking Out of School.
I’m excited for the next steps and I hope you’ll join the community!
And, as always, feel free to reach out to me at jfaulstich@stonycreekstrategy.com with questions or schedule a time to chat in 2024.
Next week will be the digest with links and recs (including some fun stuff) in case you want some reading over the holiday break, including links to a variety of pieces with perspective and fallout from the university presidents’ congressional testimony. That post is NOT paywalled.
No newsletter on December 29th and then starting on January 1st, the paywall goes up for the archive and the first paywalled new post will be January 5th.
January 5th will be the second annual “Urgent Issues” for the coming year post.
Also coming in January, the second part of my interview with One Schoolhouse’s Brad Rathgeber where we discuss obstacles to change in schools.
And January 18th, AISNE has invited me to give a webinar based on my post on Priorities and Practices in Crafting School Statements. And I’ll repeat this webinar for TOOS subscribers who are not part of AISNE later in the winter.
Thank you for joining me so far on this journey. I’m excited for the next phase.
May we all find light in our loved ones during this dark time of year and may 2024 hold delightful surprises for us all.
Julie