November at Talking Out of School and Stony Creek Strategy
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The Association of Boarding School (TABS) annual conference was so fun! It is always such a treat to meet people you’ve only met from the chest up on Zoom. The Blackbaud dudes I presented with were either really tall or I am pretty short - observably both are true. :)
We had a crowd spilling into the hallway for our Effective Parent Communications session and afterwards, many people who wanted to talk. Parents are anxious, have invested a significant amount of resources and are unafraid to ask for what they want. Schools feel a strong pressure to keep tuition capable parents happy. The SCS Effective Parent Communications workshop (either on site or remote) can be customized to your school’s need and provide support in facilitating better school relations with complicated parents. Feel free to reach out and discuss how this workshop might meet your needs.
November Tip
Ho ho ho… holiday cards! Do you have your holiday card game in order? For some reason, every year at Westover this turned into a Thing. A Thing more in the “slight headache” category to be sure, but still it always seemed a little more complicated than it needed to be. (I will own some of my preferences contributed to headchey-ness of it all.) So here are my thoughts - and I hope you have already sorted out your holiday card game months ago and this is irrelevant!
What’s the goal? - Holiday cards are a small way to keep pushing towards your strategic messaging goals. So who is the audience, or more likely, audiences? Current parents? Alums? Strategic partners? Educational consultants? Who’s the priority and what do you want to say to them?
Does one size fit all? - There is probably the personal signature/note audience and the mass mailing audience. Do they need the same card or a different one?
When are you sending? - Do you want to do something that arrives more towards New Year? Early in the season? (get going, but you can get turnaround on a simple photo card fairly quickly - I’ve been there)
Handwritten messages - The HOS should sign and write personal messages on some of them but you can also spread around the personalizing love. Have your DEM do all the cards for ed consultants. Have your CDO do some of your consistent but not top tier donors. You get the point! Be strategic! A great card with a thoughtful note is gold to move forward the messaging of who you are.
I always wanted to get a reputation for having a card that people looked forward to getting - Did we get this year’s Westover card? We had a unique student letterpress collective (link to a site that gives you the “feel” of letterpress) but they could only produce a small number of cards; we used those for our biggest cheerleaders and usually did a photo card for the balance. My preference for a photo card was always students over buildings but I frequently lost that battle. (I still think I was right…) What mood do you want for your cards? “Peace on Earth” “Celebrate” etc. ? What is in keeping with your core brand message without being totally cringe?
A really bland holiday card is a lost opportunity. It will get thrown in a recycle bin directly upon opening. A thoughtful/delightful card can give your constituents the warm feels and remind them why they like you so much.
Upcoming Speaking Events
Crisis Communications Essentials - Independent School Moonshot Podcast with Peter Baron, founder of Moonshot OS (recording November 12)
Five Leadership Essentials - SPARC (Summer Program and Auxiliary Revenue Collaborative) webinar series
December 12, 1-2pm
More event booking in progress for 2025!
Featured Stony Creek Strategy service
Communications workshops - 75 minute - on site or remote
Being a trustee often means you have dual roles in the community. In practice, how do you manage these, at times, conflicting roles?
Communications Skills for Boards workshops
Leadership coaching services for heads and senior administrators
Upcoming in TOOS
The People Talking interview with Angela Brown of Niche - 100% helpful for your enrollment/marcomm efforts
Women and Leadership, Part II - Women, the “authority effect,” impostor syndrome, and is VP Harris’s loss in the presidential election the signal or noise around the future of women as independent school leaders
For Paid Subscribers
Helpful Resources - Winter 2024 (quarterly paid subscriber benefit)
Readings on hot topics - appropriate for all constituents, including board members - upgrade to paid through the link below.
See you Friday!
Julie