October at Talking Out of School and Stony Creek Strategy
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I’m very excited to get back on the conference circuit and catch up with boarding school folks at the TABS Annual Conference in Washington DC October 30-November 2. I’m presenting twice - on parent communications and on the head/attorney partnership in crisis management. Come check them out and introduce yourself. I’d also be happy to grab a coffee and chat. :)
And if you’re at a DC area day school and you want to meet up, let me know! My plan at the moment is to arrive the afternoon of the 30th and leave the morning of 2nd.
Photo by LeeAnn Cline on Unsplash
October Tip
Dust off the welcome mat. October is open house season. Have you prepared a program that is centered around prospective families’ hopes and needs? Is the community engaged to welcome them - does everyone have the info they need to have? Don’t forget these programs should be fun events that underscore core messaging about how students feel when they attend your school - people should come away raving about what a delightful time they had and be able to articulate the school’s values and priorities, even if they don’t ultimately apply.
Upcoming Stony Creek Strategy Event
Monday, October 28th - 12-1pm - Pre Election Week Check-In - A Zoom meetup for paying TOOS subscribers
Open to communications professionals, heads of school or other senior administrators - confer with Julie Faulstich and Lauren Castagnola, Senior Director of Strategic Advancement Communications at Yale Law School and check in with peers as to how this election season has been going and how you’re prepped to respond to the events of election week.
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
NWAIS Governance Series
Powerful Partnership: Skills and Tools for Head/Board Collaboration online workshop
With Moira Kelly, President of EXPLO and EXPLO Elevate consulting
3 - 4:30 pst - for NWAIS members
Latest TOOS post on governance here:
TABS Annual Conference sessions
Thursday, October 31 - 10:15am - 11:30am
Effective Parent Communications (with Blackbaud)
Friday, November 1 - 10:15am - 11:30am
Navigating the Minefield Together: the Head/Attorney Partnership (with Julie Fay, Shipman and Goodwin LLC)
Both of these sessions will be interactive, fun and have clear and helpful takeaways with plenty of opportunities to ask questions.
Stony Creek Strategy October featured offerings
75 minute workshops - remote or on site
Managing complicated and passionate parents?
Check out the Effective Parent Communications workshops
Being a trustee often means you have dual roles in the community. In practice, how do you manage these, at times, conflicting roles?
Check out the Communications Skills for Boards workshops
Featured On Demand/Asynchronous Course
Writing the Personal Statement
The hiring process for senior administrative positions often requires a personal statement. Through a series of curated readings and exercises, come away with a detailed outline or draft that can serve to support your application.
Upcoming in TOOS for October:
A People Talking interview with Angela Brown, Manager of Content Marketing and Brand Strategy at Niche - we’ll talk about practical ways schools can up their admissions and marketing game. Angela is super smart, strategic and has a very wide ranging perspective informed by her time working at an indy school and when the two of us get going - let’s just say this will be lively.
Article: Communications Skills for Trustees - Balancing Dual Roles
The vast majority of trustees have more than one role in the community, and often trouble starts when they are confused about the difference. This post is a high-level article version of the Communications for Trustees two part workshop, looking at the nature of the tension, how current governance training often falls short in providing trustees the guidance they need and then provides advice to support board members in successfully threading the needle without shortchanging either role.
I hope your fall is off to a great start!