Group items tagged

Great resource by Idealware for nonprofits to use to use social media well for different purposes such as events, outreach, volunteer recruitment, etc. Oddly, professional development or learning by staff/volunteers/across organizational boundaries is not mentioned. Wonder if we should reach out to Idealware's authors to discuss adding another section to guide next year?

Here are five ways to successfully tap into the women's market: 1. Provide good quality information. Producing a newsletter and Web site are excellent ways to demonstrate your expertise and to keep your image in front of clients and prospects. Include plenty of strategies and tips that will help guide women to be more successful in running or growing their businesses. Conducting free seminars or workshops is another good strategy for imparting your knowledge and has the added benefit of serving as a networking forum. 2. Build relationship marketing strategies. Develop and sustain relationships with women and cultivate a sense of community. 3. Host networking events. Historically, women have not had the same opportunities to network as their male counterparts. You can create your own networking events for women clients and prospects. Featuring a guest speaker in your industry can be an excellent addition. Just be sure to build in enough time for networking as well. 4. Sponsor women's business associations or events. If you are looking to target this market and build awareness, consider sponsoring one of the many women's business associations and events. These range from something as specific as mentoring programs (such as the Step Ahead One-on-One Mentoring Program - www.stepaheadonline.com ) to associations for women exporters (such as the Organization of Women in International Trade - www.owit-toronto.ca ). Most hold regular meetings and special functions. Some provide opportunities for sponsors to speak and showcase their expertise. Contributing material to their newsletters, publications and Web sites is another good way to build your identity among members, as these associations often welcome good quality, educational submissions of interest to members. 5. Share core information on a regular basis. Email or mail information that is considered to be "in our mutual interest." News clippings, industry data, notes from indus

Nice differentiation between mentor, advisor, coach and supervisor on AWIS blog. "As the largest cross-disciplinary organization representing women in STEM, mentoring is a topic we've been addressing for decades. Donna J. Dean, PhD, past AWIS President and Fellow, has authored a book on mentoring women in STEM. (Which everyone in STEM should read. Men can definitely gain insight from Donna's wisdom, too.) So, what is the difference between mentoring, coaching, advising and supervising? Donna sums it up this way: A mentor is a wise and trusted person who guides, protects, and promotes the protégé's (mentee's) career. An advisor is someone who offers advice, from a perspective of wisdom or authority. A coach helps with specific skill and ability development, often on a fee basis. A supervisor ('boss') has the official task of overseeing your work."

Blog post by Bill Taylor, September 5, 2014, HBR Blog Network Cites John Gardner "It was on what he called "Personal Renewal," the urgent need for leaders who wish to make a difference and stay effective to commit themselves to continue learning and growing" He then offered a simple maxim to guide the accomplished leaders in the room. "Be interested," he urged them. "Everyone wants to be interesting, but the vitalizing thing is to be interested…As the proverb says, 'It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.'" What did Spence learn from Collins? "You're only as young as the new things you do," he writes, "the number of 'firsts' in your days and weeks." Ask any educator and they'll agree: We learn the most when we encounter people who are the least like us.

World Education's blog and index for adult education teachers on using technology in the classroom. These are practical lessons for use in adult ed, literacy, and college transition classes. They are fun and easy to follow, but don't really build teacher networked skills - they are use when you can or want to. Good for us to refer to, but what we want to offer goes deeper and aims to guide teachers to be networked learners themselves. This site does not do that.

Pretty amazing list of skills you need to be successful in life by Robin Good, June 3, 2014. This is the last five of 35 skills that he will make sure his kids know how to do. Also includes excellent resources to improve one's skills in each area. These five are: 31. How to Search 32. How To Navigate 33. How To Calculate with Numbers 34. How To Rest 35. How To Cure Oneself Excerpt (rationale) Made exception for some basic math (though learned and understood with a completely different approach) and for dwelling deeper into truly understanding how to "read" something or knowing more about one's own body and physiology, the thirty-five skills that I have explored in this guide share very little similarities, if any, with those that you can gain in the 13 years of basic traditional school education. My key selection criteria in considering, evaluating and finally choosing anyone of the skills that I have here listed, has been a rather simple question: does the mastering of this skill significantly affect my probability to live a meaningful, constructive and rewarding life experience independently of the time, part of the world, social class, and group that one could be living in? And when my answer has been positive I have included that skill. Link: http://www.masternewmedia.org/what-to-learn-to-be-successful-p5/#ixzz37SVB5qTR

Great page that explains RSS feeds, which ones to consider, and how to set them up. By Melissa Vetter, librarian, August 23, 2013

Example of a conversation guide to help employees create personal learning plans by James Tyer in Google Drive, January 2013. Found it through the Learning Concierge Society moderated by Jane Hart.

Nice Slideshare by Lyn Ross. teacher, of New Zealand, September 2013. Slide 9/29 distinguishes between 18th 19th 20th centuries and 21st century on learning and teaching focus (teacher led vs. student centered), approach (content driven vs. process driven), emphasis (knowing that vs. knowing how), and teacher role (expert and boss contrasted with fellow learner and facilitator). Are you the sage on the stage or the guide on the side?

great display of infographics for nonprofits/causes to get their stories/desired impact across to viewers

very good article on how to interpret the statistics on your blog, September 2015, Lynn Serafinn

"The nerd's guide to learning everything online" John Green talks about the cartography of our own learning - mapping our learning with others online in new ways and new collaborations. Sites like YouTube are the new learning communities, with a diverse set of learners interacting together around subjects and topics of their own choosing.

Very interesting blog post at Meetingsnet.com on how to create a viral spread of ideas/content/connections at meetings. Written by Alison Hall, August 5, 2013. Stresses that millenials, the focus of many women's organizations recruiting efforts rely on social media and technology to get through each day. They are completely connected, which has implications for how organizations need to use content generated in f2f meetings to attract engagement by people well outside the event itself. Excerpt: 12 Tips for Share-worthiness 1. Think from your audience's POV: What will they find interesting? What will help them prove the value of their industry, or their position? 2. Entertain. Infographics, photos, and (appropriate) humor have great pass-along value. 3. Feel good. What will make the world better? Emotional content spreads because it moves people. Find a way to make your content connect on a deeper level. 4. Plan your meeting with the idea that all content (with the exception of content at proprietary meetings) will be shared. 5. Loop in your presenters. Get their key insights ahead of time so you can "lock and load" content that's ready to go in real time. 6. Remember that real-time marketing only works if your audience can connect. Work diligently with your venue to ensure Wi-Fi is accessible and bandwidth is sufficient. Consider (sponsored!) charging stations to keep attendees powered up throughout the meeting. 7. Lead the way. Sharing will be (and should be) organic, but you need to be the guide. Start promoting hashtags and social channels at your event Web site and in your online registration process. On site, brand all event signage with the hashtags and channels. 8. Talk back. Hear what your audience is saying and participate in conversations. Deliver social value back to them by retweeting or sharing their content. 9. Make it easy. All content should have a one-click sharing option. Don't rely on the audience to cut and paste. Videos and phot

Short and clear guide to make much more effective use of Slideshare by Ian Cleary at Razor Social. Identifies slide building tools such as Haiku Deck, Canva for graphics, Chartblocks for charts, and inserting links in the presentation after the first three slides. (an odd restriction of Slideshare's)

Although ten years old, interesting blog post by Dave Kovaleski, July 1, 2004, Meetingsnet, makes some good points about what kinds of learning and when. Excerpt The key to an effective blended learning program lies in the mix of media used to deliver the training. Bersin identifies 16 different media, including classroom instruction, webinars, conference calls, CD-ROM courseware, study manuals, Web pages, online simulations, on-site labs, Web-based discussion groups, mentoring programs, and videos. To create a successful blended program, it's not necessary to incorporate many or all of them; in fact, two or three should suffice. Typically, a blended-learning program has several steps. The first might be a conference call, introducing students to the trainer and subject. Next is the self-directed portion, in which students are asked to study for the live session. The self-directed portion is best delivered through asynchronous means, such as webcasts or some kind of simulated, virtual exercises. Experts suggest follow-up testing on the pre-work to make sure students are prepared to move on to the live, or synchronous, session. "The self-directed portion of the blend is critical," says Jennifer Hofmann, president of InSync Training LLC, Branford, Conn., and author of The Synchronous Trainer's Survival Guide (Jossey-Bass). "It's a huge culture change." ... Post-meetings, or asynchronous evaluations, are frequently the final components of blended-learning programs. Coaching modules, online tutorials, tests, and simulations reinforce the classroom work. They also allow companies to make sure that employees are applying the new information to their jobs. In addition, testing allows employers to identify knowledge gaps so that follow-up training is well-focused.

In his book Entrepreneur Magazine's Ultimate Guide to YouTube for Business, marketing and public relations consultant Jason Rich show you how to master the secrets of successful "YouTubers" and put your brand, product or service in front of millions of potential viewers. In this edited excerpt, the author outlines some common elements of successful, small-business focused videos. Valuable tips for making a YouTube video that will make a difference to potential clients.

interesting infographic on social media etiquette, numbers of participants, gender distribution, etc. for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Instagram, Pinterest...

blog post by Natalia Castaneda, 8/28/14, at Leadership Learning Community. Good reminder of how to take strategic plan and use it as a guide to implement. "1.View planning as an ongoing process It may be that you have to focus on the process first, trying to see what is the best way to implement an agile strategic planning process in your unique context Set 90 day goals, to keep the process dynamic 2.Keep it simple: "Simplicity allows people to act"[2] The plan should have three main components: identity (organizational vision, mission and values), goals (strategies and goals), and implementation (the actual plan) In terms of the implementation, it is helpful to think about not only the team members who will be implementing a given task, but also a 'champion' who is basically a project manager who is responsible for ensuring that the task gets completed 3.Create accountability among the organization's leadership team Organizational leaders should make strategic planning part of their responsibilities and develop accountability systems to ensure that the process is running well"

Post by Liz Ryan, influencer, LinkedIn, July 29, 2014 with original artwork. 1. Your projects bore you 2. You don't see a forward path 3. People around you don't see a problem. 4. Your supervisor has no vision for him- or herself, the department, or you 5. Your employer has not seen the best of you 6. The choir sings from the Tried it--didn't work hymnal 7. No one around you looks like a mentor, a role model or a guide