<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>conferences – Jeff Presents</title> <atom:link href="https://jeffpresents.com/index.php/tag/conferences/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://jeffpresents.com</link> <description>Education - Communication - Transformation</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2020 23:36:18 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2</generator> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">144472685</site> <item> <title>Hoping To See You…</title> <link>https://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2020/02/10/2020-2-10-hoping-to-see-you/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[bordenj88]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2020 23:36:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Connectedness]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category> <category><![CDATA[conferences]]></category> <category><![CDATA[connection]]></category> <category><![CDATA[data]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education 3.0]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Embry Riddle]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ICCOC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IHE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[inside higher ed]]></category> <category><![CDATA[keynote]]></category> <category><![CDATA[League of Innovations]]></category> <category><![CDATA[learning analytics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[OETC20]]></category> <category><![CDATA[opening]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rutgers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[speaker]]></category> <category><![CDATA[TCC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Webcast]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2020/02/10/2020-2-10-hoping-to-see-you/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Connect with Jeff at a conference near you this Spring!</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Well, it’s that time of year again. <em>Spring conference season is upon us. </em> Whether you are heading to an innovation mecca like <a href="https://www.sxswedu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SXSWedu </a>or perhaps keeping it more low key with a regional or program-specific conference, I hope you have found something that will help you grow, develop, and enrich all of your academic experiences. (And your students’ as well!)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in a few places in the coming months, so if you find yourself in or around these conferences, let me know. <em> I’d love to grab a club soda (sorry, I’m not a coffee guy) and have a chat. </em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>Ohio Ed Tech Conference (</strong><a href="https://oetc.ohio.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>OETC20</strong></a><strong>) – Feb 11-13</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Representing IICE, <em>I will be speaking in 3 sessions</em> as well as manning the Institute’s booth. I’m talking about Education 3.0, Innovation, and delivering a “FREd Talk” <em>(essentially a 5 minute Pecha Kucha</em>) about apps for education. If you are in Columbus and looking for some PD for your institution, some workshops for your teachers, or some consultation around eLearning, teaching and learning, ed tech, or anything else our Institute offers, come by and say hi!</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>IHE Webcast – Feb 20 (2pm ET)</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I will be moderating an <a href="https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?eventid=2176078&key=0826E806B2D84BF77148B57F345CD83E&partnerref=ESE&regTag=&sessionid=1&sourcepage=register&target=reg20.jsp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inside Higher Ed Webcast</a>, interviewing IT leaders from Tallahassee Community College, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and Rutgers (DOCS) University. The webcast is all about connection, which you might guess is something I believe to be incredibly important! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.0.3/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> The webcast is titled, “<em>The Infrastructure of Connection: A Better Path Toward Success</em>.” In it, I will ask our panelists to expand and expound on how to help people do what they do, at scale, in a way that actually targets the whole student (vs just the academic student). All three panelists are using <a href="https://campus.app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Campus </a>as an addition to their learning ecosystems, which I chose to implement for this exact reason in my past CIO role. I hope you’ll join us!</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>League of Innovation – March 1-3</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I always look forward to Seattle, but heading to <a href="https://www.league.org/inn2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">League </a>just prior to my birthday is going to be fun! Again, I am honored to have been selected for 2 sessions. <em>One will focus on teaching / learning and the other should prove insightful for those seeking help with better, more meaningful learning analytics / data. </em> As well, I will be hanging out at the Campus booth, so don’t hesitate to come by and say hello! </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>Iowa Community College Online Consortium – March 30 – Apr 1</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I have had the distinct honor of presenting keynotes, plenary sessions, and workshops at the <a href="https://www.iowacconline.org/iccoc-spring-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ICCOC’s annual conference</a> 17 out of the last 20 years. Sothis year, as they celebrate their second decade of work, I am excited to have been asked for a keynote about both the past and the future of education! This “<em>Greatest Hits / Greatest Failures”</em> talk is shaping up to be one for the ages…at least in my mind (and two months ahead of the delivery)! Come see if I’m right!</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Whether or not you make it to any of these events, do enjoy your conferences. <em> I know they can be hit or miss, but I still argue that if a person gets (literally) nothing of value from such an event, that is more on the person than the conference itself.</em> Go root around and find those truffles of value for your schools, your classrooms, and your students to better succeed! Enjoy!</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Good luck and good learning.</p> <p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:1984px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:62.75201416015625%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1581376695210-QRE5QZKWU7Q7P4GNTGV1/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kO58QAOocKfdRARyxZLpdtB7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1UY-5CRzB_sw4nzHVK1wdVEi9usG8ohYZqQceoSZHqStkBashlp-43D3kQy0wbhdyfg/EdSurge_ShowGraphics.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="Ed Surge K-20 Conferences for 2020" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1581376695210-QRE5QZKWU7Q7P4GNTGV1/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kO58QAOocKfdRARyxZLpdtB7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1UY-5CRzB_sw4nzHVK1wdVEi9usG8ohYZqQceoSZHqStkBashlp-43D3kQy0wbhdyfg/EdSurge_ShowGraphics.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1581376695210-QRE5QZKWU7Q7P4GNTGV1/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kO58QAOocKfdRARyxZLpdtB7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1UY-5CRzB_sw4nzHVK1wdVEi9usG8ohYZqQceoSZHqStkBashlp-43D3kQy0wbhdyfg/EdSurge_ShowGraphics.jpg" data-image-dimensions="1984x1245" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="Ed Surge K-20 Conferences for 2020" data-load="false" data-image-id="5e41e4b547ba8e11b9e8224c" data-type="image" /> </div><figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper"> <div class="image-caption"> <p class="">Ed Surge K-20 Conferences for 2020</p> </div> </figcaption></figure> </p></div> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">256</post-id> </item> <item> <title>What to Do and See at Educause 2019</title> <link>https://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2019/10/07/2019-10-7-what-to-do-and-see-at-educause-2019/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[bordenj88]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Oct 2019 21:38:23 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Professional Development]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Campus]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Campus.app]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category> <category><![CDATA[conferences]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Educause]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Penn State University]]></category> <category><![CDATA[professional development]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Wolfram Alpha]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2019/10/07/2019-10-7-what-to-do-and-see-at-educause-2019/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A primer of things to do, see, and find at Educause 2019.</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It’s that time of year once more. Thankfully, <a href="https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Educause 2019</a> will not mean missing Halloween again. <em>There was a lot of gnashing of teeth at my home the last time that happened with little ones openly weeping in their princess costumes.</em> But the “car show” of ed tech is upon us once again and I hope to see you there!</p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:1080px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:177.7777862548828%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1570484193268-0NI58CHH0UDHDESUOO1Z/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kKUnzI79RF14iA7fQAm4thV7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTmxyXvWKJWcy4t4TJMVJdPems81377VF8H_R0-_S6l8pUg4Fq_AX3tB4q6UcfhtT1O/EducauseMobileApp.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="Don’t forget to download (and use) the Educause Events App" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1570484193268-0NI58CHH0UDHDESUOO1Z/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kKUnzI79RF14iA7fQAm4thV7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTmxyXvWKJWcy4t4TJMVJdPems81377VF8H_R0-_S6l8pUg4Fq_AX3tB4q6UcfhtT1O/EducauseMobileApp.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1570484193268-0NI58CHH0UDHDESUOO1Z/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kKUnzI79RF14iA7fQAm4thV7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTmxyXvWKJWcy4t4TJMVJdPems81377VF8H_R0-_S6l8pUg4Fq_AX3tB4q6UcfhtT1O/EducauseMobileApp.jpg" data-image-dimensions="1080x1920" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="Don’t forget to download (and use) the Educause Events App" data-load="false" data-image-id="5d9bafe039ad1021cd7608dc" data-type="image" /> </div><figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper"> <div class="image-caption"> <p class="">Don’t forget to download (and use) the Educause Events App</p> </div> </figcaption></figure> </p></div> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">As a primer, here are some things you may or may not have considered doing, seeing, or attending throughout the conference. As someone who has attended more than 15 Educause conferences over time, I feel like I have a decent finger on the pulse of how it works<em>. You be the judge. </em> Here are my recommendations for what to take in while in Chicago next week:</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong><em>Sessions</em></strong>: <em> I know, I know…sessions are more like playing roulette than professional development. </em> The number of good presenters out there is in the single digits, making conference sessions SO much easier to play hooky from, perhaps taking in the Pier or the views from the Skydeck at Willis Tower. But remember that in addition to the number of other challenges education faces, there is a real struggle with innovation. Budgets, politics, and committees often have an unhealthy impact on the ability to find and try new things, so as to help the education experience. So conference sessions are often the only life-line available to see, hear, and get first-hand knowledge around new ideas. That means that even though the presenters may read their PowerPoint slides or struggle to keep people sitting in the room, you need to work the problem in your favor. Ask questions, stay around after, or at least grab the case studies and see if you can’t find the next “big” idea for your school. <em>Here are a few sessions I think might prove to be worth our while:</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>Tuesday</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">1 – <strong>Where Good Ideas Come From:</strong> PBS host Stephen Johnson is going to talk about platforms, practices, ideas, and creativity. Remember that the key to innovation is associative thinking, which means asking how someone outside of your context might approach a problem or solution. This session should be a few of those served up on an entertaining platter. (8:30am – Skyline Ballroom)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">2 –<strong> Finding Step-Change Innovation:</strong> A panel discussion from some heavy hitters in the ed tech space, this session looks like a smorgasbord of disruption ideas and examples. Fun! (Tuesday, 10:45am – W37b)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">3 – <strong>Dessert Stations:</strong> What more needs to be said? (1:15pm – Halls F1, F2 – Level 3)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">4 –<strong> Forget the Alt Text (When Accessible Does Not Equal Usable):</strong> With more and more digital experiences coming to our campuses, we are going to continue seeing more users with unique needs and importantly, we are going to see more and more lawsuits and fines because institutions have not considered those user experiences. This session looks to be a story / case study with a healthy number of lessons learned, ensuring you don’t have to learn them yourself. (1:15pm – Poster Session)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">5 – <strong>Platform for Innovation (Modern Deployment Practices with Apple)</strong>: My favorite Apple finding from one of their multi-year studies was that it takes around 4 years to genuinely transform an organization / institution with the use of technology. The resistance to change is just too much to overcome quicker than that most of the time. So, keeping with the theme of learning how other people might solve problems, this one looks extremely promising. (4:15pm – W179b)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>Wednesday</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">6 – <strong>How to Reach Every Learner (The Science of Student Success):</strong> Whenever a presentation includes neuroscience as a basis for their recommendations, I’m in. When combining cognitive science with ed tech, doubly so. (11:45am, W185bc)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">7 – <strong>Debunking Neuromyths:</strong> Sticking with the brain, as someone who researches and reports brain science to educators, it is just as important to know what is NOT true, as what is a worthwhile use of time. This session appears to promote just that kind of underpinning so that we can move educators away from “left-brain / right-brain” nonsense and into usable strategies for learning. (1:15pm, Poster Session)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">8 –<strong> Enhancing Support with AI:</strong> Chat-bots still sit out on the fringe of usage in higher ed. Even though other industries have fully embraced their capabilities, education just doesn’t seem to know what to do with them. Perhaps this poster session will start to provide some direction. (4pm, Poster Session)</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>Thursday </strong><em>(Alas, I’m leaving Wednesday night, but if I had been able to stay around, I would have surely attended…)</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>Reimagining IT:</strong> A case study from Penn State and a presenter I know should prove to be a powerful session in remixing the university IT experience. (8:30am, W178a)</p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:1191px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:101.25944519042969%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1570484265069-BH30WDIMDGE9W7XM75HQ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOQhpC8SkbLsLrsUdPG6_N97gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTm8gdG5xRTtrVVyLXkddLwcunrA849C9rrDNpyoPvOB0czU8NnbmFLDDbSuvbt7ot3/EducauseMap.JPG?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="EducauseMap.JPG" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1570484265069-BH30WDIMDGE9W7XM75HQ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOQhpC8SkbLsLrsUdPG6_N97gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTm8gdG5xRTtrVVyLXkddLwcunrA849C9rrDNpyoPvOB0czU8NnbmFLDDbSuvbt7ot3/EducauseMap.JPG?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1570484265069-BH30WDIMDGE9W7XM75HQ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOQhpC8SkbLsLrsUdPG6_N97gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTm8gdG5xRTtrVVyLXkddLwcunrA849C9rrDNpyoPvOB0czU8NnbmFLDDbSuvbt7ot3/EducauseMap.JPG" data-image-dimensions="1191x1206" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="EducauseMap.JPG" data-load="false" data-image-id="5d9bb02439ad1021cd761027" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong><em>Exhibitors</em></strong>: In addition to the sessions that will be on-going, don’t forget the importance of visiting the floor. Again, I know how this can be hit or miss, but as someone who has purchased platforms and built out learning ecosystems, you have to kiss a few frogs to find those princes. But to those who kiss no frogs….well, perhaps you should attend the session about how to effectively close a university. (Gulp) So for those of you ready to see some innovation in action, here are a few booths / experiences you don’t want to miss:</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">1 – <em>Wolfram Research Inc </em>(<strong>booth 1556</strong>) should be something every institution seriously looks at. With STEM so predominantly needed in our world today, any assistance schools can get to make those subjects more interesting, searchable, connected to real life, etc., is a good thing.</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">2 – <em>Start-Up Alley</em> – do NOT miss your chance to see the latest and greatest up and comers to the ed tech scene. Spend some time with the start-up Freshman to envision what could be, but spend even more time with the Sophomores to get a sense of how ed tech is being shaped by companies with some early staying power. Check out <a href="https://campus.app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Campus </a>(<strong>G28</strong>) <em>not only for their fun conference scavenger hunt game with cool prizes, but to better connect everyone to everything at your institution.</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">3 –<em> Under the Ed Radar Pitch Competition</em>: Watch this year’s newbies pitch their ideas to a panel of judges / experts and see who is crowned champion as you look for interesting innovation ideas. <strong>(2:15pm – Tuesday – Learning Theater)</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong><em>Networking</em></strong>: Beyond the usual networking opportunities, let me see if I can make a recommendation. I know some people genuinely struggle with how to network whereas some people are completely at home engaging strangers. <em>(There is actually a different way that introverts vs extroverts process information in the brain, so take solace in knowing you are “wired” like that.) </em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">So, for those of you who would love to find some information, are seeking ideas, want to know how other schools are doing X, Y, or Z, I have a suggestion. Don’t worry about finding a bunch of people. <strong><em>Find one. </em></strong>Just make it the right one. And I’ll give you a recommendation for who that might be. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">If you’ve read my stuff over the years, you know that I have straddled ed-tech-company-life and formal-education-role-life. But regardless of my circumstance, do you know who always has the better understanding of the big picture? <em> Education consultants and ed tech sales people.</em> Seriously. They know who is innovative in the space and the ideas that they have tried which both succeeded and failed. They know who is all talk and who gets things done. They know about the policies outside agencies are pressuring institutions with and they often know the strategies being used to skirt those policies. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Yes, seriously! You don’t need to go out of your way to meet 20 people, just find one who interacts with 200 of your peers. Pick their brain. Grab a drink or go to dinner. <em>(Heck, if it’s a sales person, they may take you to dinner on the company…) </em> </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">And as always, pick one thing in Chicago to see other than the inside of the convention center and your hotel room. Looking for an off-the-beaten-path gem? I love the<a href="http://www.hoosiermamapie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Hoosier Mama Pie Company</a> on Chicago Avenue. <em>It’s ridiculously decadent and delicious…</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Enjoy the conference and please stop me and say ‘hi’ if you see me! I’ll be wondering the halls, the exhibition floor, and more throughout. Enjoy Educause 2019!</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Good luck and good learning. </p> <p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">222</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Context Matters</title> <link>https://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2019/08/12/2019-8-12-context-matters/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[bordenj88]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 12 Aug 2019 21:06:02 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Connectedness]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IDEAS]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Budgets]]></category> <category><![CDATA[CIO]]></category> <category><![CDATA[conferences]]></category> <category><![CDATA[connection]]></category> <category><![CDATA[context]]></category> <category><![CDATA[executives]]></category> <category><![CDATA[innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[matchmaking]]></category> <category><![CDATA[platforms]]></category> <category><![CDATA[sales]]></category> <category><![CDATA[systems]]></category> <category><![CDATA[systems thinking]]></category> <category><![CDATA[vendors]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2019/08/12/2019-8-12-context-matters/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">When a solution is needed by a college and a provider has that solution, shouldn’t the rest be easy?</p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">As I noted in my last blog, I spent last week at an unusual conference <em>(for higher ed, anyway)</em>. The best way to describe it is a<em> “match-making” conference</em>, where a company tries to connect vendors with specific stakeholders from higher education based on needs, budgeting, initiatives, etc. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In other words, if you have a solution to sell, the company will try to match you with college or university executives who are seeking such a solution. But all of this is done in and around a conference, complete with keynote speakers and seeing plenty of workshops, round-table discussions, and the like. </p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:780px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:53.20512771606445%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642722983-EIDQWCVZRAL25GLYKTF4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCsz_Q7r3TPWAVbqP3wNS69Zw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PIAUcpFWpbCG5Rzy99KF5kM88MOadHgxmQlboBO2KAYH4KMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/speeddating.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="speeddating.jpg" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642722983-EIDQWCVZRAL25GLYKTF4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCsz_Q7r3TPWAVbqP3wNS69Zw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PIAUcpFWpbCG5Rzy99KF5kM88MOadHgxmQlboBO2KAYH4KMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/speeddating.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642722983-EIDQWCVZRAL25GLYKTF4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCsz_Q7r3TPWAVbqP3wNS69Zw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PIAUcpFWpbCG5Rzy99KF5kM88MOadHgxmQlboBO2KAYH4KMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/speeddating.jpg" data-image-dimensions="780x415" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="speeddating.jpg" data-load="false" data-image-id="5d51cfe2e74edb0001295300" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><em>On another positive note for academic executives, the cost of the conference is low as the commercial companies are supplementing some of those costs for the ability to be there. </em>The price? Each executive must participate in 5-6 “speed dates” throughout the conference, meaning they must see and hear 5-6 pitches by solutions providers. I guess you could look at it like needing to sit through the timeshare pitch in order to get the vacation, but the difference is that if you are looking for a solution anyway, <em>why not?</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">One other benefit was the interaction between participants. Everyone ate together, went to sessions together, and enjoyed the evening activities together. So, in a rare moment of connection, CIOs sat with VPAA’s and Provosts from other universities, talking about challenges and wins and losses and more. But that also saw the vendors sitting along side them as well, also telling of wins and losses and dysfunction and leadership, etc. <em> (If you really want to get a pulse of higher education, find vendors who work with a lot of schools…they often know far more about the state of higher ed than individuals at schools do.)</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">At one such meal, I encountered a fresh, young entrepreneur who runs a start-up. He had spent his entire year’s marketing budget to come to this affair and he was not happy. Why? Simple. He had expected to find university executives who needed his solution, had budget, and even had previously identified the initiative, <em>to see his product and sign a deal.</em> Everybody would win! Yay…</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">But of course things do not work that way in higher education. They may work that way in business, seeing deals made on golf courses, in bars, or via this type of conference. <em> But in higher education, it just does not work like that.</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">So, as kindly as I could, I tried to share some context with this young, aspirational innovator. And by the time I had finished, he asked if I would write all of it down. <em>Consider this blog (which I will send to him immediately) his request, hopefully for the benefit of others.</em> Specifically, I’d like to try and speak to both sides of this, if I might, as I have sat squarely on both sides of the table, over and over again.</p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:705px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:51.773048400878906%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642973186-JDEMFD20LOL1AEFG0X05/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kG9vzvI8-pvGmh5gw82dDspZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxuWFPgNFP2naJd2xwR0N-5CRdkCZS8Lg34mzy8pg9DtOtJM1ObQgvcf2JxPwvp1KI/PokerFace.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="PokerFace.jpg" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642973186-JDEMFD20LOL1AEFG0X05/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kG9vzvI8-pvGmh5gw82dDspZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxuWFPgNFP2naJd2xwR0N-5CRdkCZS8Lg34mzy8pg9DtOtJM1ObQgvcf2JxPwvp1KI/PokerFace.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642973186-JDEMFD20LOL1AEFG0X05/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kG9vzvI8-pvGmh5gw82dDspZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxuWFPgNFP2naJd2xwR0N-5CRdkCZS8Lg34mzy8pg9DtOtJM1ObQgvcf2JxPwvp1KI/PokerFace.jpg" data-image-dimensions="705x365" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="PokerFace.jpg" data-load="false" data-image-id="5d51d0dc7cd9020001263c1b" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>What Solutions Providers Must Remember</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">First and foremost is something all product owners should remember. It’s been a decade (or more) since colleges and universities had “extra” money to spend. While the short term result of the great recession was that a lot of people went back to school, seeing coffers fill up, the bubble burst very quickly. Now? Good luck finding a person at any school in the land who has money to spend on just about anything. <em> I spoke with a friend / colleague at a State University last week who explained their state funding had gone from 75% down to 15% in a decade. </em> Even those schools with billion dollar endowments don’t have money to spend. Or at least, the people in that system are not allowed to spend any of it. It just doesn’t work that way. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">So the thing to remember is this. <em>Every person you will sell to at every school in the land believes the same thing: </em><strong><em>they are poor. </em></strong> They will be lucky to get 3% added to next year’s budget, unless they are 1 of a handful of projects the executives will (moderately) fund. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Which brings us to our next point. <em>Schools have money to spend only once per year.</em> For the majority of those schools, budgets are set in or around April, seeing initiatives also approved (or not) in May. This allows contracts to be signed so that new initiatives can begin in July, when the fiscal year kicks off. So going to a match-making, sales conference in August and hoping for signed deals is…extremely rare. <em> Like unicorn rare. </em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Which brings me to my last important point. Nobody at any school does anything without approval, most likely by a committee. <em>While some bemoan shared governance, saying it destroys innovation and makes schools unable to move forward, it is reality.</em> And the more that is about to be spent, the more people are involved. True, many people on these committees may not actually have any knowledge or credible perspectives, but that does not matter. The committee will take ample time to get all of the facts, then and only then making a decision.</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">There is a reason all of the match-making sessions saw poker faces by the staff and administrators. That is status quo for higher education.</p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline combination-animation-none individual-animation-none individual-text-animation-none " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:255px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:77.64705657958984%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642774110-GAKTSQ09OVZHIPMZDYW4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kGgp2TDKYqNgfPtWQKd0I9FZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWhcwhEtWJXoshNdA9f1qD7Xj1nVWs2aaTtWBneO2WM-sBxfUD_A1iezBaqcliZzD3UURtkSp4LPU7Nl94Sn_ntA/WalkInMyShoes.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="WalkInMyShoes.jpg" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642774110-GAKTSQ09OVZHIPMZDYW4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kGgp2TDKYqNgfPtWQKd0I9FZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWhcwhEtWJXoshNdA9f1qD7Xj1nVWs2aaTtWBneO2WM-sBxfUD_A1iezBaqcliZzD3UURtkSp4LPU7Nl94Sn_ntA/WalkInMyShoes.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1565642774110-GAKTSQ09OVZHIPMZDYW4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kGgp2TDKYqNgfPtWQKd0I9FZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWhcwhEtWJXoshNdA9f1qD7Xj1nVWs2aaTtWBneO2WM-sBxfUD_A1iezBaqcliZzD3UURtkSp4LPU7Nl94Sn_ntA/WalkInMyShoes.jpg" data-image-dimensions="255x198" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="WalkInMyShoes.jpg" data-load="false" data-image-id="5d51d0161aebb8000154fd58" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><strong>What Higher Education Executives Must Remember</strong></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">To my college and university colleagues, it is really important to keep a few things in mind as well. <em>Obviously, the more we realize that our purchasing methods are incredibly dysfunctional and out-dated, the better.</em> As they say, you can’t deal with the problem if you don’t know there’s a problem to begin with. Higher Education purchasing (very much like the bureaucracy-laden government) is not ideal. It has only led to gamification of the system, a lack of agility, and the majority of schools being stuck with poorly designed, disconnected solutions.</p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Second, as I’ve blogged before, take some lessons from innovation hubs and gurus alike. <em> Putting all of your “innovation” monies into two or three initiatives is silly. </em> But it’s downright stupid when you realize that every year sees 99% of those initiatives fail, meaning funding will not be renewed so that a new set of three more unsuccessful initiatives can be attempted the following year, etc. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">What allows companies to innovate? <em>Having a LOT of ideas that get funded in small states. </em> Then, as the idea grows into something good, it is nurtured and fed (yes, with money and people), while twenty other ideas that did not work are put out to pasture without costing much money or time. Of course that means putting money and resources into the system which can be turned on or off at any point, not only in July. <em>And that takes special leadership at the President, Provost, or CIO level, which is rare.</em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Finally, help out the commercial players by showing some emotion and staying away from RFP’s whenever possible. I know, I know…the rules are the rules. You may not have any choice. And yes, I know they are just as maddening to create and read as they are to respond to. They end up pretending like extreme cases are reality, they dissuade legitimate companies from providing solutions because the solution seems impossible, and they suck an incredible amount of time out of the college / university. <em> (There is a dissertation topic! The amount of time wasted by RFP’s!) </em> All the more reason to find ways to avoid them if you can! </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">So…whether you are attending an ‘eHarmony’ conference like this one, or a more traditional conference with a vendor floor, just try to remember all of this. We’re all people trying to both make a living and (hopefully) help improve something fundamentally important. Sure, some people care and others may not, but I’ve said again and again that the education companies I worked at saw a far, far greater percentage of people who cared about education than any university I have ever worked for. <em> So let’s just try to work together, human to human, with a modicum of transparency and candor as we go. </em></p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Who knows…you might stumble onto the next big thing together. </p> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Good luck and good learning.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">208</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Grow Up and Knock It Off!</title> <link>https://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2018/04/24/2018-4-23-grow-up-and-knock-it-off/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[bordenj88]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 2018 03:02:21 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IDEAS]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[administrators]]></category> <category><![CDATA[asu/gsv]]></category> <category><![CDATA[buyers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[commercial]]></category> <category><![CDATA[conferences]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Cousreware in Context Framework]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Creativity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[CWiC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[educators]]></category> <category><![CDATA[innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[oer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[olc]]></category> <category><![CDATA[providers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[sellers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[vendors]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://jeffpresents.com/index.php/2018/04/24/2018-4-23-grow-up-and-knock-it-off/</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Higher education is broken.  I’ve talked to educators and administrators from the most famous institutions on the planet.  All of them have horror stories of how impossible it is to overcome the baggage, the traditions, the paradigm that is higher education.  Not the Ivy Leagues, not the most innovative community colleges and not even the for-profits who were designed to do exactly that.  The system is broken and at this point it’s hard to find anyone or any way to fix it. </p>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:637px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:55.416011810302734%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" data-animation-override ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524537822116-NOYHNU7R2FOB99ONZUF9/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kMJItB74Butp6Vdwska74gBZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwZkVT8nrF7BRZz-aGxnYWRVkCktQ0rqgtOHL-v0m_LZIthho6diGc0FrvLmgFLE-4/KidsBackSeat.png?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="KidsBackSeat.png" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524537822116-NOYHNU7R2FOB99ONZUF9/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kMJItB74Butp6Vdwska74gBZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwZkVT8nrF7BRZz-aGxnYWRVkCktQ0rqgtOHL-v0m_LZIthho6diGc0FrvLmgFLE-4/KidsBackSeat.png?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524537822116-NOYHNU7R2FOB99ONZUF9/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kMJItB74Butp6Vdwska74gBZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwZkVT8nrF7BRZz-aGxnYWRVkCktQ0rqgtOHL-v0m_LZIthho6diGc0FrvLmgFLE-4/KidsBackSeat.png" data-image-dimensions="637x353" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="KidsBackSeat.png" data-load="false" data-image-id="5ade99dc575d1fb25a1d1cf0" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p>My mom and dad were able to ensure both my sister and I felt admonished if we were fighting, even if one was absolutely to blame over the other. <em>(Sorry, Kelli….I know I was usually to blame!) </em> But I only have 1 kid. I don’t get to look for the easy out (blanketing both with guilt when I likely should be exploring who the guilty party is), when that likely is warranted. However after going to two conferences in one week, I felt the push and pull of frustration coming to a head and I just wanted to yell, “Stop it! Both of you!” Let me explain.</p> <p><strong>A Tale of Two Conferences</strong></p> <p>In a single week, I attended both ASU/GSV in San Diego and OLC in Nashville. And as someone who, until 2 months ago was sitting on the academic side of the aisle exclusively, I attended a number of sessions about “how to work with ed tech vendors” at both conferences. <em>What a uniquely different experience.</em></p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:800px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:128%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" data-animation-override ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538074022-MHL1Z4SM5R65JS3GT7FN/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kBUcwSYHXFIqNYnhOlh_0wMUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8PaoYXhp6HxIwZIk7-Mi3Tsic-L2IOPH3Dwrhl-Ne3Z2hcfLI7z8WxJsWRofAR0VdnkUx3A-OvIuGEV1cGCQ4qcfdurHDt8XjyaGurlSWvQe/FishInABarrel.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="FishInABarrel.jpg" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538074022-MHL1Z4SM5R65JS3GT7FN/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kBUcwSYHXFIqNYnhOlh_0wMUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8PaoYXhp6HxIwZIk7-Mi3Tsic-L2IOPH3Dwrhl-Ne3Z2hcfLI7z8WxJsWRofAR0VdnkUx3A-OvIuGEV1cGCQ4qcfdurHDt8XjyaGurlSWvQe/FishInABarrel.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538074022-MHL1Z4SM5R65JS3GT7FN/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kBUcwSYHXFIqNYnhOlh_0wMUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8PaoYXhp6HxIwZIk7-Mi3Tsic-L2IOPH3Dwrhl-Ne3Z2hcfLI7z8WxJsWRofAR0VdnkUx3A-OvIuGEV1cGCQ4qcfdurHDt8XjyaGurlSWvQe/FishInABarrel.jpg" data-image-dimensions="800x1024" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="FishInABarrel.jpg" data-load="false" data-image-id="5ade9ad9562fa708193c99fc" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p>On the one hand, I talked with several academic colleagues at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.asugsvsummit.com/" rel="noopener">ASU/GSV</a> who looked like frightened deer. They literally explained to me the feeling of being circled by vultures, their differently colored badges like a magnet for every commercial provider and vendor in the land. It was like open season on the universities by the thousands of providers who descended on the Hyatt. Even the sessions illustrated this. Talk by vendors about the frustration of working with schools that were notoriously slow, compartmentalized, and unable to actually make decisions (and don’t even start down the conversation path of procurement) were obviously concerning to companies used to working with other companies. As one tech insider said, <em>“Even the military or Washington government agencies work faster and more efficiently than higher education!” </em> That is a stark statement as we all know what the other two organizations are like. It’s a bit like saying <em><strong>the military is the valedictorian of summer school…which means higher ed is…well, you get the idea.</strong></em></p> <p>On the other hand, <a target="_blank" href="https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/" rel="noopener">OLC </a>was a very different experience. There were sessions about working with vendors, but it was almost always a melancholy, lamenting kind of experience. <strong>IF ONLY…</strong>was how many statements from presenters and audience attendees alike would begin. Frustration around cold calls, over-burdened inboxes, pushy sales persons, price points, and on and on were discussed. Essentially I seemed to attend sessions filled with survey takers. Do you know what I mean? You know how survey respondents are typically made up of only two kinds of people – 5% of people who are very happy with a product or service and <strong><em>95% of people who are frustrated beyond belief with a product or service.</em></strong> (Most people in the middle simply don’t take the time to respond to a survey.) That was how the sessions felt.</p> <p>Some of you savvy readers are likely rolling your eyes or sighing right now. You know how it works and you’ve come to terms with how to make it your own. Ironically, as a member of the <a target="_blank" href="http://coursewareincontext.org/" rel="noopener">CWiC Framework </a>Executive Advisory Board, I sit on the vendor subcommittee. Even when sharing our subcommittee’s findings with the other Board members at OLC, it’s easy to fall back into that place of frustration. I mean, <em><strong>this board is a heck of a board. </strong></em> <em>We have leaders whose blogs you follow, people who are at the top of the education administration game, people who have worked on both sides of the vendor / educator context!</em> Yet even in our meeting <em><strong>it was easy to lament the difficulty with commercial products and services faced by education (from ethics to transparency), while also cringing at the lack of agility, good business sense, or real-world understanding of schools.</strong></em> There are so many variables, it is simply unrealistic to expect much in the way of change for this arrangement. </p> <p><strong>All Is Not Lost</strong></p> <p>So what are we to do? <strong><em>How can educators get to the heart of the a product or service, ensuring it meets needs appropriately, at scale, in a financially viable way? </em></strong>At the same time, how can a commercial organization work toward a solution with educators, not to have that work undermined by a procurement office or state agency ruling? The answer is simply to grow up, knock it off, and be smart. Here’s what that means.</p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:630px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:100%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" data-animation-override ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538495621-ILZX266RIK3LTCFDUFVI/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kHIZwnLTjPn3s1eYn_2jv6xZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwjFyDjmynhqVE48QLp1fyHFxRpon5WMmLsZQBuvfUbdqmxR4Ao_F5r8-AomoWs078/DontBeAJerk.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="Math for, "Don't Be A Jerk"" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538495621-ILZX266RIK3LTCFDUFVI/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kHIZwnLTjPn3s1eYn_2jv6xZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwjFyDjmynhqVE48QLp1fyHFxRpon5WMmLsZQBuvfUbdqmxR4Ao_F5r8-AomoWs078/DontBeAJerk.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538495621-ILZX266RIK3LTCFDUFVI/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kHIZwnLTjPn3s1eYn_2jv6xZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwjFyDjmynhqVE48QLp1fyHFxRpon5WMmLsZQBuvfUbdqmxR4Ao_F5r8-AomoWs078/DontBeAJerk.jpg" data-image-dimensions="630x630" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="Math for, "Don't Be A Jerk"" data-load="false" data-image-id="5ade9c7f575d1fb25a1d8b32" data-type="image" /> </div><figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper"> <div class="image-caption"> <p>Math for, “Don’t Be A Jerk”</p> </div> </figcaption></figure> </p></div> <p>First, to my commercial friends and peers out there, of which I have many, I urge you to knock it off. If an educator takes my next set of advice, this will become really important. When I say “knock it off” here is what I mean. Don’t get angry when people don’t respond to your calls or emails. If you’re going to do cold-calling (vs inbound marketing, etc), then you have to be ok knowing you are asking 99 people who don’t believe they need you to take time out of their day to talk with you. When I was in full-on Chief Innovation Officer mode at Saint Leo, I was ALWAYS on the hunt for new products, services, process improvements, etc. That said, <em><strong>I received 8-20 cold emails per day</strong></em> (including weekends). 75% of them I was already familiar with. I’ve been around this business a long time and I know what a product genre is, or in some cases I knew specific products. And I knew the solutions I believed we needed vs those we didn’t. So I ignored many of those emails entirely. (In addition to the 8-20 sales emails I would receive, I also got 200-300 emails from meaningful stakeholders which needed some kind of action…) Then there are the emails that went to spam / junk because the sender didn’t format it properly. At the same time, those sales engineers who went above and beyond, somehow finding my cell phone or home phone and calling in the evening or on weekends…you need to know that you have overstepped. Sure, you may end up with 1 follow up call in 1,000, but you are also blacklisting yourself for a huge chunk of people. So take my advice and <em><strong>knock it off.</strong></em></p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:800px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:100%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" data-animation-override ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538596640-7THMXC3EJB9Q940I0ZTG/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kFQQgP34qnCpeHaeAOzTt7pZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PICHnXC1b9smDvYLPdL-DS7U1pkhCtl83kemXd5r3C5ngKMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/ThatsLife.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="ThatsLife.jpg" /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538596640-7THMXC3EJB9Q940I0ZTG/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kFQQgP34qnCpeHaeAOzTt7pZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PICHnXC1b9smDvYLPdL-DS7U1pkhCtl83kemXd5r3C5ngKMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/ThatsLife.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538596640-7THMXC3EJB9Q940I0ZTG/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kFQQgP34qnCpeHaeAOzTt7pZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PICHnXC1b9smDvYLPdL-DS7U1pkhCtl83kemXd5r3C5ngKMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/ThatsLife.jpg" data-image-dimensions="800x800" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="ThatsLife.jpg" data-load="false" data-image-id="5ade9ce403ce64714c866bf0" data-type="image" /> </div> </figure></div> <p>Second, to my educator friends and peers out there I urge you to grow up. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but it goes with the blog theme, right? Here is what I mean. Education institutions are simply not bastions of innovation. You aren’t building products or likely even new processes as much as implementing / using products and services from outside organizations. <em><strong>You don’t have the money to build much of anything, let alone multiple things.</strong></em> <em><strong>And if the experts are right, you either innovate with a regular cadence, or you die. </strong></em> So, that means you need to look…a lot. You need to take calls and demos regularly. Even if you aren’t an innovation officer, where 5-8 hours of my week was for this express purpose, <em><strong>you should consider one demo per week.</strong></em> <em>Imagine being a head of library in 1999 and having this little start-up called “Google” coming to you with an idea for better searching, but you saying, “No, I’m too busy…” </em> Look, I know that you will have to deal with less-than-savory people from time to time. While I have known some fantastic sales people who have a legitimate heart for education and believed they had found a way to help students succeed without the PhD, I have also met some jackasses. I know sales people who are solely interested in making money OR techies who are only interested in people trying their “cool” software. Yes, that is a reality you will have to deal with. But look at it like Accreditation. You can look at it as an episodic nuisance, which it will then become – complete with frenetic years of chaos and nervousness. <em><strong>Or, you can look at it as a way to improve quality and ensure alignment of offering, which it will then become! </strong></em></p> <p>So, let me end by saying, “Don’t make me come back there!” No, wait…that’s not helpful. Try this instead. It will also help if EVERYONE involved in selling to or buying for education remembers one thing. <em><strong>Higher education is broken.</strong></em> I’ve talked to educators and administrators from the most famous institutions on the planet. <em>All of them have horror stories of how impossible it is to overcome the baggage, the traditions, the paradigm that is higher education. </em> Not the Ivy Leagues, not the most innovative community colleges and not even the for-profits who were designed to do exactly that. The system is broken and at this point it’s hard to find anyone or any way to fix it. So….we are ALL in the same boat. We are all rowing up a river with textbooks instead of oars, an iPad for a rudder, and every sailor believing they know where we are going but secretly not believing that anyone else does. <em>So let’s do our best for little wins as often as possible. That we can likely make happen.</em></p> <p>Good luck and good learning.</p> <div class=" image-block-outer-wrapper layout-caption-below design-layout-inline " data-test="image-block-inline-outer-wrapper" ></p> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:652px;" ></p> <div style="padding-bottom:56.28834533691406%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio " data-animation-role="image" data-animation-override ><br /> <noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538664405-S09SV3OF4BOP2NRZCOQZ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kPuK7djnQVYMYc5m4_KT-sZZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzZ2zXPFOfcSVnaUaKGTyMmrKHfG9GUpO8PVjFb9LyORHfJ0NIvPHhoPwC67PSZRao/BrokenEducation.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" alt="The education factory needs a reboot..." /></noscript><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="thumb-image" src="https://i0.wp.com/images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538664405-S09SV3OF4BOP2NRZCOQZ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kPuK7djnQVYMYc5m4_KT-sZZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzZ2zXPFOfcSVnaUaKGTyMmrKHfG9GUpO8PVjFb9LyORHfJ0NIvPHhoPwC67PSZRao/BrokenEducation.jpg?w=1220&ssl=1" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f/1524538664405-S09SV3OF4BOP2NRZCOQZ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kPuK7djnQVYMYc5m4_KT-sZZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzZ2zXPFOfcSVnaUaKGTyMmrKHfG9GUpO8PVjFb9LyORHfJ0NIvPHhoPwC67PSZRao/BrokenEducation.jpg" data-image-dimensions="652x367" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="The education factory needs a reboot..." data-load="false" data-image-id="5ade9d2888251b24a36235e5" data-type="image" /> </div><figcaption class="image-caption-wrapper"> <div class="image-caption"> <p>The education factory needs a reboot…</p> </div> </figcaption></figure> </p></div> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">320</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>