Marketing, et. al

Before I get started on this post, I need to share my hygiene story. When I checked in to the hotel, I went to my room and needed to wash my hands. I turned on the water and could not find a bar of soap. I thought, well maybe the idea of soap has jumped the shark and I need to look for something else. Well, to my disappointed, I could find nothing resembling soap. On my way to the Opening Session, I stopped and got a bar of soap. 

The next morning, I jump in the shower and remember that I have that bar of soap in my bag. I grab it and proceed to shower. I go to wash my hair and realize that they have not given me any shampoo. Luckily, they had conditioner, so I started my morning, with the best smelling dirty hair of any attendee.

That day I figured when they cleaned the room, they would drop some shampoo. Boy was I wrong, they only left me more conditioner!

This morning, I am happy to report that I had soap and shampoo!

But I digress.

Today, the morning started with a panel presentation that discussed how some states have structured their technical centers/colleges and technical/community colleges. The states represented on the panel were KY, GA, FL, NC. The panelists talked about how the schools are funded, what the admission requirements are, dual enrollment, articulation agreements and more.

According to KY, while they do have some statewide articulation agreements, most of them are at the local level. 

There was a question asked about the partnership between schools and business and industry. In NC, it was shared that the furniture industry worked with the schools to set up programs, train instructors and supported the program. It was an example of business saying, “Here’s what we need” and the school’s having the flexibility to listen and respond.

There was also a question about how CTE programs are using virtual learning. For the most part, there was not a lot of action in this area because of the need for on-site, hands-on lab experiences. An attendee from VA did say that the state was really tinkering around with this idea and trying to develop a way to balance the online learning and simulations, and the lab experience.

Following this presentation was a presentation by yours truly. I was asked to spend a bit of time to talk about marketing ACTE to CTE instructors. Here is my presentation: Pete’s Marketing Presentation. There were a couple of questions about engaging younger members. My answer to this question is to look at how you are structured and what opportunities you are providing members. People are no longer going to join an organization because “it’s the thing to do,” which a number of attendees said that is why they joined.

Today, members want to be involved; they want to provide input; they want to make a difference. The problem is that our state and national organizations tend to have structures and opportunities that require people to know the right people or jump through hoops to participate. If we can eliminate those barriers and give people the opportunities, they will join and participate.

It has been another full morning, but we do have a bit of free time this afternoon.