by Dodge Johnson, President-Nominee, IECA (Pennsylvania)

I have to say that Mark and I took on a lot of challenges – and that we had a great time gnawing on them.

Our seminar leaders asked us to set an “audacious” goal. So after looking at the member survey, we said, “Okay, why not reshape the world so that families making educational choices ask not whether they should work with an educational consultant but ask instead which IECA consultant would best meet their needs.” I’m sorry to have to tell you that we didn’t get it all done, But we made a pretty good stab at it.

Fortunately, we have Diane’s momentum to build on and her insistence that we plan our future instead of just letting it happen. So we brainstormed about how we might bring our goal to pass. Here are some of our ideas. Members will no doubt have a lot more.

How we can turn our powerful new social networking tools into a megaphone for IECA?

Could alliances with other groups produce not only new friends but also new benefits? For example, schools value how we match clients. That’s why TABS put on their website a search engine where families looking for a school can choose an IECA consultant.

Could advisory boards drawn from colleges/schools/programs suggest how we might establish relationships they’d most like to have with us, get the most out of visits with them, present candidates in ways they find most helpful?

Could we grow more opportunities for consultants to present themselves and IECA to the world – and offer ways to help them make good presentations even more effective.

I’m discovering how important it is for each of us actively to champion IECA as the “gold standard” while championing ourselves. Because the best way to get the world to ask the right question is already to have planted the right answer in their minds.

All this was just brainstorming, of course. The board will decide how we’ll build on our strategic plan and what steps we’ll take to bring us closer to big goals. But I’m excited by the prospect of thinking audaciously.

by Lisa Temkin (Illinois), IECA Member

I just thought some of you might be interested in hearing about a liberal arts presentation that Jill Burstein and I organized as a marketing event for our consulting practices.

We have three admissions people from three different liberal arts schools in the Midwest coming to speak on liberal arts curriculum—the flexibility, opportunities, how it’s different from the traditional university paradigm, what type of student it’s a fit for, etc.

Lake Forest College has generously offered a small auditorium and we’ll provide coffee, snacks and a variety of hand-outs. Just in case you know someone that might be interested the details are:

Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
Lake Forest College, Hotchkiss Hall, Meyer Auditorium
Lake Forest, IL

Speakers are Diane Kanney from Lake Forest College, Tony Bankston from Illinois Wesleyan University, and Mary Karen Villenes from The College of Wooster.

Should be very interesting; they are all dynamic speakers. If you have any questions about how we put this event together e-mail either Jill (collegefinderjb@aol.com) or myself (Lisa@GloEduCon.com).

by Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest

The Independent Educational Consultants Association Fall Conference (Teaming Up To Tackle the Curves Ahead) opens a new chapter in networking and connecting educational consultants. IECA members and admission officials from schools, colleges, and programs, have new opportunities to experience the conference and events trends through social media.

We’re thrilled to work with IECA to bring social media coverage to the conference. Working from Conference Central, we (AdmissionsQuest) will photograph, record, and post updates all week. Don’t be shy when you see the cameras or receive a question.

Don’t miss a thing from the most important conference of the year. Follow conference highlights, events, updates, commentary, and trends—even when you can’t be there in person.

Connect Easily

Live blogging from the IECA Blog.

Updates through IECA’s Twitter channel.
Contribute to the Twitter conversation by including #IECAconference in your tweets. Lets build a conference-wide conversation.

Video on IECA’s YouTube channel.

Photos through IECA’s Flickr pool.

Stay connected. Join the discussion or revisit something that got you thinking. Bookmark your social media channels/outlets today!

Consultants often say that most of their clients come from word-of-mouth referrals. A few new books I’ve read explore how word-of-mouth and Internet sharing can help in spreading the word. The ones I recommend most:
Buzz Marketing by Mark Hughes
Guerilla Marketing Weapons by Jay Levinson
and Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz

In San Francisco next week I’ll be presenting on this topic; applying their lessons (and many others) to educational consulting, particularly during a recession.