by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consulting Association

We are still in the early stages of conference registration for IECA’s Fall National Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, we have already passed 600 attendees and are looking forward to a wonderful gathering. Here are six new, improved, or unique aspects to the conference that you may have missed in our registration packet:

(1) Cincinnati is surprisingly easy to fly in to and worth visiting. The Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati (CVG) airport is a hub for Delta airlines, but this new, modern airport offers 200 incoming flights a day with direct service to more than 80 cities. Cincinnati was a major stop of the Underground Railroad for slavesseeking freedom in the north. The Underground Railroad Freedom Center is my favorite place in the city. Also don’t miss the Museum Center (our conference logo) at Union Station where four museums, plus several restaurants, are housed under one roof.

(2) There will NOT be an opening keynote speech. Instead we have invited several educational leaders and innovators (all currently university presidents) to have a round-table discussion about the future of American education on Wednesday afternoon. We will get to “listen in” to their conversation and raise some questions and discussion points. This will be a unique opportunity to hear educational opinion leaders from Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

(3) We have made nine changes to the schedule impacting therapeutic schools & programs and educational consultants serving those resources. Among other things, a special ‘professional exchange’ time at the end of the School Fair on Thursday, Program Showcases on Saturday, an overlap in the schedule when all conference attendees are together, and a wonderful Master Class on Saturday featuring Dr. Paul Keck, president-CEO of the Lindner Center speaking about bipolar disorder.

(4) There are five pre-conference opportunities. We are offering two 3-1/2 hour pre-conference workshops: One on social networking for consultants and the other exploring autism spectrum disorders. In addition, our one-on-one speed meetings will feature traditional schools. All these are scheduled for Wednesday morning. In addition, IECA is offering tours of Ohio and Kentucky colleges Monday through Wednesday, and a number of schools and programs are extending offers for visits throughout the Great Lakes region.

(5) Conference Central has emerged as a major meeting, learning, exploring place during conferences. For those who have not attended a conference in over a year, wait until you experienceconference central: refreshments, cyber-lounge, bookstore, exhibit booths, member services, raffles, and give-aways, just to name a few of the attractions. We have added comfortable seating to make sure the Conference Central area is a place to relax, network, and much more.

(6) Special events from beginning to end. Wednesday’s dinner; Friday’s reception with plenty to eatand drink; Murray Banks, the amazing Thursday lunch speaker; a Friday general session featuring the Kinship Center, the nation’s leading voice on adoption issues are among all that we have scheduled. We’ll also be featuring the amazing movie “In 500 Words or Less” on Thursday night with the film’s creators in attendance, leading a discussion after the film. We’re even be including pizza and drinks for this special movie night!

We hope to see you in Cincinnati. Registration is open and hotel rooms are still available in the IECA block. Plan your travel to take full advantage of all we have going on. Join us as we “Come Together in the Heartland.”

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By Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

This week I am attending the national conference of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership) conference in Los Angeles. During an early breakout on Sunday, the presenter reminded us of the definition of “associations.” They are defined as organizations where individuals with similar goals or interests join together. It is that simple.

Yet isn’t it accurate to say that this is what social networking sites are really all about? Like many of you, I joined Facebook to connect with those with whom I shared a similar history—family, friends from Philadelphia, and students I taught. Soon I discovered communities of those who belonged to the same swim club I frequented as a teen, attended the same synagogue and the same schools, where reminiscing ruled the posts.

In recent years my social networking has taken a new turn: I have joined the IECA community on Facebook to connect with educational consultants, and through LinkedIn I exchange information and ideas with fellow association executives. We discuss the changing landscape of member relations, share new ideas for conferences and distance learning, argue ethics and expenses, and examine topics like, well, social media and blogging.

One discussion that kept popping up among the gathered association professionals this past weekend was whether the need still exists for us. After all, if LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and others are allowing anyone to join communities of like-minded individuals—the very definition of associations—and they do it essentially at no cost, why should anyone join an association?

The answer is one that will please some and distress others among my colleagues. It seems that those associations ONLY built around sharing, communicating, and exchanging are doomed to fail, as new technologies not only offer these abilities, but they do it better and cheaper. If you could start a LinkedIn Group for tutors and get a real exchange of members, why pay to join an association built around exchanging information among tutors?

Yet other associations seem ready to gain in this era of ‘new media.’ Those associations that form around a commitment to certain ideals; who stand firm on membership criteria (so “membership” holds greater meaning than a Facebook “friend”); who develop and enforce ethical and knowledge-based standards; who are committed to ensuring that not only does all information get shared, but that important information—new information—gets taught, shared, discussed, and instituted as a framework for professional success; these associations are poised to grow and succeed as others devolve into Web-based pseudo-clubs.

So what does this mean specifically for the Independent Educational Consultants Association? I am confident that we fall into the second category. Evidence is everywhere. We have not only maintained our requirements for membership, we have strengthened them. This year we established our key-competencies in our Standards of Excellence—the only such comprehensive document for this profession, which was recently singled out by a Harvard study as evidence of our leadership. We have acted in just the past month, as we have in the past, to remove members who violate our Principles of Good Practice. And with this, our membership has grown significantly, even in this tough economy.

This growth, in an ironic twist, has strengthened other forms of networking: regional groups have started, or are organizing, in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, among others. Affinity groups are joining together new moms; expanding awareness on issues involving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people in our industry; technology gurus; and more. Our Facebook page is closing in on 1,000 fans and the IECA blog is read by hundreds. Why would IECA’s own social media efforts be doing so well when so many options exist? Simple: people know that those IECA educational consultants they are communicating with, asking questions of, responding to, and more, are professionals of great competence, and are dedicated to students, the role of choosing the right educational environment, and more. IECA members are not just like-minded, but serious professionals recognized both within and beyond our organization.

In other words, with so many social media or affiliation opportunities, people are being drawn to the sites and the organizations that set high standards and where members fully understand their profession and the value of sharing. And this is exactly what the research being conducted shows. Why do people put up with our higher than other association dues; with membership applications that require a demonstration of knowledge, experience, and training; with strict ethics requirements? It is because they know membership in such an organization MEANS something.

The future of associations—associations like IECA—is exciting, and limitless, as long as we maintain our commitment to excellence, professionalism, education, high standards, and above all, putting families’ and students’ needs first.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

The attendees at the IECA Summer Training Institute found themselves facing a series of ethical conundrums this morning. Drawn from actual cases from IECA’s files, the participants had to look inward to ensure they practice using ethical and professional approaches.

One case explored the need to meet obligations to schools and programs sponsoring campus tours and events.  Another examined the appropriateness of consultants hosting events for client families and admission representatives.  With IECA maintaining the strictest standards (which forbid actions that heighten student and parent anxiety), one case examined a consultant who uses fear, anxiety and pressure at community gatherings to get parents to ‘sign up.’  Further, she promises to use her “secrets” to assure success.  Consultants saw the ethical violation and pledged to only work for good matches and assure families that “great colleges exist for every student.”

The attendees also explored the interactions among consultants.  They read a case dealing with the obligations a consultant has to professional colleagues, and interactions via the IECA TalkList.  This created spirited conversation as members balance the need to share evidence of their research and effort with the need to protect clients’ privacy.

Ethics was presented throughout the weeklong training as the topic was worked in to every instructional session.  This morning, as the STI examined the growth of ‘new media’ and social networking, the ethics of using such technologies and linking with student clients was examined.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

The typical student in the United States is awake for about 16 hours a day. School, including getting there and back, and the occasional after school activity, accounts for nearly half of those hours. The balance is meant for family, meals, volunteer commitments, part-time jobs, community sports leagues, church or synagogue, leisure reading and homework.

If that seems like a lot to squeeze into just eight waking hours a day, consider the following: adolescents are spending seven and a half of those hours connected to electronic media! This according to a new study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The explosion of multi-purpose cell phones (cameras, game-playing devices, Facebook interfaces), among other developments in the past decade, has dramatically increased such activities. Harry Potter and Twilight aside, these increases have come at the expense of leisure reading.

According to the Kaiser study, adolescents between the ages of eight and 18 average four and a half hours of television-watching daily and an additional two and a half hours listening to music. Of course unlike when we were teens, listening to music meant being holed up in our rooms with the stereo cranked up, today’s music listening often accompanies other activities like chores, reading, and homework.

Another two hours are dedicated to cell phones: text messaging now occupies nearly an hour and a half of each day, while talking on those phones just a half hour. Video games played either on their phone or on the computer accounts for over an hour a day, and at-home, non-school related computing another hour and a half.

Do the math: that amounts to 13 ½ hours, squeezed into less than eight hours thanks to multi-tasking that comes so easily to teenagers today. Back to that image of yourself as a teen, lying on your bed, eyes closed listening to albums through the headphones your parents made you wear rather than disturb the entire house. Today that scene—ear buds plugged into a phone, listening to music while texting friends, catching up on Facebook while finishing math homework. Don’t ask me how it’s possible…I still can’t concentrate on the reporter’s words while trying to read a chyron as it scrolls “breaking news” across the bottom of the TV screen.

I am not sure what message this really brings. I suspect I’m just the latest in 2,000 years worth of older folks worrying about how the newest generation can possibly keep up with the pace of life. But I do hope that college students (medical students in whose care I’ll someday be) are really able to learn their stuff, complete their assignments and retain everything, while connected to so many for so long in so many ways, while they meet the demands of schooling.

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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.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

I admit to being a person who is rarely satisfied with the way things are. I believe in the need to change and that includes both personal change and actions to ensure that the Independent Educational Consultants Association continues to move forward, developing new approaches, new programs and new initiatives so that we are always meeting member needs. Allow me to illustrate using just one example. Following an IECA Summer Training Institute in Claremont, California, I sat down with Sue DePra and Steve Antonoff to review the participant evaluations. They were off the charts with virtually every attendee giving the Summer Institute nearly perfect scores, and comments from most attendees that it was among the best training sessions they had ever attended. The three of us then spent the next two hours re-writing the curriculum, developing new interactive elements, implementing ‘labs’ and strengthening the program further. The result was taking a great training program and making it remarkable.

Now as I reflect back on 2009, I feel great about the excellent work of staff, Board and committee leadership, and volunteer members who combined to make it a great year. We advanced dramatically in our efforts to use social networking to promote IECA and the profession, and to improve communications. We initiated new program in learning disabilities and adopted our new Standards of Excellence. We implemented significant changes during our conference: from Speed Meetings to Conference Central and from point/counterpoint sessions to master classes. Participation among colleges has never been higher, and despite the economic downturn our membership is up, conference participation is up, and our training workshops were larger than ever.

But as I look ahead, I know what I want to achieve in the coming year for IECA and for my own work as Executive Director: to take IECA from a great organization to a remarkable one. Looking at the success of America’s most lauded associations, I hope we use their example to become an exceptional force for our members. To become ‘remarkable,’ I think Board, staff and volunteers need to meet these expectations:

• Member Service—we exist as an association for one reason: to meet the needs of our membership. That commitment to member service should always be the top priority.

• Align all services, conferences, and activities with IECA’s mission. That mission, unchanged in 30 years, is to help professional consultants to serve the interests of students and families in their educational decision-making.

• Seek feedback and input from members and our related constituencies. In the next several weeks, members will be asked to complete a strategic planning survey and a survey from the Education & Training Committee. These will set our priorities over the next several years. We have now begun to involve schools, colleges, and programs in conference planning and regularly seek their advice on programming.

• Be willing to fail. As we look to be innovative, creative, and dynamic, we must be willing to accept that success require risk-taking and that means we will fail from time to time. Such failure is inevitable and will lead to new successes.

• A nimble, flexible, national office that is able to meet changes in the marketplace and ensure that such changes are quickly and capably brought to our members to help them succeed in their own work.

• Building alliances with not-for-profit and for-profit companies, institutions, and organizations that will help us further our mission and better serve clients and students.

I look forward to hearing ideas from our members, colleagues, and families on how we can best serve each to make 2010 and IECA remarkable in the year ahead. Join us in this effort: volunteer, get involved in committees, affinity groups, or other efforts, and above all, offer your ideas on what IECA should be doing.

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an “Executive Forum” of two dozen association CEOs.  While it was a diverse collection based on both size and professional representation, education groups dominated.Being invited to participate provided me with a wonderful opportunity to speak with leaders of groups with whom we share an interest in education and adolescents. Among others, I had the opportunity to discuss possible collaboration with the executive director of the National Association for Gifted Children and began a dialogue with the CEO of the National Association of School Psychologists, among others.  A hat tip to Marriott for sponsoring the gathering.

Among other things I learned during the day, I was most excited by how far in front of other groups we have been in embracing social media. This blog, our Facebook page, our formal training during conferences and our 1:1 tutorials put us well ahead of other groups who are just now moving into this area or who are ensnared in Board policy debates. Diane Geller (president of the Independent Educational Consultants Association) recently noted that IECA’s successes have come in part because of our nimbleness and agility.

Throughout the day we explored topics ranging from legal changes, cost-saving moves and revenue generation. However, it was the presentation on social media that seemed to engage the attendees the most.

I learned that in the association world, at least 94% of members who join in social media, do so as “lurkers.”  They may read or casually observe, but they do so without actively participating. Here too, IECA has broken the mold as hundreds of our members have created their own Facebook professional pages, written for our blog, or posted comments. Nationally, fewer than 5% of organization members get so involved. My goal is to increase that by 5-10 times the participation rate…particularly as we look for new opportunities for our affinity groups, committees, an IECA wiki and more.

As I mentioned at the membership breakfast in Charlotte last month, we do not expect everyone in IECA to follow and participate in every avenue we’ve created. Rather, our goal is to create opportunities so that every member is able to find the one or two communication tools that works best for their needs and interests.

Of course as CEOs, we also explored the new legal world that social media has created and we will need to look at regulations to ensure we meet federal laws, including anti-trust legislation.

I look forward to continued discussions with the other educational groups with whom I spent the day. Opportunities for webinars, educational sharing, and more are to be explored in the coming weeks. I hope that one benefit of IECA membership is our ability to interact with the educational organizations headquartered here in the DC area and around the country.

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by Sarah Brachman, Manager of Communications, IECA

In Conference Central at the Charlotte conference, I offered training on social networking for members who wanted assistance. I wasn’t sure what to expect—there’s a lot going on at conferences and I knew that attendees would be busy attending sessions, visiting vendors, attending the fair/swap, and networking with colleagues, so I was afraid I wouldn’t find many people to help. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried about being bored. After the first round of breakout sessions (and after Mark urged attendees to stop by the social networking help desk), I was swamped! Attendees had questions from setting up a Facebook page, deciding between a Facebook page and a Fan page, starting a blog, importing their blog into Facebook, linking their Web site to their ‘tweets’ and their Facebook page, how to keep their client ‘friends’ private, how to send photos from their iPhone to their Facebook page, and how to use their Blackberry (that one stumped me). Long-time professional members and new associate members came by; some twenty-somethings and some more seasoned. Everyone had different social networking questions, and I loved the challenge. I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all who stopped by. I talk to or e-mail many of you throughout the year, but sitting down with members and working through these technology issues really brought out their personalities.

Since returning to the office, I have been following up with several of you to answer questions I didn’t have time to during the conference, or didn’t have the answer to. And I’ve been visiting the Facebook pages of those I helped to see how they’re coming along. I made sure that everyone I met became a ‘fan’ of the IECA Facebook page to encourage more of you to follow the conversations on our page, and I hope that you will all check this page at least one a day and post your comments. I also encouraged everyone to post photos of campus tours on their Facebook pages, and include some information about the schools they visited as a way to communicate with clients and also to show that you are visiting schools and can share this valuable information with clients. A great example of this is at Stephanie Klein Wassink’s Fan page. I just helped Stephanie just set up her Fan page, and within the hour she had uploaded photos from the tours she attended earlier in the week. Check out her page, and become a fan.

So after working with the 30+ attendees at the social networking help desk I’ll admit I was a bit tired, but I actually felt more invigorated by everyone’s enthusiasm and excitement over learning something new and (hopefully) overcoming some technology fears.

For those of you who have already e-mailed or called me with more questions, keep ‘em coming; for those of you who weren’t able to meet with me, contact me here at the office and I’ll work with you over the phone or through e-mail. I look forward to de-mystifying social networking for those of you who have a healthy fear of technology, to those who want to learn more, and for anyone who just doesn’t have time to figure it all out.

Find me on Facebook! www.facebook.com/sarahbrachman.ieca

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA from the IECA Conference in NC

I am blogging live from the Speed Meetings, one of the pre-conference events here in Charlotte, NC. The speed meetings allow schools and consultants to hold a series of brief (7 minute) one-to-one meetings. Held back-to-back through the morning, the meetings will allow schools to meet or re-aquaint themselves with about 20 consultants.

On the surface, seven minutes does not seem like a lot of time, but so far the event seems to be going extremely well! Consultants have time to “discover” a new school, and schools have enough time to explain their philosophy, major initiatives, and create sufficient interest that may lead to follow-up conversations or campus visits. IECA Professional member May Peach just told me that the seven minutes was “perfect” for getting basic information and establishing a good contact.

We are well aware that this is a new initiative and school representatives and consultants alike have been asked to provide feedback over the course of the morning. So, far all are enthusiastic. As an added bonus, AdmissionsQuest is interviewing school representatives and will be posting video to IECA networking sites (see links below) so those not attending the sessions will gain some knowledge and sense of the event.

Links to IECA Networking sites:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IECA.IndependentEducationalConsultantsAssn
Blog: http://www.iecaonline.com/blog/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ieca (#IECAconference)
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/IECA
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/IECAonline)

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by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA, from the National Conference in NC

Here we are on the eve of the 2009 Fall Conference. Even before we officially open the gathering at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, we will have completed visits to more than 15 campuses by over 140 consultants, 130 attendees will have taken part in pre-conference seminars on financial aid, LD assessments, and customer service. About 60 participants will have joined in the first-ever IECA speed meetings and several groups, including Strategic Planning, Executive Board and the AICEP Board will have met.

Sound like a lot, considering the conference will not have been officially opened? Well, there’s more: 35 vendors will have been engaging arrivals in “Conference Central”;  Our IECA team will be providing information on a number of new member services and offering one-to-one assistance with social media;  AdmissionsQuest, in coordination with IECA, will have already begun its webcasting, blogging, tweeting, and more. All this after the staff prepared for months, and created what became more than 100 cases (!) of materials to be used in the days to come.

And how about more—all still in pre-conference mode! Some 140 IECA members will have attended an early arrivals dinner at Johnson & Wales University. There, all aspects of the program, from menu design, to food prep, to serving, to demonstration were created by culinary students. Other events, hosted by our Outreach Committee, invited very early arrivals to gather together for meals.

If that sounds exhausting consider that once we open the conference, more than 115 speakers and presenters will take part, including some international leaders in education theory. There will be 275 colleges and schools represented in our Thursday fair and another 215 programs for adolescents in our Friday Swap. New affinity groups representing tech-savvy members and international consultants will join our ever-expanding pool of meetings, gatherings and events.

Well over 1,100 attendees will take part in the conference and we hope each leaves with a personal sense that it was of great value to them. Putting on such a conference takes enormous effort, starting with our North and South Carolina members who served on the local host committee, our Board and Committee leaders who jumped in to help plan and execute, the consultants and schools who decided to take a chance on the Speeds Meetings or showcases, and the hundreds who signed up to be part of our first end-of-conference Master Class.

Yet much of the effort falls on the IECA staff. Most national organizations would have a staff of 4 – 8 working exclusively on such a conference. For us, it’s everyone in every department joining in to make it work. IECA has the best staff of any small association in the country. They work together to accomplish far more than organizations three or four times the size. Those in NC this week will see what they’ve accomplished. Be sure to thank them!

Have a great conference!

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