By Dr. Michael Sibley, Director of Communications, ADE and Malissa Valdes-Hubert, PIM, ADE

or more than 30 years, the Alabama Department of Education (ADE) haskept the public abreast of events going on in public education throughthe Alabama Education News (AEN) newsletter. Over the years, thenewsletter has taken on various forms – from a black and whitenewspaper format in years gone by, to a more contemporary, slick, full-color newsletter in recent years. Before, the AEN waspublished monthly. Due to the increasing cost of

postage, printing, and distribution, the frequency of AEN hadto be reduced, resulting in a bi-monthly newsletter that wasnot always able to provide to most recent education news byvirtue of the fact that it was only published six times a year.

With our immediate concern being a constant flow ofsignificant education news, we are yet again keeping up withthe times and adjusting the format, delivery, frequency, andaccessibility of the ADE’s flagship source of education news.Beginning in early 2012, Alabama Education News willbecome a bi-weekly report – online only - serving as asnapshot of Alabama’s education news. This exciting new formof delivering up-to-date information will come with a host ofsignificant improvements and will change the way educationalnews in Alabama is distributed and received. The publicationwill be available for download for those wanting to printcopies, as well as viewable online in a new, informative,

interactive format. We are certain the new AlabamaEducation News bi-weekly report will continue to providethe public with the same valuable information concerningthe people, policies, and programs in education that aremaking sure all of our students are college and careerready.

Also this year, the Education Directory is goingpaperless! Visit http://www.alsde.edu/ general/SDE_

Directory.pdf for the most up-to-date listing of all schooland educational organizations’contact information. Thedirectory will only be offeredonline (each district’ssuperintendent will receive onedirectory this year only). Toupdate your information in theEducation Directory at anytime,go to https://schools.alsde.edu/and click on the EducationDirectory button. Log in to edit

your profile information. This allows updating of allinformation but your email address. To update youremail address, contact the ALSDE helpdesk at 334-353-1250 or email helpdesk@alsde.edu.

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A journalist shares seven common PR sins to avoid at all costs.By Amanda Marsh

After spending yet another maddening evening cleaning up my e-mail, I realized that manyof the messages clogging my inbox stemmed from oversize attachments, press releasescompletely unrelated to my beat, and back-and-forth banter that could have been avoidedwith one phone call. As a journalist, I find that at least 75 percent of my e-mails are relatedto public relations. Below are seven simple steps to streamline our communication, respectmy inbox, and make both of our jobs easier.

Make an effort to reach out to reporters and knowwhat exactly they’re looking for in regard to sourcesand story ideas. If one specifically coverstransportation issues, don’t send him a press releaseon the hottest new lipstick. This may seem like anobvious request, but you don’t know how manyirrelevant pitches (and follow-up “Are you going toreport on this?” e-mails) I receive daily.

I know one PR person who routinely sends me pressreleases with 12 MB or more in images, PDFs andWord documents. Not only does this mean slowerloading time and a clogged inbox, but myBlackBerry displays the dreaded “Message truncateddue to size” error. Consider an online sharing servicesuch as Dropbox for larger files, an FTP link, orsetting up a media page on your website forjournalists to download larger files.

If you have a great photo or video related to a pitchor press release, send it in the original e-mail(preferably linked, as per No. 1). It will save us bothtime in trying to get everything we need for a story.

Print and online publications have different needswhen it comes to images. Learn about DPI, size,orientation, and file types. And learn how to editimages and videos. It’s irksome to receive a 72 DPI,Web-ready image with JPEG artifacts and obviousstretching, when the publication really needs a high-resolution TIFF to fill half a magazine page. Don’tunderstand that last sentence? You need to. Take aclass, or consult an art/media director.

Stick with basic file types when sending images ordocuments. Not all e-mail clients, word processorsand smartphones accept all document types. Oneincreasingly used format is Microsoft’s *.docx file, astandard in Microsoft Office 2007 and above. If yourrecipient has a version of Word that came out before2007, he may have to download additional software

or use a conversion tool to read the file. Noteveryone has updated software or a currentsmartphone, so it’s best to stick with the morecommonly used *.doc file or a PDF.

Know which e-mails are important and which onesare not. One PR person marks every single e-mailshe sends me as high priority, even though 90percent of her e-mails aren’t exactly urgent.Generally, e-mails marked high priority mean therecipient should read your message as soon aspossible. It’s perfectly acceptable if you’re ondeadline, have to change a last-minute interview, orneed to clarify an important point. It’s not suitablefor a general pitch or press release. If you overusethe priority function, the true meaning of the redexclamation point in your inbox is diluted.

There’s nothing more frustrating than having to trackdown contact information, especially when an e-mailis sent from a general e-mail account. Please includeyour e-mail and phone number, if possible, so weknow how to reach you with questions or requests.In many instances, one phone call can replace sixback-and-forth e-mails.

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Amanda Marsh is the New York City real estate reporter for Bisnow Media.

“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.” ~ John Burroughs

1. THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION WILL BE REDEFINED AND ALWAYS ON THE AGENDA.The purposes of education seem to have become synonymous with what’s tested.

We have become so entranced by the means that the ends have become blurry.Try these four purposes on for size, and consider using them to start a

conversation with fellow educators and the community. First – educatingstudents to become good members of a civil society. Second –

educating students to develop their employability skills.Third – educating students to live more

interesting lives. Fourth – discoveringand developing the genius that isalready there. Many subjectscontribute directly to thesepurposes, but they are means toeven greater ends. Until we putwhat we do into a broader context,we’ll be trapped in a scoreboardmentality, and that kind of thinkingcan lead to a narrow world of itsown.2. THE SEARCH FOR A NEW NORMAL

WILL TAKE ON INCREASED URGENCY.“I can’t wait ‘till things get back tonormal.” Faced with economic

challenges, layoffs, shutdowns of plants andindustries, threats to pension plans, foreclosures,

and concerns about health care, the environment, andaffordable sources of energy, people long for a sense of

security and normalcy. Nothing abnormal about that.However, the question we’re asking should not be, “When will things get back to normal?” Thequestion should be, “What will the new normal look like?” Whether we like it or not, we willneed to prepare ourselves and our students to thrive in an always on, fast-changing world.

MAKE-OR-BREAK CHALLENGES FOR A NEW DECADE

By Gary Marx

Progress is a peculiar thing. Some of it can be easily measured, and some can’t. In education, we seem to have landed in a spot where any progress must beaccompanied by a test score. That’s OK, but if we hope for a more sustainable future, then we have to admit that other things are important, too. As we moveinto the second decade of the 21st century, here are five of the hundreds of challenges we face. Since we are of this world, not separate from it, all of thesechallenges have implications for education. If we ignore them or give them short shrift, we could put our economic security and our quality of life at risk.

3. “SUSTAINABILITY” WILL BE REDEFINED AND BECOME AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ANYLEGITIMATE STRATEGIC VISION.“We’ll never get the money and we’ll never have community support. Therefore, it’s notsustainable.” Unfortunately, that approach to sustainability is no longer sustainable. Ourchallenge is to take a longer view. Think of it this way. “Can we sustain our economy andour civil society without the best possible education?” That’s the flip side of thesustainability test. Then, the question becomes, “How will we earn the financial and publicsupport we need?” Sustainability depends on building flexibility into our strategic plans,making them living strategies or strategic visions. Remember that adaptability is a key tosurvival.4. INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING WILL BE BASIC TO OUR FUTURE.Interdependence is a reality. Among the new disadvantaged will likely be those who aren’table to work and communicate across cultures and political boundaries. Diplomatic skills,such as open minds, natural curiosity, patience, courtesy and good manners, a sense oftolerance, and the ability to empathize with others, need to be among the new basics. If weneed further international perspective, consider that only about five percent of the world’spopulation live in North America and 61 percent live in Asia and Australasia. What are thepossible implications for education?5. ENCOURAGING KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND BREAKTHROUGH THINKING WILL BEESSENTIAL TO OUR PROGRESS.We will not be able to ride our way into the future. We will need to invent our way into thefuture. That’s one of many reasons why we need to identify and strengthen the creativityand imagination of all students, educators, and communities. We need to help students seerelationships among a diversity of ideas as they engage in knowledge creation andbreakthrough thinking. Without imagination, we generally end up using our energiesdefending what we did yesterday. Instead, we should be thinking about what we need to dotomorrow to stay ahead of the curve in a fast-changing world.

These are among the legion of challenges we face, but they are just a starter set as wemove into a new decade. Think about them. Think of others. Of course, there are many. Aswe celebrate our history and heritage, let’s think forward, knowing full well that the statusquo is not a viable option.

Gary Marx, gmarxcpo@aol.com, 703-938-8725, is President of the Center for Public Outreach in Vienna, Va. His latest books include “Sixteen Trends…Their Profound Impact on OurFuture” (ERS) and “Future-Focused Leadership” (ASCD). Marx has delivered presentations in all 50 states and on six continents and is an NSPRA President’s Award recipient.

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

Engage Stakeholdersin the Creation of a Profile

for the New School SuperintendentEvery year, NSPRA’s Golden Achievement Awards contestrewards those communications programs of exceptional merit.One of this year’s winners, Bibb County School District,successfully navigated a sea of hostile public opinion to helpcreate a candidate profile for a new superintendent. With thecurrent superintendent retiring after a series of negativeincidents, public attitudes were souring. Chris Floore, Directorof Public Relations for Bibb County School District,demonstrates the careful balancing act he had to perform whileseeking input from internal and external stakeholders in thisweek’s tip sheet.

Poll:The mostannoyingword of2011 is ...

Marist released itsannual poll and found,like, whatever, you know – seriously – we're just sayin'.Several dictionaries crowned words of the year in anattempt to capture the Zeitgeist of 2011 in a word orphrase. The honorees have faced scrutiny. Such scrutinyis probably annoying for those dictionaries – annoyinglike these words. Marist announced the results of itsannual poll of the most annoying word of the year.

For the third straight year, "whatever" took the tophonor, with 38 percent of poll respondents saying theword gets on their nerves. "Like" finished second with20 percent of the vote, followed closely by "you know,"which grabbed 19 percent. "Just sayin'" was fourth and"seriously" fifth.

To determine the most annoying words, Maristinterviewed more than 1,000 people nationwide."Whatever" and "like" were Nos. 1 and 2 last year.Rounding out the top five or 2010 were "you know whatI mean," "to tell you the truth," and "actually."

TIP OF THE WEEK

“A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.” ~ Unknown

Your nextFinanceCampaign maybe the mostimportant oneyour districtfaces. Beprepared withNSPRA’sElectionSuccess guide.

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Contributors: Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB),Alabama School Communicators Association (ASCA), and Alabama School Public Information Officers (NSPRA).

Managing Editor: Michael SibleyEditor: Malissa Valdes 334-242-9952 or mvaldes@alsde.eduGraphic Design: Mary Nell Shaw

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