I love their theme, “Taking Stock of Your Professional Development Journey” – as some of you know, Fort Worth is home to the World Famous Stockyards, where you could witness the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive (11:30am and 4pm every day). Fort Worth is nicknamed “Cowtown” due to its location on the Old Chisholm Trail, establishing Fort Worth as a trading and cattle center. I love visiting the Stockyards with my family. And I even ran through the Stockyards during my recent Cowtown Half Marathon!
It will be warm in Texas in July, but I know the folks at the host school, Fort Worth Country Day, will provide plenty of A/C, maybe a tall glass of Texas sweet tea, and a great opportunity for admission and marketing professionals. Rick Newberry shared on his blog a review from three school leaders who all attended the 2015 institute in Baltimore. Rick and I both will be members of this year’s faculty in the marketing track. I have also been asked to participate in the marketing/communications panel.
As I have done in the past with content ideas for January and February months, here are a few things to be posting about during the month of March:
DAY OF PIGS – I’m not sure what you would do here, but March 1st is “National Pig Day”. I used to work for a woman who loved pigs. She decorated her office with everything pig! She used this funny day to host her annual open house. The pig-shaped cookies and the pig theme made it fun for her vendors and clients – and it was something everyone knew about her. This was something that made her unique in the city! Maybe your Head of School can greet the students and parents in the parking lost with some great tastin’ bacon! Be creative in order to be memorable and remarkable! [click to tweet]
DR. SEUSS DAY – have some fun with the big strong football players reading Dr. Seuss books aloud to the tiny Kindergartners (this maybe guarantees a high share-ability of these videos simply because of the “cute factor”). If anything, you might contact the local TV stations and ask if they might want to send a crew out for this special day if you do something special. News organizations like “oddball” material for their news programs and your school might be the one who gets coverage on TV because you are willing to do something a little off the wall.
NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY – Celebrate the Star-Spangled Banner on March 3rd – have a school-wide contest for the best performance of Francis Scott Key’s song and then celebrate that winner’s performance at your school’s basketball game that night. If you live in a town with a university or professional basketball team, arrange to have the contest winner sing the national anthem at the event. Again, think “news coverage”!
LADIES, LADIES – International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th, so coordinate video interviews with some of your most notable women graduates.
SPRING RENEWAL – March often ushers in springtime, so why not post things about your campus that are “renewing”. Maybe it is some spring flowers, new construction, or maybe your school has a renewed vision for the future.
WHAT DID YOU LOSE NOW? – Daylight Saving Time is March 11 so have some fun with the time change (“Spring Forward” so you lose an hour of sleep – maybe do a parody video about the Head of School losing things. . . his phone, his hat, his pen, his keys, and then losing an hour of sleep. These videos are just a fun way to showcase the lighter side of your leadership.
SPRING BREAK – unless your break occurs in April (which it might if your school’s break is centered around Easter and that holiday happens during the month of April), have some fun talking about this “holiday”. In advance, have someone write a blog post about the “Top 10 Things to Do on Spring Break in ___(your city)___”. If posted early enough, this could get some good traction and traffic if shared enough on social media. Maybe a college counselor can write, “How to Gain $$ for College During Spring Break” where he could not only talk about seasonal jobs, but more importantly how juniors and seniors could spend their break prepping for an improved SAT score which could lead to scholarships. As well, post pictures on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter of students/parents holding a small toy mascot or your company logo on a piece of paper. This would be fun to see where all the places around the world your people visit
EASTER – notably the most significant event on the Christian calendar, you should be sharing spiritual reflections on the meaning of the resurrection of Christ. Record video testimonials of parents and staff who tell of their spiritual journey of faith. Have fun with the younger children and record videos of them answering “What is Easter all about?” You will likely get a lot of funny responses about the Easter bunny and hiding/coloring eggs, but you could certainly find some who will talk about Jesus, too. With Easter coming on April 1st, use the month of March to get videos recorded and edited (warning: be careful about doing any “April Fool’s Jokes” about the Resurrection – it’s the highest holy day on the Christian calendar).
PURIM – another holiday on the faith calendar is Purim, a celebration recorded in the book of Esther after Haman’s prescribed massacre of the Jewish was thwarted because of Mordecai’s perseverance and Esther’s obedience. [Dates vary according to Hebrew calendar]
MARCH MADNESS – this is the NCAA’s “shining moment” where 60+ teams compete around the country for the title of the #1 team in college basketball. I would suspect you have some alumni at some participating schools, perhaps even some who are playing in the tournament. This affords you a great chance to interview that former student via Skype about the impact your school made on him. You can certainly do the same for women’s college basketball and teams that make the NAIA men’s basketball championship.
ST. PATTY – March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. In addition to the annoying (my feeling) “pinching” going on because of someone not wearing green, you may also want to share something of the historical nature of the missionary, St. Patrick. Here’s a video I recorded about the story of St. Patrick.
NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY – made famous by IHOP, you may wish to enjoy some flapjacks yourself and post about this March holiday, too (usually celebrated during the first week in March – check IHOP’s website!)
PI DAY – no, I’m not talking about cherry pie, but the mathematical celebration of Pi. The 3/14 date, when written 3.14, looks a lot like math’s PI (the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter). Have some fun with pie and pi – maybe a pie eating or “pie-in-the-face” contest with administrators. If you order it in time, you could play this game, “Pie in the Face” game from Hasbro and make some really funny videos. (WATCH A HILARIOUS VIDEO BELOW!)
If you need help with a marketing strategy where this kind of content is critical, check out our coaching program,“9 Steps to Marketing Your School”!
Perhaps you have looked into Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram to market your school. But maybe you have never considered using Pinterest. In this 22-minute webinar, I hope to convince you 3 reasons why you should have an interest in Pinterest!
Many schools have a grand long-term vision, but the daily grind of marketing is often characterized as chaotic! Wouldn’t you rather have a systematic approach to marketing? Learn how to install a marketing system that is dynamic, intentional and strategic.
Does your school have a solid visual content strategy? In this webinar, Randy will show you why your school should consider Instagram as part of your marketing system. You will get practical ideas on how to tell your school’s success stories in this unique platform.
The official release date for “STAR WARS: The Force Awakens” is this Friday, December 18th. While you should always be looking for relevant content to post online about your school’s successes, from time to time your social media newsfeed blows up with something out of this world – like Star Wars!
With various Star Wars movies dating back as far as 1977 and most recently 2005, the love for Star Wars spans the generations, virtually guaranteeing its popularity not only at the box office but online as well.
Here are 7 ways to celebrate the release of “Episode VII: The Force Awakens” during Star Wars week at your school (which also coincides with the last day before Christmas break for most schools):
HASHTAG: #TheForceAwakens and #StarWars along with your city name hashtag – this ensures you are among the local chatter and may introduce some new fans to your school. By participating in Star Wars week, you demonstrate that you are a part of the social fabric within your community, talking about the things your city is talking about.
JIBJAB: This crazy online tool allows you to upload a variety of pictures of your school’s most recognizable faces into a pre-animated video. The funny part of JibJab is watching your school’s famous faces dance in funny ways to holiday jingles. Tie the holiday and Star Wars theme together by uploading pictures of your Head of School, a Kindergarten teacher, and your Choir Director along with Chewbacca and Darth Vader. The results will be hilarious (and something you can easily pull off at the last minute). Click the JibJab photo at the bottom of this post to get started.
DUBSMASH: Another quick video app allows you to lip-sync popular songs or movie quotes. Tie the Star Wars celebration with Christmas by either dressing up in holiday gear and lip-syncing famous Star Wars movie quotes, or vice versa. Can you imagine your Upper School principal and head basketball coach lip-syncing Christmas songs while fighting each other with light sabers? They have Christmas-themed songs and a Star Wars theme of familiar quotes. Here’s me (Randy) and two of my kids having fun with Star Wars and Christmas on Dubsmash: https://youtu.be/JNRuFIHhI7E).
VIDEO SPOOFS: With a little creative editing, you can create some fun Star Wars spoof videos (even get your students involved with this!) Here’s a Texas police department recruitment video where Darth Vader demonstrates his “force” during his interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNIJ10CWr8Q
LIGHT SABERS: Have all the teachers arrive to create a light saber sword entrance for all the students (see sample of a recent wedding where the bride and groom get a memorable light saber exit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/171418329536685537/
JAR JAR BINKS IMPRESSION: Have students (or brave staff members) submit a video doing their best Jar Jar Binks impression (depending on your point of view, Jar Jar Binks is the most loved or most annoying character of Episode I, “The Phantom Menace”). Give extra credit to those who incorporate the iconic scrolling opening text crawl sequence made famous by Star Wars. Here’s a sample of a young man doing his impression of Jar Jar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYbGnbRBsR0
[ CLICK HERE: Retention course for private schools ]
Because a good Jedi always has a few tricks up his sleeve, here are 7 bonus ideas (hey, it’s Episode VII so I couldn’t help myself). Don’t worry, I used “the force” to help me create them:
FACEBOOK QUIZ: Get some easy engagement on your Facebook page by quizzing your social media audience or asking simple polling questions (i.e., “Which Star Wars movie was your favorite?”)
MOVIE POSTER: Make your own parody Star Wars promotional posters with notable people on campus (coaches, teachers, seniors). Here’s a sample of how some people took to offering a parody of the new Star Wars movie poster http://time.com/4101866/fans-recreate-star-wars-posters
DARK SIDE DANCE: Invite your students to have a one time “Go to the Dark Side” moment. Set up your gym, library or a classroom in a pitch black setting with some glow sticks (aka Light Sabers) and fun music . . . they’ll have as much fun as Jabba the Hut from this scene!
PR-MEDIA: Invite local media to come to your school to cover any of the special events above ; they will be looking for local people celebrating the movie premier. Use the #StarWars and #TheForceAwakens hashtag (see #1 tip in first list of seven ideas) and tag your favorite news personalities on Twitter. This would be a great way to get the media’s attention!
[ CLICK HERE: Retention course for private schools ]
[NOTE FROM RANDY: This is not a marketing post. But I post this because I personally have gone through grief. More importantly, all of us, especially during the holidays, know people who are going through suffering, trials and maybe have lost a loved one. Therefore, I’m writing this as a post because I think your parents will want to have this resource and pass it on to others in need this holiday.]
Grief is something most of us do not do well. We will ALL go through suffering and grief multiple times in our lifetime. Even more, we will have opportunities to minister to and comfort others going through grief.
Here are 2 recent resources that have helped me and I know will help others. I personally know the speakers in these resources I have linked below (one audio and one video).
THE REALITY OF SUFFERING: Jordan and Jessica Rice
Two young widows, whose spouses both passed away within months into their marriages, marry one another and have now launched a new church in Harlem. Jordan and Jessica share their story and a message of hope from God. LENGTH: less than 45 minutes
Beverly’s daughter, Jenny, died several years ago and now she ministers through her grief in this workshop that was recently recorded. LENGTH: a little over 1 hour
Today is a unique “holiday”. It is “Back to the Future” Day – commemorating that future day featured in the 1980’s classic “Back to the Future II” movie. There are 2 main hashtags: #backtothefuture and #bttf2015.
So what does this odd cultural day have to do with your school?
When it comes to social media content, one tip is to look for trending topics and align your brand with that topic (unless it is inappropriate). There are many crazy social media “holidays” that occupy people’s newsfeeds on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Some of the more common ones that occur annually:
International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19)
May the 4th Be With You (Star Wars’ reference to May 4th)
April Fool’s Day (social media loves this day to prank their followers)
Pi Day (March 14 . . . get it? 3.14!)
There are so many other wacky holidays that you can find online – it seems there is a holiday for every day!
On this once-in-a-lifetime social media day (“Back to the Future Day”), what can you do to join the fun? Here are a 5 quick ideas:
The year 1955 is also prominently featured in the prequel 1985 movie. Post some throwback pictures to 1955, showing how your campus has changed (if your school is that old!)
If you have a Head of School or faculty member who was born in 1955, grab a quick video of them talking about their life, the way education has changed or the way life used to be in the 1950s.
Since 1985 is one of the other years associated with the sequel movie, use the same logic as before. Throwback pictures are possibly easier to find for 1985 so dig those out of the yearbooks you have on the shelf in the library!
Perhaps you can look for teachers, coaches or administrative staff that remember seeing the movie in their teens (the original movie was released in 1985). Shoot a quick video asking people what their favorite scenes were.
Your Head of School can write a quick blog post, record a brief audio and post it to SoundCloud, or shoot a short video about the FUTURE of your school. If this day is celebrating that we have arrived “back to the future”, then what better time to lay out his/her vision for the next 5, 10 or even 30 years!
Have fun today . . . and as Doc Brown said in the movie to Marty McFly, “do it in style!”
-Randy
*BONUS CONTENT* – grab a free copy of our Content Calendar spreadsheet(with many of these wacky holidays listed alongside other key events and dates throughout the year). This will help you plan your social media better . . . and weird and wacky holidays like this won’t creep up on you!
*BONUS TIP* – don’t forget that in 2016, we have a LEAP YEAR. Is there anything unique you can do with that? Be creative!
