Over two days this September, hundreds of K-12 professionals visited Little Rock, Arkansas for the annual SchoolCEO Conference. We eavesdropped (just a little bit) to gather the best insights from our speakers and to hear what our attendees had to say about the event. Here are just some of the things we heard!
“More than 90% of consumers trust friends and family for information about brands and services above all other forms of advertising. When my family moved from NYC to Arkansas, we asked family members what they were hearing about area schools. None of them even had school-aged children. What we were really asking was what their perception was of the perception of people who had kids in these schools. That’s the power of word of mouth.”
—Tyler Vawser, VP of Marketing at Apptegy
Culture is the soil in which we grow all learning. If you are not proud enough to brag about your school, you need to be in a different place.”
—William D. Parker, Host of "Principal Matters: The School Leader's Podcast"
It’s rare that we ask parents their biggest pain points in surveys. Asking parents about their pain points sounds hard and prickly, but it will lead to better results. Also ask them: ‘What do you wish your school system knew about you and your family?’”
—Katherine Wintsch, CEO of The Mom Complex
“We don’t have focus groups—we have opinion parties. If you put people in a sterile facility, you’re going to get sterile answers. You need to make it comfortable for parents to share how they really feel.”
—Lauren Fitzgerald, Managing Director for The Mom Complex
Your beliefs determine your expectations. If you don’t believe every child can and will learn, you can’t expect them to. But beliefs and expectations alone won’t cut it. Beliefs and expectations without systems will result in chaos.”
—Michael Bonner, CEO of Bonnerville and Teacher at Ron Clark Academy
“Several times throughout our history, people thought public education would fail. It hasn’t and it won’t. It [education] is a story of commitment that has marched us closer and closer to a more perfect union.”
—Derek W. Black, Author of Schoolhouse Burning
What our attendees said about the conference:
You might have this idea in your heart or in your mind that you really want to get out. When you come to this conference, they will show you how to take it out of your head and actually execute it.”
Little Rock is so cute! I had no idea there were so many historic buildings. I’m going to spend more time here next year so I can tour around. I think I might retire here!”
Your customer service is giving Chick-fil-A. It's just the best."
This is one of the best conferences I've been to and I'm excited to take what I’ve learned back to my team."
This is my third conference. These are my peeps! It’s important to have conversations with people in the same job as you and who understand what you do day-to-day.”
