Post Conference Reflections

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It’s a few days after the SchoolCEO Conference, and today kind of feels euphoric. You know that gratifying feeling of working on a complicated project for so long, not knowing how it’s all going to turn out. But when it does go well, the next day feels like you’re coming up for fresh air—and more importantly, a new perspective.

Over the last few days, we’ve heard the same consistent feedback: Our attendees loved getting to see our office, meet our people, and explore our city.?

This especially rang true for our Apptegy clients, many of whom finally got to witness our robust client support team in action for the first time. You likely know that SchoolCEO is published by Apptegy. And while SchoolCEO Conference isn't just for Apptegy clients, getting to host the conference at our home base in Little Rock meant getting to show our clients a special look into what Apptegy does every day.?

One client, for example, ran up to our support table Monday morning and started hugging and thanking everyone for their hard work in helping them with their website. The next moment, though, was unexpected. The whole support team stood up and began clapping and cheering for her. “It felt like a moment in a movie,” said Nick, one of our client success managers.

Many of us who helped plan and promote the conference felt a bit surprised by this feedback. Really, you wanted to come here to our small town of Little Rock, Arkansas? But what we quickly realized is that it wasn’t so much about the place as it was about seeing the people and (literally) getting to step inside the walls of our culture—all of which has a ripple effect on how we treat our clients.?

This realization made us think about how there’s so much that’s out of your control as a school leader. You don’t control your location or, for the most part, your funding. You don’t control the latest untrue story that’s circulating on Facebook about your school. But what you do control is your strengths. When you double down on them and focus on offering a radically different experience with customer service at the forefront, prospective families will come to you and current families will stay. Because it’s not about being the best—it’s about being different.

We want to thank all of our attendees for making this SchoolCEO Conference the most memorable one yet! From learning how to tell the smallest stories, to discovering new ways to unlock creativity, to being swept away by Michael Bonner’s inspiring talk at the very end—and all the moments in-between—this conference gave us so much to think about and implement. And if you missed it, don’t worry! There’s always next year! ??

One question for you

1. For those of you who attended the conference, what moment made it special?

Email us at [email protected] or book a time on our calendar and let us know.

Two resources to help

1. Congratulations to Katherine Crnkovich, APR, CPRC , winner of our first-ever SchoolCEO Excellence in School Marketing award! Crnkovich is the Communications Officer for Seminole County Public Schools in Florida. She is also the President of SUNSPRA Florida School Public Relations Association , the Florida chapter of NSPRA. Her story and her work at SCPS will be published in our upcoming fall issue of SchoolCEO. Stay tuned!

2. For the first time ever, we awarded two of our clients, Jeffrey Collier, Ed.D. and Coty Kuschinsky from Michigan’s Saginaw Intermediate School District , with our very own Thoughtfulness and High-Performance award for their exceptional use of our product. This year they won NSPRA’s Publications and Digital Media Excellence award for their outstanding website. Saginaw ISD’s Our Story initiative—empowering everyone in their district through collective authorship—is receiving national attention.

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Three ideas from SchoolCEO Conference speakers

1. “When we tell the smallest story we can, others connect to it.” — Karen Eber

2. “Great ideas rarely go onto people's notepads fully baked.” — Neal Foard

3. “If you don’t take change by the hand, it will take you by the throat.” — Michael Bonner