Happy Friday morning – the one before September 11^th – the “wake up” call day for all Americans.  Life as we knew it eleven years ago is no more … and maybe that’s a good thing.  We were a bit naive to think that because we are US citizens we are somehow exempt from the bad guys.  Well, that’s not us anymore, at least that’s not me.  I have no excuse for not paying attention to who and what’s around me. As I work to be responsible for my own self and not trust that Uncle Sam or the police or whomever is supposedly watching is going to take care of me,  I take care of me (and as part of that, I take care of you!)

This time of year is a good place to stop and take stock of what’s going on and where this train is going.  My work, being SO calendar-driven, forces me to do this day-in and day-out as the school year starts up. The opportunity to work with and help both new staffers and new ADVISERS  gives me a vantage-point into the inner workings of the school house.  Often it’s not a pretty sight these days!

From loss of planning times to crazy numbers of preps to over-crowded classrooms, it’s not a happy place.  When you add yearbook to the mix, it’s a wonder this gets done at all let alone to the standards that I’m proposing!  I’m not backing down though under the auspices of standing for something (rather than standing for nothing).  I figure it this way: you’ve got to do the work, you might as well do it right!

And part of doing it “right” might just be as simple as not accepting “the dog at it” mentality that parents seem to live by (why, because it worked when they were in school – and they think it should work now – maybe that’s why we got here!)

Oscar Bustos, my main guy when it comes to Balfour rings, etc, suggested we read this piece :

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html

please copy and paste it into your browser and take a minute or two to read it.  I am sure it concisely and wonderfully puts into words exactly your thoughts.  Is there any comfort in numbers?  I’m not sure but possibly “knowing” feeds action and in little itty-bitty ways you can make a difference in this world by NOT being that parent. Maybe you will follow Ron Clark’s lead in creating a classroom where excuses are not  acceptable; work is!

You will hear/see me doing just that when I ask questions like  “What’s your story?” Or hear me say “That’s your story – I want to see the work” when asking to see a spread or a story or a photograph.  I’m busy BEING a person who not only no longer TELLS stories that are merely excuses dressed up to look pretty but who works not to accept them so easily from others.  Let’s all be accountable for doing what we say we will do.  What better place to practice and learn this then in yearbook and newspaper classes?  What an opportunity we have been handed!

This was in a newsletter that I receive each morning (Early to Rise http://www.earlytorise.com.) I thought you might adopt something like this for your new and evolving yearbook and/or newsmagazine team.  It could be a lot shorter and could go to each staffer’s gmail publication account (hint, hint).  I would love to be copied on this!

Note the secret six-step ingredients:

1. recaps the week past,
2. sets up for the week ahead,
3. puts the work into the framework of the end goal (meeting a deadline, for instance),
4. contains a funny little personal anecdote (yes, the dog ate it),
5. shares what others on the team are doing,
6. and illustrates their core values.

I would definitely recommend that you visit this website … and I would definitely suggest that you start a Secret Friday Email.

The Secret Friday Email

By Craig Ballantyne  ….  (NOTE: The newsletter is named after one of our core values.)
TT Peak Potential Newsletter #8 – Friday, June 25

Hi Team Turbulence,
We got a lot done in TT world this week with a new promo, new workout filming, and the start of a BIG surprise project for TT members. Ready for this week’s newsletter? Here we go.

1) How we’re doing…
Great week with affiliate promotions of product #124. We added over 600 new TT Members, so that will increase our mailing list and our stick-rate numbers.

Also, Dan and I filmed the new TT for Meatheads program. That was fun. The video will be great, and TT users love the manual.

Finally, we did another customer survey and gave away a cool set of online interval training videos. I’ll report back on survey results next week.

One thing we need to work on is co-ordination with customer service. Sometimes when more than one TT Team Member assists a customer they feel like they are being told the same thing over and over again.

I received feedback through Facebook from one client who felt like she was getting the “run around”.

So let’s just remember to communicate as well as possible and to always place ourselves in the customer’s shoes. How would we like to be helped? That will guide us to the correct response.

Remember this quote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

2) What we’re doing next…
Next week will be slower…and that’s okay, because it’s July holiday time. Hope you have big plans for July 1st (Canadian Team!) and July 4th.

I might run a promotion for the Booty workout program for female readers or I might run a $1 trial offer on the TT for Abs ebook.

I will also be putting together a mini-sale on the TT for Abs DVDs…but it won’t be a big push. Mostly just to the new customers.

I’m also finishing up 2 bonus e-books on interval training and outside workouts that will be given away as bonuses as part of a promotion starting in the days after July 4th. No customer service will be required till the week of July 20th.

That’s the plan for now, and you’ll receive specific instructions on any promotions that require customer service.

3) How we’re creating & improving the TT world…
Big Project Underway Right Now!

Here’s the plan:

i) We are having TT rubber bracelets (i.e. like the LiveStrong yellow bands) and TT T-shirts created.

ii) We are going to send the bracelets to everyone who has ever ordered TT (based on the mailing list we’ve accumulated).

iii) We are going to send TT t-shirts and TT bracelets to everyone who has ever ordered a TT DVD set (TT Fat Loss or TT Abs) AND to everyone who has been a TT Member for at least 6 months.

iv) Hopefully those will get sent out in July.

v) Once we have all the goods created, we’re also going to start sending out TT T-shirts and bracelets to all new orders.

If you have any feedback or suggestions on a way to make this a BETTER system or giveaway, please let me know.

4) What the dog is doing
He’s eating my food when I’m not looking. I went for a bike ride on Wednesday evening to watch the sun set over Riverside Park and left half a loaf of bread on kitchen table. Came back, and it was gone. Bally the Dog was also acting “a little too excited” to see me and he had an unusually full belly for this time of night. This weekend he’s off to my mom’s house for a vacation while I head to a wedding.

5) New Section: Cool TT Team Member Facts
The Canadian members of the TT Team are getting the heck out of Toronto this weekend because the “world leaders” are coming to town and bringing way too much security.

Amy is off to the cottage…I’m going to a friend’s wedding in Niagara Falls…and Dan’s even MOVING out of the city.

Yep, big move for Dan this week…he bought a new house closer to the highway that gets him up to hunting and fishing country.

Congrats Dan from the TT Team!

6) Our Core Values
Amy is working on an amazing new project in line with our core value of, “Powering people’s peak potential and changing people’s lives.”

She has taken 150 of the most popular inspirational quotes I’ve posted on Facebook and she is having a Facebook Application created. The “app” will send each user a new random quote at 6am everyday.

This will inspire people every morning, and get them in a positive mood to attack their challenges. It’s also our first – and definitely not our last – foray into the world of FB and Iphone applications. Let me know if you have any suggestions for future apps.

A great new online resource for Balfour yearbook customers – Studio.Balfour – will be activated tonight. StudioBalfour is a singular destination site for advisers, containing everything you need to make, market and sell a Balfour yearbook. StudioBalfour can be found at http://studio.balfour.com.

With a single login (the same one StudioWorks customers use to access their project),; I will be providing you with yours as we set our first meetings so that you can access a variety of services and content:

• Design galleries, classroom curriculum and advising resources
• Elements of Yearbook, a GREAT new resource.  It’s a searchable online version of content from the popular Get It? Got It. Great! adviser guidebook
• MySeminars journalism workshop info
• Elements magazine and Yearbook Yearbook
• StudioWorks (re-login required presently, a forthcoming update will alleviate this)
• BalfourTools installers
• BAL4.TV management
• The Marketplace
• adBuilder (coming early October).

The customer resource center website at www.YearbookStudio.com will continue to be accessible through the end of September, with up-to-date account information, as we each transition over to StudioBalfour. There is no change to your login for this site.

And here we are again… starting another school year.  I hope you had a restful and recuperative summer.  Mine was challenging and filled to the brim with great activities, wonderful conversations and powerful interaction.  Each Camp Wannamaka was terrific and Meet Me @ Miami (College) Media WorkShops was unbelieveable!  Thanks to each of our top-notch instructors for making each seminar a joy to experience.

Please go to the bottom of this Home Page and fill out the information sheet so that I can use my time to best fit your schedule and your needs.

I came upon a piece this morning that I think speaks right to us as we begin again.  It’s “We learn by doing” by  John Caldwell Holt (April 14, 1923, New York City – September 14, 1985) was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory.

Not many years ago I began to play the cello.  Most people would say that what I am doing is “learning to play” the cello.  But these words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exists two very different processes: (1) learning to play the cello: and (2) playing the cello.  They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it,  at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second.

In short, I will go on “learning to play” until I have “learned to play” and then I will begin to play.

Of course, this is nonsense.  There are not two processes, but one.

We learn to do something by doing it.  There is no other way.

And so it goes with all that we are taking on this hot and humid August day.   We are set to start creating wonderful yearbooks, DVDs, eYearbooks, magazines, eMags, newspapers and online publications.  We know that we will spend hours on leadership skills and character-building discussions.  Along the way our “publications” will get DONE; we will fret, worry, console, threaten, grade, reward, celebrate, do and re-do, laugh, sing, dance, travel and LEARN.

We set out on the journey knowing that each moment, each day is special.

As I sit in my office “learning to play” this new 2011-2012 game, knowing full well that no matter how well I plan, organize and set things up there will be bumps in the road that will push each of  us to stop, look and listen before replanning, organizing and setting things up again.  I will learn to “do” by doing and picking up on your signals … and we all will learn so much in that process.

Thanks for taking this trip with me.  I plan to enjoy every minute of it!  I will design each day with lots for time for stopping, listening and learning.  See you soon!

And here we are again… starting another school year.  I hope you had a restful and recuperative summer.  Mine was challenging and filled to the brim with great activities, wonderful conversations and powerful interaction.

Please go to the bottom of this Home Page and fill out the information sheet so that I can use my time to best fit your schedule and your needs.

I came upon a piece this morning that I think speaks right to us as we begin again.  It’s “We learn by doing” by  John Caldwell Holt (April 14, 1923, New York City – September 14, 1985) was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory.

Not many years ago I began to play the cello.  Most people would say that what I am doing is “learning to play” the cello.  But these words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exists two very different processes: (1) learning to play the cello: and (2) playing the cello.  They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it,  at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second.

In short, I will go on “learning to play” until I have “learned to play” and then I will begin to play.

Of course, this is nonsense.  There are not two processes, but one.

We learn to do something by doing it.  There is no other way.

And so it goes with all that we are taking on this hot and humid August day.   We are set to start creating wonderful yearbooks, DVDs, eYearbooks, magazines, eMags, newspapers and online publications.  We know that we will spend hours on leadership skills and character-building discussions.  Along the way our “publications” will get DONE; we will fret, worry, console, threaten, grade, reward, celebrate, do and re-do, laugh, sing, dance, travel and LEARN.

We set out on the journey knowing that each moment, each day is special.

So here I sit in my office “learning to play” this new 2011-2012 game, knowing full well that no matter how well I plan, organize and set things up there will be bumps in the road that will push us to stop, look and listen before replanning, organizing and setting things up again.  I will learn to “do” by doing and will learn so much in that process.

Thank for taking this trip with me.  I plan to enjoy every minute of it!  I will design each day with lots for time for stopping, listening and learning.  See you soon!

We hope your 2011-12 school year is off to a great start.  We’re writing with great news for users of our myYear.com yearbook sales website.

On Monday August 8, we’ll be rolling out our new online shopping site at Balfour.com – and a corresponding set of improved ecommerce tools called The Marketplace.  This will replace myYear and make it easier than ever to set up, sell and market your yearbook and accessories. While myYear.com will be discontinued as of August 8^th, ALL data currently in that system will be moved over into The Marketplace by your Balfour Account Executive. Additionally on that date, visitors to the myYear.com site will automatically be directed to Balfour.com.

In addition to the convenience of buying the yearbook online, we’ve added several new options to our line of yearbook accessories, expanded the support team (now your Balfour AE), and added a toll-free phone order center (800-944-5930) that your yearbooks buyers can use to phone in their yearbook and accessories orders if they choose.

Getting your school’s online store set up is easy – simply fill out the BalfourMarketplace Form, return it to your Balfour Account Executive and we’ll take it from there!  Setup takes about 1 business day to complete.

A few add’l notes:

• For your on-campus promotional materials, the Balfour URL is www.Balfour.com.  Highly-visible “Yearbook” links in on the homepage and throughout the site will direct buyers to your school store.
• Visitors to www.myYear.com will automatically be directed to the new site.  Any existing flyers or letters with that URL will get your buyers to the correct site.
• If you’ve already set up a 2012 myYear.com site for your school, your Balfour Account Executive has created a new site for you at www.Balfour.com
• If you’ve used our adBuilder online ad creator (a feature that allows parents and businesses to create and submit their ads online), an all-new and improved version will be available in late September. The new adBuilder has more template options, a more user-friendly editor, and still works with your StudioWorks project as it did before. More info coming soon!

Thanks for choosing Balfour Yearbooks for your 2011-12 yearbook – we’re looking forward to a great year and helping you sell more yearbooks and accessories than ever!   As always, you can contact your Balfour yearbook representative or Account Executive with any questions you have about the new site, or options.

Sincerely,

The Balfour Yearbooks Team

I’ve been saying saying ‘Yes’ pretty easily all my life … now let me urge you to do the same with this:  let me get you all to say a BIG YES to Pilates and Camilo by following this story.

Camilo, one of the instructors at my Pilates studio, has

There –  that just took about two minutes – and what a great experience for him.  He’s up against the big guys from big studios in big cities.  That’s why I asked for YOUR help.
Saying YES and saying NO profoundly – That’s my big lesson this week.  I’ve been thinking through just how I get myself into such a tizzy that I cannot think straight.  I’m not saying I’m there now; actually I’m pretty calm and collected on this first day of July.
I have my “To-Do List“ and I am focused on actually getting items moved over to a glorious “Done List” by month’s end.

I have each item prioritized by how urgent it might be.

I have a steady stream of such priorities leading up to both camps as well as to first day of teacher prep for each school district.

I have time planned to spend on loving up my family.   I have marked and planned for important events such as the final space shuttle launch.

• Pilates is in there.
• Walks on the days when I don’t have Pilates is in there.
• Life Coaching homework and phone conferences are in there.
• Doctors’ appointments are in there.
• Going to Dallas with Marjory, the new adviser at Merritt Island High, is in there.
• “Me” time is in there.Lots of this and that is in there (it’s too exhausting to even list!!!)
• “Love” time is in there for Jim and my children and their families.
• AND  eight (8) hours of sleep each night is in there!

BUT if I am to honor and LIVE this organizational marvel, I must employ the Profound ‘No’ as a way to stay on track.
Here’s how this works:  I can take nothing else on until I complete one task COMPLETELY. OK, you English teachers are thinking ‘redundant’ but wait, stop, look and listen.  Doesn’t that little bratty voice inside your head coax you to leave a task almost done saying stuff like

• you need a break,
• you deserve a nap,
• get yourself some chocolate or diet coke or something else in the treat-yourself category?

IF I live by my new rule, I will not be able to say “yes” until I have completely completed something on my list.

Be my hall monitor on this, PLEASE!  Continue to ask – but watch to see that I find a place to write it down BEFORE I say ‘yes’ …. that will be me scheduling, planning to succeed and making the main thing, the main thing:  a good, healthy and happy day, day after day, week after week, month after …

WELL – let’s just take on July, shall we?
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!! Be well and party sensibly.  Going out for my walk -

Check out my Facebook pages (facebook.com/flbalfouryearbooks for college media  and/ or  search for Marcia Meskiel-Macy for high school) to win scholarship funding today!

Had a great opportunity to catch my bratty inner voice grumbling during my first barre class at my Pilates studio this week.  I had scheduled myself for Pilates every day (starting with a private lesson on Monday) and into two of the new barre classes.   When I got into the first one … I was NOT happy!  I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  I had no mirror and had to turn around to see what I was supposed to be doing.  The class was humming along with everyone else “getting it” as they all had ballet backgrounds … needless to say my tap classes back at age 6 were not helping me at all.