Tag: NSPRA

Communication, Culture, Leadership, NSPRA, TSPRA

Full bucket, grateful heart reflections from my first NSPRA Seminar

Jessica Johnston

I started and stopped this post several times because I don’t really know how to do justice to my first NSPRA Seminar experience with mere words. How do I write a feeling? How do I adequately convey the true impact of building new relationships? My school PR bucket is full and I can’t wait to get back and start planning for the new school year! The day before I left for Washington, D.C. I cleared off the “Dreaming-Doing-Done” board in my office. It will no doubt be full of new ideas very soon!

I can easily move the sticky notes from dreaming to doing to done as the ideas come to life!

I am so grateful to each person I met over the last 5 days. I loved the New Professionals Pre-Seminar. It was comforting to be in a room with other new school PR practitioners, soaking up knowledge from two veteran PR pros (thank you Susan and Chris!). Although I am entering my fourth year in school PR, I walked away from that experience with a wealth of ideas and a renewed focus. My biggest takeaway was utilizing RACE / R-PIE in all communication efforts. One of my goals this year is to focus on the research step before diving into implementation.

To the AWESOME #k12prchat family, THANK YOU for welcoming me with open arms and thank you for the Chatty Award! I distinctly remember my mouth falling wide open when Cathy called my name. I did not see that coming AT ALL! I love my hashtag, #jumpin. You all have made it easy for me to jump into the chat and into the group. I am constantly learning from and with you and I am so grateful.

2019 #k12prchat Chatty Award Winners

Having presented at conferences in the past, I fully understand the preparation and hard work that are required to plan and deliver quality content. My sincere thanks to those of you who presented at the NSPRA Seminar. I took 10 pages of notes! Your willingness to share your vast expertise and experiences will make me a stronger resource for my district. I am better because of you!

For those of you who may be reading this but were unable to attend the NSPRA Seminar, please feel free to peruse my notes below. I have also included links to notes I have taken at past TSPRA conferences. I hope you are able to fill up your PR bucket with some new ideas, tips, or tricks. #sharingiscaring #bettertogether 🙂

Safe travels to all who are heading back home from Washington, D.C. and thank you, again, to the NSPRA scholarship committee for giving me an opportunity to learn from the best in the nation. I am hooked and I will find a way to see you all next year in St. Louis!

With my friend Heidi Otero who encouraged me to reach for the stars and apply for an NSPRA scholarship!
Communication, Leadership, NSPRA

My first day at the 2019 NSPRA Seminar did not disappoint! Follow along with me here!

Jessica Johnston

First of all, I want to thank the NSPRA scholarship committee again for awarding me the Armistead New Professional Scholarship, making it possible for me to attend my first national school PR seminar! The scholarship provided my seminar registration, along with registration for NSPRA’s New Professionals Pre-Seminar Workshop, which started yesterday. By lunchtime yesterday, my bucket was already full! SO many great tips and ideas shared about research, strategic planning, and developing key messages. A big thanks to Susan Brott and Chris Tennill for hosting this awesome learning opportunity.

Every time I attend a conference, I share my live notes for others to follow along. I am a nerdy note taker, but I using Google Docs allows me to go back and search through all of my conference archives when I’m looking for “that” idea. 🙂

Click here for my 2019 NSPRA Seminar notes!