Conference 2013 Workshops

Bill Shain, William M Shain Consulting
A panel of Admissions Directors discuss the 2013 admissions cycle.  Moderator: Bill Shain

BETTER COLLEGE ESSAYS IN LESS TIME
Susan Knoppow, WOW Writing
What do you need more than quality time with your students? What if you could spend more time guiding them through the application process and less on endless essay drafts? In this dynamic, interactive workshop, the founder of Wow Writing Workshop will share a writer’s perspective, to help you read essay drafts with a writer’s eye instead of an editor’s red pen. Participants will leave the session with straightforward writing exercises, valuable tips and proven time-savers, along with online resources for students and parents.

BEYOND SKYPE: MEETING THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS WITH ON-LINE COUNSELING
Carolyn Z Lawrence, Admissions Advice.com
Using online tools, educational consultants can now expand their practices beyond their local geographic boundaries, and provide college advising services to students from around the world who may not have access to educational consultants in their local areas.   Remote counseling, however, has challenges that aren’t found in traditional face-to-face counseling.  How can educational consultants working remotely ensure that they are meeting the needs of students whom they have never met face-to-face?  In this workshop, a consultant with many years of experience working remotely will discuss tools and techniques for providing high-quality and effective remote college advising services via the Internet.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS
Lynne Scheurer, M.S., M.A.; Tools For Success Consulting, LLC
As with death and taxes, difficult clients are a certainty of life. At some point in our practices we will all encounter at least one. Can this become a positive experience for both consultant and client? Learn how to successfully navigate the complex cultural, emotional, financial, and familial dynamics that we sometimes face. Workshop will consist of a presentation and group discussion.

GAP YEARS: A SPRINGBOARD FOR SUCCESS AND SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY
Drew Edwards, Carpe Diem;  Robin Pendoley, Thinking Beyond Borders
This workshop will address how a transformational experience for a young adult en route to university will not only help them “Meet the Need” but truly enable them to define what the “need” is, and empower them on their path towards meeting it.  Specific content that will be covered is - examining how a gap year fits into an integrated plan for Higher Education; the intangible benefits and “non cognitive” skills learned on a gap year broken down into statistical data proving a “Springboard” to success; and a thorough look into the path of an actual Gap Year student highlighting the process and demonstrating the benefits.

GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, ETC.: USING ON-LINE RESOURCES TO MARKET YOUR PRACTICE
Bill Sholar, Kim Greene; Educational Consultant Platform
Used properly, the online resources you already have (or can easily obtain for little or no cost) can better market your practice and save you time, rather than being a time-wasting distraction.  We will cover how your Facebook page, blog, email marketing, website, and other online tools, in combination with Google and other search engines, can all work together to multiply the effectiveness of each separate service.  We will focus on the steps you can take yourself with the biggest payback for the least demands on your time or money.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS WITH SEMINARS
Brooke Daly, Advantage College Planning
Join Brooke as she takes you through the steps to build your business with seminars. This powerful marketing tool can help grow your business at little or no cost.  Learn how to name and market your seminar, select a venue that will yield the best attendance, choose an engaging topic, book seminars in your community, get parents to attend, the pros and cons to charging admission, and all of the nuts and bolts that go into preparing a winning presentation!

HOW ADMISSIONS WORKS
Bill Shain, William M  Shain Consulting;   John Gaines, Director of Admissions, Vanderbilt University
What are the factors that influence the decision making processes inside private college admissions offices?

LEARNING DIFFERENCES GO TO COLLEGE
Irene Ingersoll, Ingersol College Consulting, LLC: Joy App, App Educational Consulting LLC
As colleges become more competitive our Disability students need to maneuver the application process and understand how to survive once on campus.   Understanding disability services can be daunting for many independent counselors.  Participants will learn to navigate the steps in assisting clients with LD/ADHD, physical disabilities and chronic medical conditions as they apply to colleges.   Topics will include:  Spotting strong support services, when to disclose, available college resources, transition tips, accommodations for SAT/ ACT/, assistive technologies, interviewing DS personnel, and what to know before taking on special needs clients. Case studies will be shared by a former DS college director.

MACCHIATO MARKETING: WHAT’S BREWING WITH YOUR BRAND
Kristina Dooley,  Independent Educational Consultant, Estrela Consulting
Ever wonder how top companies create such consistent, creative, coherent brand messages, AND manage to elicit a sense of loyalty from their consumers?   What, exactly, keeps us going back for $4 cups of coffee? This session will focus on key elements defining top brands and how we can translate those into our consulting practices. We’ll also focus on how to successfully use social media as a marketing tool without becoming overwhelmed. Participants should be prepared to share ideas in this interactive session and leave with a laundry list of ways to make brand management less daunting...and maybe even fun!

MEETING THE NEED: DEALING WITH COMPUTER GAMING ADDICTION
Ben Mason, Mason Associates
Computer and gaming addictions, mostly with males, in college environments have become an increasing problem. We’ve been seeing an explosion of this as families come to us wondering what to do after their sons have fallen into their machines and their fantasies? The colleges seem buffaloed by it, and the parents are frantic. What are the colleges doing about it; what can parents do when the child comes home to get them back on track?

MEETING THE NEED:  FOR EXTRA TIME …. THE 13TH YEAR
Panel Discussion
13th year academic programs.

MEETING THE NEED: FOR FLEXIBILITY …. ON-LINE SCHOOLS
Panel Discussion
The Stanford University Online High School (OHS) is an independent school for gifted students in grades 7-12. OHS has been accredited by WASC since 2006 and has been approved as an online provider by the University of California since 2008. The mission of OHS is to provide a stimulating and challenging education with an emphasis on rigorous and advanced academic offerings. Instructors are chosen for their expertise and accomplishment in their disciplines and their experience teaching highly talented students at the high school and college levels. The flexibility of OHS academic program and enrollment options include full-time, part-time, and single course enrollment and can accommodate the varied needs and interests of our students. The online instruction, which combines seminar-style and directed-study courses on a flexible college-style class schedule, both encourages independence, discipline, and strong time-management skills and allows our students to pursue their diverse interests and exceptional talents.

MEETING THE NEED: OF THE COUNTRY …..THE SERVICE ACADEMIES
Charles Scott, SCPO, USNR(Ret), Academic Counselor, New Mexico Military Institute
Most of us work with students interested in attending one of the nation’s service academies.  This session will present information on the five academies your students may find of interest.  This will enable you to assist them in understanding their options if a service academy is in their future plans.”

MEETING THE NEED: PRO-BONO OPTIONS FROM COAST TO COAST
Panel Discussion
An overview of pro-bono program options that consultants can join or re-create in their own area.

SURVIVING THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH
Panel Discussion
Workshop aimed at veteran consultants. How to keep the zip in your business after many years of practice.

TAMING THE TEXT ANXIETY MONSTER
Jed Applerouth, Applerouth Tutoring Services, LLC
Anxiety hits us all at some point in our lives, but for many aspiring college students, navigating the waters of high stakes testing brings anxiety levels to new heights and test performance to new lows. But there is hope! There are interventions that effectively reduce test anxiety, and lead to performance gains, without resorting to psychopharmacological fixes. Let’s discuss practical strategies you can use to help your anxious testers. Let’s explore potential confounding factors such as processing speed deficits and learning differences, familial expectations, generalized anxiety disorders, metacognition, and self-regulation strategies. Help your students take the edge off of high stakes testing.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Carolyn Lawrence, Joan Rynerson, Judith Winters, Diane Lomonaco
Many educational consultants struggle to find the right price for their services. How do you set your prices to attract and serve customers while ensuring your practice is profitable? What are the pro’s and con’s of using package rates versus an hourly rate, or a hybrid combination? How does pricing influence your ability to meet the needs of students and parents with diverse needs? In this panel seminar, four experienced educational consultants will address these and other questions while sharing their own experiences with pricing in their own practices.  Topics to be covered include: national educational consulting trends, pricing models, ethical considerations, sliding scale pricing strategies, and other factors to consider in pricing educational consulting services

THE WORK COLLEGES
Robin Taffler, Brenda Boggs; Berea College
The Work Colleges  offer an innovative concept in higher education undefined purposefully integrating a college education with valuable work experience and service to others.  ‘Earning while learning’ has a 150+year track record of providing college educations and valuable work experience to thousands of promising individuals. Come learn about the seven unique colleges that make up the Work Colleges consortium.

TO LLC, OR NOT TO LLC …..
Session will discover how does one know whether it makes sense to make one's business into an LLC?  And also, to what extent is insurance a good idea?

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOW IT BUILDS YOUR BUSINESS
Lynn Welch M.ED, Founder and President, National Institute Of College Admissions Advising
Educational consultants join me as I discuss the importance of social media and how to integrate this powerful tool into your business. I will show you how ‘posting’ in various forms of social media can meet the needs of your marketing to meeting clients where they are...ONLINE.

YIELD ACCEPTANCES AND MERIT MONEY FOR PERFORMING ARTS APPLICANTS
Mary Anne Dennard, College Audition Coach On-Line
After this session, participants will receive a FREE ebook of I GOT IN! The Ultimate College Audition Guide For Acting And Musical Theatre, and a FREE demo of College Audition Coach Online, and a FREE list of college programs who have the most merit aid and lowest tuitions for performing arts. We will explain the ways to help your students navigate the complex college audition process and how it differs from the norm.