Build Momentum - Thought Leadership for Education, Global Workforce Edition

S02E01 - Create an winning proposal - Hint: It's not about you! | Jean Sharp

October 14, 2021 Sarah Williamson Season 2 Episode 1
Build Momentum - Thought Leadership for Education, Global Workforce Edition
S02E01 - Create an winning proposal - Hint: It's not about you! | Jean Sharp
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode of Build Momentum, We are joined by Jean Sharp. Jean has dedicated her career to supporting great teaching and learning both in the classroom and online. For the past 10 years, she served as the apex learning vice president of content development and the chief academic officer. With more than 30 years of working in educational technology. 

Jean is embracing the rhythm of a new season. She continues to contribute to education and relevant and impactful ways to consulting, writing, and research.

Some Questions I Ask:

  • When you're first gearing up for a conference submission, or you see a call for proposals come out. What do you do first? (2:24)
  • What are some of your biggest takeaways after reviewing probably thousands of proposals of yours? What resonates with you? And what advice would you have for others? (5:32)
  • What are some of the big don'ts or things we should avoid? Including our proposals? 13:34)
  • Have you noticed a difference from conference to conference and what people tend to prefer and what proposals seem to be more successful? (14:57)
  • Do you have any final advice for those who are going through this process? (16:42)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • Finding success in submitting proposals and other tips and tricks.  (2:33)
  • How to make your proposal stand out. (05:40)
  • Things to avoid in making proposals. (13:43)

Quotes:

“Understanding both the format of the conference and the audience is critically important.”

“I'm attracted to proposals that demonstrate what works. I'm not interested in proposals that are focused on products, or commercialized in any way.”

“If you've got a topic that's compelling, and you know, individuals who have made contributions in that way, or have been working in that arena for a while, invite them to participate and join you for it. My experience, your experience, as well has often been that they just simply need to be asked.”

“I think it's a better use of time to really invest in the proposals that you believe are the most relevant, and put the effort into ensure that they are well written and well developed. The second point I would make is to collaborate with others, I like to include different voices and perspectives into the proposals that we submit. And I love finding good partners to share the topics.”

“The proposals reflect to you.”

Connect with Jean Sharp:
Jean Sharp's LinkedIn
Jean Sharp’s Email: jean.sharpsolutionsservicesgroup@outlook.com


Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
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SWPR GROUP Website
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Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
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About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook

Sarah Williamson:

Hello and welcome to build momentum where we help education organizations, blow past their competitors with strategies that make an impact. We think beyond traditional press releases and generic communication tactics, and seek out big, bold ideas to create meaningful results for our clients. I'm your host, Sarah Williamson. And I've spent more than 15 years in public relations for the education sector, where our team has learned what works and what doesn't when it comes to PR from launching groundbreaking new industry awards to landing sought after panels at the most prestigious shows. We absolutely love this. But the best part is, we have an opportunity to interview some of the smartest people we know who share their knowledge and strategies or success right here on the show. If you enjoy what you hear, we would so appreciate if you please take a moment to drop us a review on whatever platform you listen. And if you want to learn more about us, visit swpr-group.com thanks so much for tuning in. today. Let's dive into the show. And on today's episode, I'm so excited to reconnect with a friend and former colleague Jean Sharp. Jean has dedicated her career to supporting great teaching and learning both in the classroom and online. For the past 10 years, she served as the APEX Learning vice president of content development, and the chief academic officer. With more than 30 years of working in educational technology. Jean is embracing the rhythm of a new season, she continues to contribute to education in relevant and impactful ways to consulting writing and research. Jean, I'm so excited to have you on the show today. Welcome.

Jean Sharp:

Thank you, Sarah. It's great to be with you again.

Sarah Williamson:

Yes, it's wonderful to have you on again, and especially talking about one of my absolutely favorite subjects, submissions for conferences and industry events. So we've submitted so many conference proposals together that this feels like an episode that we absolutely must record. Do you agree?

Jean Sharp:

I do indeed.

Sarah Williamson:

Okay, good. In fact, I think we had eight submissions accepted for the digital learning annual conference last year. So we love to share our tips and tricks with others. And I think we should start at the beginning and talk about how we plan for each session. How does that sound? Eugene, that's perfect. Okay, Jean, when you're first gearing up for a conference submission, or you see a call for proposals come out. What do you do first?

Jean Sharp:

Well, it's interesting, Sarah, because I think your title for this particular podcast suggest a very important consideration. Don't make it about you. We have found success in our proposal submissions, primarily because when we consider our submissions, we think about what will add value to those who are attending the conference itself. And then I think that understanding both the format of the conference and the audience is critically important. For example, the digital learning annual conference offers a program agenda that has a variety of brief, but highly interactive sessions to engage participants. They have everything from a Pecha Kucha, which are six minute and 42nd presentations with 20 slides, to table talks and debates and panel discussions and workshop formats. It is so important that you align your proposal to the format which best enhances the experience and the participation of the participants. Further, I think it's really important to understand who the participants are likely to be that are attending the conference, for example, the Digital Learning Collaborative, their annual conference is already indicating an increased registration of teachers for their conference that's scheduled in Atlanta in February. As more teachers are involved in online learning, it's important that the program committee considers sessions that will be particularly relevant for teachers. The other opportunity that I think is important to consider as you develop proposals is what insights you have to share that participants may not have considered. Last year for example, we partner with Koi nama hoy, the senior editor at smartbrief education and representatives from three educational technology companies to share insights along with practical tips, as schools worked with their vendor partners to navigate their needs through school closures and transitions. That discussion simply brought the school and district together with technology and content publishers for a frank conversation of how to work together to meet critical student needs. I enjoyed this conversation as it provided an opportunity for deeper understanding and collaboration.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah, that was such a great idea. That was your idea Jean. And I love that. Just bringing together different groups and different audiences to provide unique perspectives is so important. And as you mentioned in the beginning, not making it about you. I can't tell you that number of times, I've had either clients or people want to submit a proposal all about them and their products or solutions. And those never fly. And they're not interesting to the participants. And the conference organizers don't want to hear a commercialized presentation unless you're giving them a lot of money to do it. So we got to stay focused on providing value. So I'm so glad you hit on that. So achine I know you've also been on the review committee for many different conferences, including D LAC and Aurora Institute over the years, what are your some of your biggest takeaways after reviewing probably thousands of proposals of yours? what resonates with you? And what advice would you have for others?

Jean Sharp:

Sarah, that's such a great question. As a member of a program committee that's reviewing a lot of proposals, we literally have dozens and dozens of proposals that we might be assigned to read. So each proposal gets a few minutes of time, not a deep, deep review. So I think that a couple of things come to mind to me in terms of what you can do to make your proposal really stand out and resonate with the reviewers. First is ensure that your topic is relevant to the audience. And this may sound obvious, but you have to align your proposal two topics that the audience is interested in learning more about, especially I think, when you consider the current climate of schools, there are many challenges schools are facing, and they want to learn successful ways that others have navigated through these challenging times to address some of the problems that they are facing as well. A second is have clear objectives that aligned to your abstract, I recognize that there are often word counts or character limits in the proposal submission process, and it can be challenging, but I can't tell from your abstract or your objective. What I'll learn from your session or take away from my participation in that session is simply doesn't capture my interest.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah.

Jean Sharp:

And I think companies in particular have to be intentional and thoughtful when they're preparing their proposals for submission. I'm attracted to proposals that demonstrate what works. I'm not interested in proposals that are focused on products, or commercialized in any way. We've taken a you know this very well, sir, we've taken great care to consider topics that will provide the most value for the audience, first and foremost, and then determine the best speakers for those types as well. Let me give you a couple examples of that. Several years ago, you'll remember that we submitted a proposal for a conversation on diversity, equity and inclusion. We brought together several educational leaders who were focused on this topic, including Shamari Jones, who serves as the director of equity and strategic engagement for the Bellevue school districts in Washington State. His voice was authentic and his experiences were real and connected with our audience. And that brought a great deal of integrity to the presentation overall. Last year, Tom Canty from the school City Schools about the New York joined me for a conversation regarding what we're learning from a year of COVID. And how it was impacting plans for future changes. As we prepare for reopening. Based on national research and local decision making, we provided an interesting snapshot of lessons learned and problems yet to be solved. And as you might expect, some topics are just hot topics right now. Student Engagement, Sal addressing learning loss, preparing students for next be out next steps beyond high school graduation, if you're going to choose a topic that has high visibility, and like that, it is important that you find a way to make your topic stand out.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah, I absolutely agree. And I think even taking a step back, what we do is when we see that call for proposals, we would set up a meeting do me whoever else is going to be involved and we brainstorm, brainstorm what those key themes or ideas are, and we say, okay, from what perspective do we want to talk about this, and then we nail those 568 10 whatever ideas, those are, then we formalize who could speak to this in the most compelling and compassionate way. And we find people like Shamari, and we find people like Tom Canty, who can share their perspective and, and we create different voices on those panels. And we put together these powerhouse sessions that who can say no to those. That's my strategy. And I think it really works.

Jean Sharp:

I agree with you completely. Sarah, we have found a winning solution or winning process in that because we bring the best voices to bear on the topics that we're talking about. And we consider the unique perspectives that others bring. So it's not just one view of it. It's multiple views of it in ways that really give the audience something.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah, totally agree. So it just gives the audience a broad perspective on an issue or just a different voices are brought together to share that one perspective.

Jean Sharp:

But there's one other thing I would add on to that. And that is that don't be afraid to ask people to participate in this way. I think there are so many people who are interested in finding some way to participate on a panel, or in a tabletop or a presentation of some sort, but they don't exactly know how to do it. And sometimes it's a bit overwhelming to take on the whole process by yourself. So if you've got a topic that's compelling, and you know, individuals who have made contributions in that way, or have been working in that arena for a while, invite them to participate and join you for it. My experience, your experience, as well has often been that they just simply need to be asked,

Sarah Williamson:

Yes, I think there's so many people, I've heard from my clients, our clients who say, Oh, we don't want to ask my clients to do this. It's so much work. And it's completely the opposite. If you invite your clients to share their perspective and their knowledge and their expertise, their honor, absolutely. Especially if you cover their travel, which I would highly recommend. If you're going to invite your clients to attend and your business and a company is putting together a panel, I highly recommend that you cover the travel and registration and hotel costs for those participants

Jean Sharp:

in those panelists. I agree completely. Yeah. But they add so much to the richness of the discussion, that I think it's so important to think beyond the box, right? And really look at who can bring in those diverse voices and the experience in order to participate in the conversation.

Sarah Williamson:

Absolutely, totally great. And then I would also suggest thinking about we typically do a lot of panels, and that's kind of what we're going to talk about next. But we do a lot of panel presentations. And don't be afraid to ask some of those influential leaders within the industry to moderate those panels. It's not hard, they usually say yes, and Okay, so they say no, I mean, invite people to join you, and usually they're honored to attend. That's our advice.

Jean Sharp:

Yeah. I have a motto that I use quite often. And that is the answer is always No, if you never ask the question.

Sarah Williamson:

Exactly. Totally. I love that. Absolutely. Have you ever wondered just how much credibility education industry awards really provide your company? We did. We wonder do K 12. decision makers really care about another logo on your website. We are tired of participating in the same awards year after year, completing complex submission forms, all knowing that if our clients win, the finalists email will quickly be followed by an opportunity to advertise in their publication, we wanted to see something different. So we created it. We partnered with an Institute for Education innovation to launch a groundbreaking new industry award called Supe's Choice. The Supe's Choice Awards are judged exclusively by the K 12 decision makers we all want to reach. By entering the Supe's Choice Awards, you have an opportunity to get your product or solution in front of up to 10 superintendents across the country. And you're sure to get their feedback on what you submit. And not to mention you might even when, if you've not yet entered now's the time because submissions close on October 31. Don't worry, we know how draining a complicated submission form can be. So we kept this one so simple with just five questions. Don't waste another minute, enter today at supeschoice.com. That's supeschoice.com. supeschoice.com. Enter today. Okay, so Jean. So now we have a lineup of people to attend. We have strong moderators, what are some of the big don'ts or things we should avoid? Including our proposals? Do you have any tips there?

Jean Sharp:

From a program committee perspective and a reviewer have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of proposals over the years? I must tell you this may be a bias of mine. But I am not impressed by proposals that have catchy titles, but no substance in the discussion. Or in the abstract itself. I try to avoid proposals that are just loaded with jargon but seem to miss when it comes to actually describing the outcomes. I need to see clear alignment between the abstract the title and the objectives. And actually for most of us, it shouldn't be that hard to do. But I think that oftentimes people get rushed in the process. And they don't take the care or they write a good abstract and objectives. But the catchy titles just don't do it. I also think that you have to understand that there are a tremendous number of submissions that are competing for a limited number of sessions in the conference proposal itself. And the goal of the program committee itself is to find the best proposals among the whole lot to create the best experience possible for our conference attendees. So we take seriously that participants in the conference are investing time and money to attend. And it has to be worth it.

Sarah Williamson:

Yep, absolutely agree. Have you noticed a difference from coming conference to conference on what people tend to prefer and what proposals seem to be more successful.

Jean Sharp:

You know, honestly, I think there's a really great description of this or an example of this in the Digital Learning Collaborative because by purpose and intent, the Digital Learning Collaborative has adopted a philosophy and an approach for their conference that focuses more on a format that includes shorter and more interactive sessions that promote a lot of networking, a lot of engagement by participants, and high energy across the conference programs. So I think we all can understand and experience the fact that sometimes longer sessions and long hour blocks of time, tend to drag down some of the energy in the conference itself, the Digital Learning Collaborative is really focused on very short, concise presentations, and providing other opportunities for people to connect afterwards to really further those conversations along. So that's in high contrast. And while there are some more traditional hour long formats, in the Digital Learning Collaborative that focus more on presentation and discussion, the fact that it is a high energy conference, and people are constantly moving, and learning and interacting with people is very unique and very, very appealing to a lot of people.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah,

Jean Sharp:

So one of the things that's important is to know the conference experience that the organization is aiming to create, are they looking for those deep conversations where participants can really dive into the research or the practice in very meaningful ways? Or are they looking to get people highly engaged and enthusiastic about the topic? And that will drive some of the conference feel as well as the conference proposals that they're looking for as well?

Sarah Williamson:

Absolutely. Okay. So do you have any final advice for those who are going through this process?

Jean Sharp:

Given the some of us have just gone through this process andsubmitted our proposals as well?

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah, it is conference season, that's for sure,

Jean Sharp:

Indeed. So I think that a couple of things come to mind for me. One is there was a time perhaps where the philosophy was to submit as many proposals as you can, and hope that one gets accepted. candidly, I think it's a better use of time to really invest in the proposals that you believe are the most relevant, and put the effort into ensure that they are well written and well developed. The second point I would make is to collaborate with others, I'd like to include different voices and perspectives into the proposals that we submit. And I love finding good partners to share the topics. I like to share my draft proposals with others to solicit their input and feedback before I submit them for the conference. I want that fresh set of eyes, reviewing the proposal to see how it comes across to others, and what they take away from what has been written so far, and then revise and iterate. And finally submit to the conference itself. Again, this may seem obvious, Sarah, but you know, as well as I do, you have got to put your best foot forward by ensuring that your proposal is professional. By that I mean, well written with no grammar or spelling errors. There's nothing that says rushed, or lack of attention to detail, more than a proposal that is not professionally written. And finally, this is advice, but we don't always follow it right. Don't wait till the last moment just before the deadline to submit. that's easier said than done. Since we all have busy lives. But when you are up against a deadline that isn't very firm or time driven. Generally, that's not the time we do our best work now.

Sarah Williamson:

Totally agree. Absolutely. That's good advice. And some advice that we follow here at our company. And I have to share that I'm also on the program committee for DLAC And I was pretty shocked last year to see all of the grammatical errors, typos and poorly written submissions side note, make sure you get your stuff professionally written and put together in a clean and concise way so that people can review it. And I mean, I it was hard to even understand what the proposals were about, because there's so many years and some of them.

Jean Sharp:

Right, again, the proposals reflect to you.

Sarah Williamson:

Right

Jean Sharp:

And so the proposal is poorly written. It doesn't give the members of the program committee who may not know who you are a good impression of what that session will be like for our participants.

Sarah Williamson:

Yeah. Okay, well, for those of you listening, now you're inspired, you're pumped up, ready to do this, you're so excited. Although is CMD like half close, there are still a few deadlines coming up for TCEA Q and AASA, some national conferences and Texas and California conferences. You can put this advice to work, but if you still need a little bit of help, we're here for you. You can reach out to our team, we can support you with this process. You can find us at swpr-group.com and we would love to help walk you through getting these submitted or to do it for you. We're experts in that Jean, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been great and super helpful, I think for many, many people, would you mind sharing how others can meet you and talk a little bit about what you're working on right now?

Jean Sharp:

Yeah, this is an opportunity for me to do some consulting work in a number of different areas. And I am doing just that, as well as some writing. And so that is a lot of fun for me. So in the near term, the easiest way, quite frankly, to reach me is to connect with me through LinkedIn, at Jean Sharp, and then also I can be reached at jean.sharpsolutionsservicesgroup@outlook.com.

Sarah Williamson:

Thank you so much. Appreciate this. And we'll share this episode broadly. So it's helpful to many. Thanks again.

Jean Sharp:

Excellent. Thank you, Sara.

Sarah Williamson:

Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the show, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review, we'd be so grateful. This helps other listeners find and learn about our show. And please reach out if you're interested in learning more about how we can elevate the leaders of organization with our PR services if you'd like because we'd even shoot me a direct email at Sarah sarah@swpr-group.com I look forward to hearing from you and we will see you next time.