Craig Verley

What do you mean you have not implemented everything you learned during the Annual Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) Conference? What are you waiting for? You should have done it by now. What will the boss say?

Does that type of internal conversation sound a little familiar within a week or so of the conference? Well, don’t beat yourself up about it. Our jobs are crazy-busy and the spring semester is where things seem to jump into the next level of crazy-busy. If you are lucky enough to be able to quickly slide in one of the new tricks learned at the conference already, you are doing great!

Either way, take a moment right now…or immediately after reading this…or at least before the end of the day… to thoughtfully pause and think about what one thing you learned at the conference that excited you the most or you thought would be a quick and easy item to implement. Once you have that item in mind, take a realistic look at your calendar and/or to-do system and schedule the implementation process. Make sure this little process happens today. No excuses. Okay, maybe true emergencies are acceptable excuses. Just don’t put off doing this little step. Then, when your calendar assignment pops up, you can take the appropriate time to start doing what you need to make that one newly learned item actually happen.

Once you have that one item scheduled into your calendar, schedule another time, in the near future, for you and your team to review notes and the conference program to figure out what other items you would like to tackle. During that time, think about how the implementation process might work and a realistic timetable for them. Then make sure those item(s) get on your calendars and project lists for implementation. Being intentional about the whole process should make it all less stressful and hopefully improve the outcomes.

I have one more thing to consider. Save that conference program! Keep it handy. Not only is it full of ideas, but each of the session presenters are TSPRA family members you can reach out to and pick their brains about their sessions. Lord knows you can’t attend each session you really want to. The member directory on the TSPRA website is a great resource for contact information.

I have said this before, and it still holds true; your TSPRA conference is a gift that can keep on giving all year long. Take advantage of it! Your TSPRA family is there to help you on your school communications journey.