A Workable New Year’s Resolution
We have officially launched into that period of time where it will be a big blur between now and the holidays. What do you mean, it is already a big blur? As our responsibilities and to-do list seem to grow with each school year, it would be very easy to see how the school year…
Keep reading
Do Your Socials Still Reflect Your District?
When was the last time you really reviewed posts on each of your district’s social media accounts, going back a certain amount of time? It is a good idea to do that every now and then. You should be looking at more than just the metrics of your social accounts because even if you have…
Keep reading
The Power of Principals
A little while ago, I saw a post on social media by Greg Turchetta (a Good Follow by the way) talking about the importance of being a part of the regular principals’ meetings that happen in you school district and the role that can play in helping you become a thought leader in their eyes and not…
Keep reading
Hold On to Those Times of Inspiration
Where do your good ideas come from? When do you seem to have most of your “lightbulb” moments? For me, my daily runs seem to be where ideas, inspirations, workarounds, etc., would most often come to me. I guess there was something about that time when it was just me, a few miles of pavement,…
Keep reading
A Seat At The Table
What do you mean you or your department are not represented in the Superintendent’s Cabinet?! You should, and you can tell your superintendent I said that! The sad truth is, many school communications departments are not included in the superintendent’s cabinet. The question then becomes: what are you doing about it? Please tell me you are not waiting…
Keep reading
Is It Time For You To Give Back To TSPRA?
In the words of George Michael in the song Everything She Wants…”You’ve shown me you can take, you’ve got some giving to do.” TSPRA has many opportunities and ways in which you can do a little giving. One of the biggies is to make a topic pitch for the 2026 Annual TSPRA Conference. That email went out…
Keep reading
Exercise Those Professional Muscles
The pressure is on, or at least it can seem that way when it comes to Artificial Intelligence. There is a constant barrage of people and companies trying to make it sound like, if you are not up to speed on AI, then your job and career will go nowhere. Keeping up with how AI…
Keep reading
Will Your Emergency Notifications Get Through?
First things, first. Welcome to your new school year! Hopefully, you had a chance to breathe and do some personal recharging of the batteries during your break and the start of the new school year of work has gone well. Now, let me add to your new school year to-do list for something that I…
Keep reading
It’s Time For New Year’s Resolutions
We all know that school people are special people. One thing that makes us different is that we live by TWO calendars. School people observe the regular annual calendar that most of the world revolves around to a certain degree. But we LIVE by the all-mighty school district calendar. For most of us, this hyphenated school year came to an end…
Keep reading
A Draining & Energizing Time
Phew! You made it! For some, your high school commencement ceremonies are done. For others, they will be happening within the next few days. At my district, we had three high schools with all three ceremonies scheduled for one day. It made for a long and tiring day that I dreaded and enjoyed at the…
Keep reading
Don’t Forget Your Manners
Growing up, we were all taught the importance of manners. This included saying, “please” and “thank you.” Do you remember those manners when working with reporters? Remembering to say “please” and “thank you” regularly can improve and perhaps even strengthen your working relationship with your local media. Most of us are probably already doing the…
Keep reading
A More Personal Measurement of Success
As a part of our routines, success is often measured through all sorts of analytics and statistics. Even if you score well on annual reviews and do well on the stats that are used to measure work success, you may end up feeling somewhat empty inside. Most of us like to indicate that we are in…
Keep reading
Do they know you are paying attention?
We all know about two-way communications and the important role it plays in school communications. I had a recent bout of laryngitis. When you have laryngitis, the number one rule in recovery is to stop talking. While trying to do just that, it would sometimes get frustrating when my wife would ask or say something…
Keep reading
You Learned A Lot At The TSPRA Conference. Now What?
Is it possible to feel renewed, re-energized, and yet overwhelmed at the same time? Yep! Many of my fellow TSPRA members probably returned home from the annual conference feeling that way. There is so much networking, idea sharing, and learning that goes on during the annual conference, and most of us return to work eager to…
Keep reading
The 2025 Annual TSPRA Conference-What to Pack & What to Bring Back
It is hard to believe that the 2025 Annual Texas School Public Relations Association Annual Conference-Viva TSPRA is right around the corner already. Have you started to think about what to pack? No! It is not too early to wrap your head around that subject. Don’t be that person frantically tossing stuff into a suitcase or duffel…
Keep reading
Where is Your Communications House Built?
The clock may be ticking for TikTok as it faces a new law that could ban it in the United States later this month unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in. Yet another major social media platform has had some serious issues since it saw an ownership change not too long ago. I know from experience…
Keep reading
It’s Okay to Guard Your Time
You are in the middle of enjoying a holiday off and all district schools and offices are closed when you get that text/phone call/email from a reporter or producer that starts with: “I know you are off today but…” If you are anything like me, this would result in a heavy sigh and usually a thought…
Keep reading
Get Out There and Listen
In the communications world, a lot gets said about the importance of two-way communication and listening. A great deal of importance is given to listening via more formal mechanisms like surveys and focus groups. These can be extremely important and make it somewhat easy to gauge results after campaigns, etc. I firmly believe that a school…
Keep reading
Beware the Algorithm
Social media has become the center of so much of what we do and how we consume news and information. Do you rely upon the algorithms of your Facebook newsfeed or “For You” tab/timeline on “X,” Threads, etc. to stay informed throughout your day? If so, you need to stop that practice! In the school communications…
Keep reading
Speak for Your District Not Your Board Members
Do you speak on behalf of your board of trustees? Do you speak on behalf of individual members of your board of trustees? I am hoping you answered “no” to the second question. I still struggle with answering “yes” to the first one. Hopefully, you work in a district that has defined who speaks for…
Keep reading
To Trademark or Not To Trademark?
One of the things I have always liked about being a part of the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) is the willingness of members to share their approaches and viewpoints on items that come up as a part of our jobs and responsibilities. I was recently reviewing an older email from a TSPRA friend talking…
Keep reading
You Deserve an Appointment, Yourself
*Sniff, Sniff* “Ahhhh.” Nothing like that New School Year smell. Everything is clean, crisp, and new. It is always fun to see students returning to school, especially the elementary kids. This is also the time of year when your calendar is perhaps the least crowded for the entire school year. It feels like there will be plenty…
Keep reading
Are You On Autopilot?
It is hard to believe yet another operational school year is underway. As things are ramping up do you find yourself and your team just going through a routine; checking boxes on the same things that have been done year after year? It is really easy to slip into that, almost mindless, routine of doing certain…
Keep reading
Keep the human element
I will admit that I have not played around with ChatGPT and other AI tools all that much when it comes to writing. I enjoy the process of taking facts and boiling them down into something more digestible by those looking in from the outside. That selfish side of me also enjoys learning a little about people and topics…
Keep reading
Are you ready for “that” phone call?
As we barrel towards the end of another school year, my mind always tends to wander into the areas of emergency responses. I guess this is due to two primary reasons: Hurricane season is right around the corner (June1), and there always seems to be an increase in situations of things like online threats, or…
Keep reading
Learning from Current Events
Recent events on college campuses across the country, including here in Texas, are grabbing lots of headlines. The protests, encampments, and takeovers; followed by official responses and law enforcement actions can allow us to challenge our readiness. I have found myself taking note of how the various universities have been responding and their messages. Are…
Keep reading
Think Evergreen
We have reached the time of the school year when you are probably hustling trying to cover all the end-of-year events, honors, and celebrations that only happen the last few weeks of the school year leading up to commencement ceremonies. During the rush to get things covered and move on, it is really easy to…
Keep reading
Know your worth. Show your worth.
If your school district is not in the throes of finalizing budgets for a new fiscal year that begins July 1, then you will be there shortly after that for a fall budget cycle. When it comes to school district budgets, the headlines I am seeing from across the state are rather dim. This is…
Keep reading
Election Communications
In case you could not tell by the headlines, this is a big election year in the country, and in our little state of Texas. I typically try to stay out of the whole topic of politics, but this blog post may stray a little over that line, but hopefully in a good and helpful…
Keep reading
Texas Public Information Act: A Love/Hate Relationship
The Texas Public Information Act is a unique beast for the school communications world. It plays an important role in making sure the public has access to what their government and school districts are up to, and how tax money is being spent. It also puts the school communications professional handling the requests in an…
Keep reading
Be Open to Possibilities
I increasingly see visuals associated with school district marketing that are carefully crafted and controlled. In most cases, you can tell that the video or photographs were taken under planned and controlled settings with great lighting and staging. The resulting campaigns are often slick-looking and probably do a great job competing for intended audiences’ attention.…
Keep reading
Support Your Local Newspaper
As a former news guy, the recent round of news-related layoffs at many publications and newspapers has been somewhat depressing. While print publications have been closing shop for many years now, the news deserts it is creating in many areas of our state and country are bad for our democracy and bad for school districts.…
Keep reading
You Learned a Lot at the TSPRA Conference. Now What?
I am guessing that several hundred members of the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) returned to work today (March 1) after attending the organization’s annual conference in Sugar Land, professionally renewed, mentally drained, and physically tired. There is so much networking, idea sharing, and learning that goes on during the annual conference, and most…
Keep reading
Stop Intruding on Their Time
Work/life balance is one of the subjects for sessions at this week’s Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) annual conference. So, I figured this might be a good time to cut loose on one aspect of this subject that I know goes well beyond just the school PR and communications world. If you are a…
Keep reading
Gatekeeper or Guide?
In media relations, are you a gatekeeper or a guide? Taking a guide approach builds trust, streamlines communication, and enhances coverage. As the initial contact for your district, you simplify the process for reporters while ensuring accurate information is shared. Balancing gatekeeping with guidance fosters a strong working relationship with the media and benefits the…
Keep reading
A Voice in the Void?
Does the world really need another Public Relations/Communications blog? That is one of the questions I found myself asking myself not long after I officially “retired” from working in public education doing public relations, communications, and marketing. When I left my school district after 25 years, I promised myself a much-needed break from work for…
Keep reading
Craig Verley 