Archive for May, 2009

05.30

How to Extend an Olive Branch and Other Useful Communication Tips for Parents of Gifted and Talented Students

Most parents of gifted and talented (GT) students care deeply about the education of their sons and daughters. They also want to be a part of the conversation. Parents want to feel informed about their student’s progress, Advanced Learning Plans, socio-emotional development and challenges.
    If you’re a parent of a GT student, you may feel elated and/or frustrated when dealing with your child’s classroom teacher or GT coordinator. And though you’re apt to be proud of your son’s or daughter’s giftedness, you may also feel nervous about his or her future. Whether you have a profoundly gifted student, a visual-spatial learner, a creative wonder or a twice-exceptional student, you may be fed up with GT communication logjams or utterly impressed. Regardless, you want the very best for your child. This post is for you!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

05.15

The Case for Ingeniosus: Why Advanced Communications Can Foster Hope

Welcome! My next post will center on GT educator/parent communications; however, I’d like to take a moment to explain why I made the decision last October to leave a lucrative job in Chicago to launch a new marketing communications agency in Colorado called Ingeniosus.
    After spending nearly 20 years in journalism and communications and becoming a partner at a well-respected Chicago-based national marketing firm, I felt a tug in my heart. I knew I was either having a mid-life crisis and/or a prompting that would lead me to something powerfully rewarding. While I enjoyed rebranding publicly traded companies, working closely with CEOs, and bringing digital and print communication advancements to nonprofits, the time had come for me to leap. And leap I did.
    I left behind my swanky Chicago River office, a cherished mentor (Connie Dickinson), an ingenious partner (Colleen Scrivner), and wickedly smart clients and colleagues at DickinsonGroup. I packed up my family and belongings and moved to my home state of Colorado, where I launched Ingeniosus, the first and only marketing communications firm in the country solely dedicated to gifted and talented education and support.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

05.01

Bringing Business Sensibilities to Our Gifted and Talented Communities: Four Steps to Sanity – Part II

Welcome! I’ve been stunned and inspired by the amount of impassioned responses I’m receiving to the Ingeniosus blog and appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback and comments. Thank you to Carol Fertig, who writes the nation’s most popular blog on parenting gifted children, for her recent mention (Marketing Gifted Education). Be sure to subscribe to Carol’s blog on Prufrock Press’ Web site; it’s golden.

I also want to give a special nod to Northwestern University alumni, who have come out in droves and offered personal commentary on their experiences with gifted and talented (GT) professionals serving their sons and daughters. From Boston to L.A., it’s clear that communications in this realm is a touchy, delicate and crazy-making topic that deserves our attention.

Today, we will dive further into the subject of “Bringing Business Sensibilities to GT Communities.” In my last post, I extolled the benefits of profiling GT pros and educating them on their communication styles and triggers to help improve strained relations with parents of gifted and talented

In this post, we’ll cover steps 2-4 for overworked GT educators hoping to maintain some semblance of sanity into today’s fast-forward world. Here they are:

2. Conduct a communications audit

3. Identify touchstones

4. Create and implement communication strategies

Even if you’re not a gifted and talented instructor, you may find these steps helpful in advocating for improved communications within your school, district, GT summer program and/or organization.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »