She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET Community
She Snoops for Scoops: The Personal Side of the EdNET Community
Vicki Smith Bigham — Friday, January 27, 2012
Oh my—we made it to the end of another week and the last Friday in January. I so cannot believe this month is already gone. I know a number of you have had a great week in Orlando at FETC—learning, making connections and enjoying the warm weather! Well, I have some scoops for you before you start your weekend so read on....
New hires....
MDR is adding new staff and new capabilities to expand the editorial content of the WeAreTeachers site for teachers. The first new person to join the talented WAT team is Jennifer Prescott, who joins as Editorial Director. Jennifer's experience includes being Managing Editor for two of the industry's premier magazines in both print and digital form, Scholastic Instructor and Scholastic Administrator, as well as being Editorial Director of Scholastic Professional Media. Please join me in welcoming Jennifer to WeAreTeachers and MDR at PrescottJ@dnb.com.
The wonderful Dennis DeCock, recently with Brightspark Travel, Inc., is joining AKJ Books, Inc. as Vice President, Sales. The company is a distributor of over 200 publishers' books into the K-12 market and is located in Halethorpe, Maryland, right outside of Baltimore and near BWI airport. AKJ Books is looking to expand its distribution outside of the catalog and direct mail channels, and Denny's task will be to assemble a national sales force of independent sales representatives to help do that. They certainly have the right person for the job! Denny officially starts with AKJ Books on January 30th, but you can send him congratulations on his new role at denny@akjbooks.com.
Patrick Leonard, recently with ePals, has joined Blackboard to head up K-12 sales in the Western U.S. and Canada for the Blackboard Collaborate division—this is the combination of Elluminate and Wimba, which Blackboard bought and then took the best of both for a new solution. Patrick is impressed wth the product and the developers and is excited about his new job. And they are lucky to have him join their team! Send your own congratulations to Patrick on his new position at pat.leonard@blackboard.com.
Dr. Rudy Crew, former chancellor of the New York City Schools and 2008 National Superintendent of the Year, has joined Revolution K12 as president in order to impact school reform nationwide through the implementation of adaptive technology tools that support teachers and provide blended instruction. Revolution K12 is a rapidly-growing web-based adaptive software division of Revolution Prep. During his 25 years as an educational leader, Rudy has seen firsthand how technology can effectively be used to drive school improvement and help students reach higher performance levels. As New York's chancellor and as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, he established a record of change and innovation, including creating special groups of low-performing schools that received intensive support and developing a "Parent Academy" to empower parents to help their children in learning and in life. After making significant gains in student performance, reductions in achievement gaps among students and a dramatic reduction in overcrowding, the district was twice a finalist for the prestigious Broad Prize in Urban Education. Rudy is also a professor of clinical education at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California and the author of Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools. He has served on several boards and committees, including the Carnegie Foundation's Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, the National Superintendents Roundtable, and the Education Task Force. He is an associate in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he has been part of the Urban Superintendents Program since 1992. He holds a doctor of education degree in educational administration and a master of education degree in urban education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He received a bachelor of arts degree in management from Babson College. Join me in congratulating Rudy on his new role!
And also at Revolution Prep and Revolution K12, Antoinette Peters Dunbar has joined the company as Chief Academic Officer (CAO). Formerly Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and School Improvement for Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Senior Vice President of District and School Services for Global Partnership Schools, Antoinette will serve as CAO for both Revolution Prep and Revolution K12. She will use her knowledge of creating strategic academic plans to strengthen curriculum and instructional delivery, ensuring that existing instructional materials and supports meet and exceed the Common Core and state-specific standards. In addition she will monitor the attendance, graduation advancement and credit recovery of students at schools using Revolution K12 and Revolution Prep products. She will also develop teaching and learning pacing guides for instruction and guided instructional support for literacy and mathematics, as well as facilitate classroom observation sessions and strategies for instruction to elevate the level of academic instruction and organization in schools. Join me in congratulating Antoinette!
Two former Sunburst execs have joined the executive team at MindPlay, Inc. John Crowley joins the company as Chief Operating Officer, and Daniel Figurski joins as Senior Vice President of Business Development.
John Crowley is a turnaround and business growth expert. His most recent achievement before joining MindPlay was revamping the sales and operations of the Grand Canyon University, increasing enrollments from 1,900 to 11,000 students while increasing revenues from $28 million to over $68 million in two years. Before joining the university, John served as Chief Executive Officer of Educational Resources and Acquirex. He started as sales manager for Educational Resources and brought sales from $40 million to $80 million within 4 years. He began his career in K-12 sales in 1986 as the National Sales Manager for the Educational Division of Lego Systems, after exceeding his quota as a sales representative for several different companies.
Dan Figurski brings 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and business management in the K-12 educational software segment to his role at MindPlay. Most recently President of Sunburst/Educational Resources, Dan worked his way up through the company, from product manager to president, focusing on the sales and marketing tactics that work in the K-12 space. He led the creation of a customized lead machine that helped inside sales to grow five-fold. This and other innovations resulted in overall company growth of 50%. Dan helped lead the acceptance and growth of digital-subscriptions in K-12, with products like QuickMind and Type to Learn 4, helping create a subscription model for software that works for both schools and publishers alike. His achievements in identifying and managing solutions have directly impacted bottom and top line revenues. A father of four, Figurski is passionate about helping children learn and chose to join MindPlay when the program was able to help one of his own children, a struggling reader, improve his reading fluency.
Join me in wishing John (john@mindplay.com) and Dan (dan@mindplay.com) all the best on joining the MindPlay team!
And MOUSE has elected Dawn Barber to its Board of Directors. Dawn is a recognized leader within the rapidly growing technology community in New York City. She is a co-founder of the NY Tech Meetup, an organization with more than 21,000 members representing the most innovative companies in the city who come together to demonstrate new ideas and share leading edge thinking on technology topics. She has extensive experience in planning and organizing groups and events in the New York technology community. From 1998 to 2001, she served as Director, New York New Media Association (NYNMA), then the largest association of professionals using innovative technologies in the New York area, and has since produced many other technology events in New York City. Dawn is dedicated to increasing the presence of women in technology. She is a Fellow for the New York-based Pipeline Fund, which aims to increase the number of women who become angel investors and social entrepreneurs. She also serves on the NYC Advisory Board of Astia, an organization dedicated to building women leaders and accelerating the funding and growth of high potential, high-growth startups led by women. Dawn is a New York Trustee of The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, serves on the Board of InSITE, and is Apprenticeship Director for the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Congratulations to Dawn on her work with MOUSE!
Looking for talent?
The talented Annie Teich has relaunched The Teich Group and is again actively blogging about social media, content marketing, and other marketing strategies for educational publishers. If you're interested in help with your branding and positioning your corporate communications, you can find Annie at ateich@theteichgroup.net or on her website. You will love working with her!
Happy anniversary!
Carson-Dellosa Publishing, LLC is celebrating 35 years in business by expanding its offerings of high-quality digital content as well as the paper-based products teachers have come to know and love. Throughout the company's history, Carson-Dellosa has adapted its product offerings as the needs of educational professionals and parents have changed. In its anniversary year, the company will provide expertise, knowledge and content that supports a growing emphasis on managing students' individual learning styles and a national focus on standards-based curriculum. The growing Carson-Dellosa product portfolio will be designed to help teachers and parents use both paper and technology to enrich the children's learning experiences in and out of the classroom. In addition to the introduction of new products, Carson-Dellosa has planned monthly promotions to thank its loyal customers. I am particularly thrilled and honored to be working with Judy Harris, CEO of Carson-Dellosa, in planning for EdNET 2012—she is one of the EdNET Industry Advisory Board members. Please join me in wishing Judy and all of the talented Carson-Dellosa team and very happy anniversary!
OK, that's it, friends, and I am out of here. Have a very special weekend and gear up for another busy week starting Monday. You know you can check back here at the end of next week for your dose of scoops. Till then....Vicki, the Snoop
