The Power of New

It’s that time again…back to school. There’s something about going back to school in January that’s refreshing and renewing. It’s a new year and time for resolutions like, “I’m not going to let things go until the last minute,” and “I’m actually going to study this semester.” It’s the crispness of the new notebooks, day planners, and the organization of the newly-created class folders on your hard drive that makes it feel like this semester is going to be a great one.

I am getting ready to go back to school, too. Believe it or not, it’s actually more challenging for professors than for students. I’m finalizing which companies will be “clients” for my class. This semester, I’m teaching Advertising and Promotion Management (using Launch! From Flat World Knowledge) and the semester project includes doing an integrated marketing communications plan for a real client. At the end of the semester, the student teams will present their plans to the clients and a panel of executive judges– senior executives from advertising agencies in the area. The team that earns the highest score from the clients and executive judges gets a five-point bonus on their grade. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into an experiential learning class like this. I think it makes it more interesting to teach and more fun for students to learn. The feedback from clients and executives combined with a final plan that the students can show on job interviews makes the class challenging, but rewarding for everyone.

One of the other projects I’ve been working on is writing a book called The Power of Selling with Flat World Knowledge. I’m really passionate about using interactive materials in my classes. In fact, I always tell my students that my classes are not a spectator sport. So it was a perfect fit to create a textbook and learning materials using the Flat World Knowledge platform. The Power of Selling is filled with over 150 links to videos, websites, articles, and podcasts that make the concepts in the book come alive. Here’s the best part…the textbook is free online. (That really takes away that pesky excuse that the bookstore doesn’t have the book!)

One of the things I really like about all of the books from Flat World Knowledge is the options that are available for students that make textbooks affordable. You can get a soft cover textbook for around $30. If you don’t want the commitment of buying a book, just print a chapter for only $1.99. Plus, there are e-books, podcasts, exercises, quizzes, and a lot of other learning tools. Whatever method helps you learn best, there’s a definitely a learning tool that works for you. You can try all of the learning tools when you get the “All You Can Eat” option which gives you access to all of the learning tools for less than $15. (It’s just what you need to have that killer semester you are planning for.) The best part is that you decide what you want, when you want it, and how much you will spend on your textbook and class materials.

I can’t wait until the book is published in March. Let me know if you would like me to share a video or two in advance. Does this sound like a bit of a sales pitch? But of course, what do you expect from the author of The Power of Selling?

Now, back to my syllabus. A new semester and a new year…this is so inspiring! Let’s see, how many homework assignments should I give?