The Time Has Come: A Manifesto (…of sorts)
LSC-Kingwood Spring 2010 Entrepreneur Certificate Program
The Spring 2010 Entrepreneur Certificate program at Lone Star College-Kingwood kicks off next week. Join us for a series of 8-hour seminars designed to help you get your idea off the ground.
Course #1: Getting Started: Do You Have What It Takes?
Are you ready to start a business? In this course, you will take a personal assessment of yourself and your business passions and come to understand the realities of business ownership, including the economic as well as the emotional investment. Thereafter, specialized one-on-one consulting is available with one of the Lone Star College System Small Business Development Center consultants at no cost as you start and grow your business.
Tuesdays & Thursdays, February 9-18, 2010, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Fee: $51.00
Registration #: 23515
To register, just call 281-312-1660 or 281-312-1661.
NEXT COURSE: Find the Right Business. Legal and Human Elements, begins Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Lone Star College System Entrepreneur Certificate
This program is conducted by Lone Star Corporate College (LSCC) in partnership with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Students completing the entire program will be awarded an Entrepreneur Certificate and a trial membership to the local chamber of commerce. Specialized one on one consulting is available with one of SBDC’s full time business consultants at no cost.
Entrepreneurship Courses
• Getting Started
• Finding the Right Type of Business
• Finding/Keeping the Money
• Business Plan/Marketing
• Consult with a Local Business Owner
For a more information about the LSCS Entrepreneur Certificate and other business and professional courses, check out the LSCS Spring 2010 Continuing Education Schedule of Classes.
29+ Days Later: Seth Godin
On Friday, Nov. 6, I had been blogging for exactly one month. To celebrate, I wanted to play my own version of #FollowFriday, or #FollowFive, and give shout-outs to some real experts who have helped me get started on my blogging adventure. So, before I move on to other topics, I need to finish. Today, Seth Godin.
I’ve been following Seth long before there was anything called Twitter. The route to his marketing advice goes something like an article I downloaded from the 2004 HOW Design Conference web site by Tom Peters which led me to Fast Company magazine which led to Seth Godin. I first read Purple Cow and then, Unleashing the Ideavirus. Since then, I’ve followed Seth’s blog and found his thoughts, though aimed at business, very applicable to higher education and continuing education, in particular. Most recently, I read The Dip and, again, found it very prescient to a year spent mulling over my career, my life and my education. Thanks Seth. One can usually find a Seth Godin quote on my office wall. Currently, I have one that reads: “By the time you’re told the right answer, it’ll be too late.” Another favorite is “Sell just one thing. Go deep. Then stop.” (or something to that effect)
So, thanks Seth. I’ll definitely keep following.
Tell me. What have you learned from Seth?
28 Days Later: Chris Brogan
This Friday, Nov. 6, I will have been blogging for exactly one month. To celebrate, I wanted to play my own version of #FollowFriday, or #FollowFive, and give shout-outs to some real experts who have helped me get started on my blogging adventure. Today, Chris Brogan.
In my office, I have a whiteboard that is now filled with what one might call a mindmap. It was a way for me to get a handle on the structure of what I do, the many areas I manage, and how those sometimes disparate areas could come together to form a blog. While talking to an experienced, blogging co-worker (more on her Friday), she mentioned that I had to follow Chris Brogan. Taking her word for it, I searched for Chris on Twitter and followed him. Boy, am I glad I did. Chris’ posts, tweets and videos have all served to make a sort of mini-blogging boot camp. I get his RSS feed into MyYahoo!, I follow him using on Twitter, and I have his book, Trust Agents, waiting for me on my Kindle. He is truly someone who takes to heart the idea that sharing one’s knowledge and experience garners more attention and followers than simply using social media to sell a product. Digging deep into Chris’ archived posts, I even put together my own blog “cheat sheet” (the idea for these ‘anniversary blogs’ are a variation on something Chris posted about blog topics).
So, thanks Chris. I’ll definitely keep following.
27 Days Later: Shel Israel
This Friday, Nov. 6, I will have been blogging for exactly one month. To celebrate, I wanted to play my own version of #FollowFriday and give shout-outs to some real experts who have helped me get started on my blogging adventure.
Shel Israel
A Twitter link led me to Shel Israel. Starting this blog was difficult. I needed help on social media, marketing and what to talk about. As my blog title says, I’m a ”master of none”. I’ve really struggled to find something coherent to discuss among the many subjects (products) that I manage. Mr. Israel’s blogpost today on personal brands within the corporate structure really got me. It’s exactly what I’m attempting and experimenting with, only within higher education, not the corporate world – just replace the word ‘corporate’ with ‘college’. The scary part is that, so far, the “college” hasn’t caught on, yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’ll definitely be following. Thanks Mr. Israel.
The Latest Scapegoat for the “Education Crisis”

Photo by George Eastman Collection
I didn’t think I would have time to write a post today, but a late afternoon tweet from Edutopia brought me online. Apparently, last week, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for a “revolutionary change” in teacher training programs, calling them, according to The New York Times, a “cash cow” for their respective colleges. Duncan reportedly went on to cite conversations with teachers about their training in which they said that they were not adequately trained to meet the demands of teaching.
Scapegoating
First, this kind of fingerpointing and scapegoating goes nowhere to solving the problem. Teacher training programs are in no way “cash cows.” At least in alternative programs, paying for counselors is expensive. And, in Texas, at least, programs are being told to reduce prices so that they can finally be eligible for state reimbursement. Second, most teacher training programs, both traditional and alternative, are heavily regulated by state education agencies. Duncan did say that government was partly to blame, but I would say all the blame should rest on the government. Only when schools finally move away from an industrialized education model and begin to embrace the type of knowledge-based models students will ultimately find themselves in once they are in the workforce, can fingers be pointed at teacher training programs that are not keeping up.
What do you think?
Environmental Consciousness
I always thought that when a true economic argument could be made for environmental awareness, then, it would hit the mainstream. Though it would be great for “green” training programs to claim that a by-product of the training is a rise in environmental consciousness on the part of employees, there are other drivers. More and more businesses are seeing the competitive advantage of ‘greening’ and, more importantly, by raising awareness of green or sustainability issues at the worker-level, employees may develop a greater awareness of the economics of greening. Namely, they should gain understanding of how reducing, recycling and reusing impacts the bottom-line of a company and, ultimately, their jobs.
Social Media in Higher Ed
For some, like me, the use of social media in higher education is a whole new frontier. With budgets so tight, what more could we be doing to tap the marketing potential of social media? Are we, at the community college level, being slow to catch on? The topic is rarely discussed at meetings when everyone is wondering how we’re going to promote our programs.




