A Photographic Story

Change your lens, Change your story
Summer is a good time to think about better ways to use photography during the 2019-20 school year. As always, the key to communicating is understanding how the recipients of your messaging respond to your photography – be it homegrown or professionally produced. Here are two helpful suggestions from our friend and colleague Judah Harris.

#1 Happy Faces – a Lot of Them, and Not Enough of… People like to see themselves in pictures (usually) – and so will their family and friends. This was true even before the Selfie epidemic hit us. But don’t rely solely on the smiling-for-the-camera shots or photos of large groups to raise your school’s profile. Separate these types of pictures from more serious photography that actually documents your mission! Lots of faces prove that you have a crowd and imply that everyone is having a great time. But if that’s all of what we see most frequently in your marketing photography, we lose the details. What are the students actually experiencing? Keep in mind that photography that gets close and involved, is gripping and emotional. Viewers pay attention when they grasp a story they can relate to. They want to learn more. You captivate your students – now captivate your viewers!

#2 Don’t Leave It to the Audience – Present the Photos as You Want Them to Be Seen. Curate your photos. Take your best and most informative photographs and share them proudly with your audience. You can use individual shots (or a few) and attach a short story or explanation, or you can assemble 30-60 images that tell a fuller story (i.e., preparing for a siddur celebration or mock trial), sequence them, and offer them as a photo essay, a visual presentation that can be viewed full-screen. This will grab not seconds of attention, but full minutes of viewer immersion. That’s gold in this day and age. Edit and categorize your website galleries carefully and use nicely-designed banners and graphics on the landing pages to promote your photo essay. Tout the photo essay to your email list and on social media. You can also post images selectively on Facebook as newly-created albums to provide a photo essay experience, or use a slideshow hosting program (I’ve used Slideshare for many of mine – see example, the Education Photo Essay.)

Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker, speaker and writer. He has produced visual content for numerous educational programs in the US and Israel, and is also a noted photo educator. Judah’s narrative photography has been featured on the covers of more than 40 works of literary fiction, in advertising all over the world, and on the pages of publications ranging from The New York Times to Jewish Action and Mishpacha.

Have questions? Should you have any questions about assessing present materials, implementing a marketing plan, crafting compelling stories, utilizing data-driven research to present your case, or any of my cost-effective day school services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Enjoy the rest of the summer – and share something nice with us in the fall!
Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

The Good Path – part I

This Lag b’Omer, I’m heeding my own advice and stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m sharing mystical thoughts courtesy of an old Hassidic tale, Aish Hatorah and Rabbi Yonason Goldson, founder of Ethical Imperatives. Of course, since I am “all about” providing practical, easy-to-implement marketing and development content, I am still providing a link to 33 strategic suggestions.

Rabban Yochanon ben Zakka instructed his students: Go see which is the good path to which a person should cleave. Rabbi Eliezer said: A good eye. Rabbi Yehoshua said: A good friend. Rabbi Yossi said: A good neighbor. Rabbi Shimon said: To foresee consequences. Rabbi Elazar said: A good heart. Rabban Yochanon replied: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach over your words, for included in his words are all of yours. {Ethics of the Fathers, 2:13}

As educators, you’ll note that Rabban Yochanon did not define the “good path” for his students. Rather, he instructed them on how to discover the answer.

But why did he favor Rabbi Elazar’s response?
The best way to understand our place in the world is to look into the Torah. This was how Rabban Yochanon’s students interpreted his mandate to “go and see.” They began by rereading the creation narrative, searching for clues about the “good path.”

Each student stopped at: And God saw the light, that it was good. Each student recognized that the Torah’s first mention of the word “good” offered the most likely source for divining the good path. From this point on, however, their interpretations diverged.

Click here to read the Good Path – part II  and discover interesting insights learned through their journey and Rabbi Elazar’s response.

Have questions? Should you have any questions about assessing present materials, implementing a marketing plan, crafting compelling stories, utilizing data-driven research to present your case, or any of my cost-effective day school services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

The Good Path – part II

Rabbi Eliezer said: A good eye
To Rabbi Eliezer, the light of creation cannot refer simply to the light by which we see, for the simple reason that Hashem did not create the sun and the stars until the fourth day, whereas He created light on day one. If so, what was this light?

The kabbalists explain that since Hashem is everywhere, He could not begin to create the universe until He had first created a place where He was not, a spiritual blank canvas on which He would produce the greatest creative masterpiece — the universe, and humanity. Only after preparing this spiritual vacuum (the voidand darknessdescribed in the verse), could Hashem begin the act of creation, reintroducing divine energy into the spiritual void — an act described in the expression, Let there be light!

 Thus Rabbi Eliezer declares that to walk the “good path” requires a “good eye,” the ability to perceive Divine light and follow it through our world of spiritual darkness. Once we cultivate the spiritual sensitivity to appreciate Torah’s Divine illumination, we will be able to cling to the good path.

 Rabbi Yehoshua said: A good friend
According to Jewish law, each 24-hour day actually begins as the evening sun falls below the horizon. Just as Shabbat starts Friday evening, so too does every day of the week begin as night falls, rather than as the sun rises. The biblical source for this is the verse, And there was evening and there was morning — one day. 

Why?

Human nature dictates that we truly appreciate only those things we are forced to do without. Just as the light of creation is essential, equally essential is our appreciation of that light. Hashem created darkness before light, to enable us to fully appreciate the light that illuminates our world.

Light, therefore, became a good friend to the darkness that preceded it, while the darkness provided the context with which to appreciate the light. According to Rabbi Yehoshua, adherence to the good path requires not only spiritual perception but also a context to give that perception true meaning — not only a good eye but also a good friend.

Rabbi Yossi said: A good neighbor
The kabbalists introduce us to the mystifying idea that in the earliest moments of creation, light and darkness were not divided, but were intertwined in harmonious coexistence.

After defining the light of creation as spiritual illumination of Divine will, we can interpret light as symbolic of good and darkness as symbolic of evil. Since everything Hashem does is ultimately for the good, light and darkness, good and evil, were initially, inextricably, woven together. But since the ultimate purpose of creation requires us to recognize and choose the good path, Hashem separated the two and enabled us to discern the good we must follow. As Rabbi Yossi understands a good neighbor, the ability to recognize boundaries between the light and the darkness, between good and evil, is the key to walking the good path.

Rabbi Shimon said: To foresee consequences
The Talmud explains that the creation of light, although necessary for human existence, also presented a profound danger.

Just as nuclear technology can produce energy to sustain, so too can it produce the power to annihilate. In the hands of the righteous, divine spiritual light can elevate humanity to the level of godliness. In the hands of the unscrupulous, it can be perverted to manipulate and exploit this world’s unlimited blessings. To limit the access of the wicked to His Divine light, and protect it from abuse, Hashem concealed his light in a place where the wicked would not go: the Torah.

To truly acquire Torah wisdom, the student of Torah internalizes Torah values. Torah transforms a person’s characterand activates the ability to discern possible consequences.

Rabbi Elazar said: A good heart
“The greatest distance,” our rabbis teach, “is from the head to the heart.” True wisdom comes when we internalize what we know in our minds, so that it penetrates our hearts, and becomes part of who we are.

The first four students all identified the correct source to answer their teacher’s question, and accurately interpreted its relevance. Their responses varied because they each emphasized a different critical factor in how to adhere to the good path. Perception, context, discernment, or foresight?

They erred by failing to recognize that each of the steps they identified is an integral part of a process that is incomplete without every component.

Rabbi Elazar ben Arach expressed this understanding as a good heart: only after acquiring total perspective of every facet of the Divine light can we adhere to the good path. Once we internalize Torah values, we can refine our characters, so that Torah wisdom will serve us and we serve it.

It is the total commitment to acquiring a good heart that enables one to walk the good path.This is why Rabban Yochanon declares: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach over your words, for included in his words are all of yours.

Days of transformation
Between Pesach and Shavuot we count 49 days, from the korban omer (the offering of the first barley harvest) to the sh’tei halechem (the offering of the first wheat harvest). Sefiras HaOmer, therefore, represents our transition from creatures little better than animals, to humans more exalted than the angels. The freedom of Pesach, ironically, does not even begin the count. Freedom is mere potential. What we do with freedom defines who and what we are.

Gematria: a transformative Math Lesson
Within Rabbi Elazar’s formula of a good heart we find a profoundly mystical allusion. The numerical value of the word lev, heart, is 32; the numerical value of tov, good, is 17. Together they equal 49.

And so we discover that the first 32 days represent a transformation of the heart, where the final 17 days represent the application of our newly elevated moral character into the practice of true good, or tov. The transition point is day 33: Lag b’Omer. 

So now on Day 33 of the Omer, take a moment (or 33!) to salute yourselves – for the work you do guiding your students along a critical process so that they will ultimately embody all the values articulated by Rabban Yochanon ben Zakka and thus be able to cleave to a path that is good in all ways.

* This discussion is adapted from the Chassidic classic, B’nei Yissosschar. Expanded from an article originally published on aish.com.

** Rabbi Yonason Goldson retired after 23 years in Torah education to found Ethical Imperatives, LLC. He is a professional speaker and TEDx presenter, teaching professionals how good ethics is good business. Visit him here or here.

Click here to read the Good Path – part I 

Click here to access 33 effective marketing tips

Have questions? Should you have any questions about assessing present materials, implementing a marketing plan, crafting compelling stories, utilizing data-driven research to present your case, or any of my cost-effective day school services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

Let Your Message Shine

Capturing your Focus
Pictures, like word, communicate. We’re all familiar with the expression, “a picture says a thousand words.” That’s why I feel compelled to tell you about a recent email blast I received from my local yoga studio.

Discover Vinyasa Yoga
Dear Candace,

Tomorrow’s 4 pm woman only class will be taught by a new instructor, Jessica. Jessica has years of experience teaching Vinyasa flow yoga. Come and try her out!

Please note: The picture is a man, but this is a woman’s only class.

Frame your Message
Seriously?
Lest you think, this was a tzinut issue, I happen to know the women who do tree poses and downward dogs at this studio. They would never pixelate women’s faces! Even if the goal was to “lean to the tzniut right,” there are better options.

Of the yoga images featured in this eZine, which do you think would motivate a woman who enjoys yoga to try out a new instructor?

Do the pictures you choose enhance your message or do they sabotage your communication?

(I just spoke with frustrated board member of a pre-K through 12th grade school whose executive director insists on using only pre-K pictures in all their advertising because they are “so cute.” Careful: “cute” can be PR saboteur.)

Summer Objective
The summer is a great time to sift through old photos and create a compelling database of images!

Have questions? Contact me via email or call me at 516.569.8070 to schedule a free introductory chat about enhancing your communication.

Here’s Looking at You!
Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

A Kiwi & Some Dates Walk Into A Bar…

Let’s just say that yesterday I volunteered to do my favorite three-year-old’s Tu b’Shevat shopping. It turned out that my assignment was less then clear.

Sadly, I’ve heard parents complain that, at times their schools communicate in a confusing manner. Perhaps in attempting to have a wide appeal the administration is sending watered-down generic messages. Or, perhaps the person charged with communications  lacks clear direction. A host of reasons can be responsible for poor communication.

Be sure you don’t get dates when you want kiwis!
Be sure that all your messages are clear and compelling!

To learn more about my crystal clear Creative Communications services, or any of my other day school marketing and development services, please send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Happy Tu b’Shevat! Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

ps. Are you curious? I bought two kiwis and a container of dates!

Lights, Camera, Action! – part I

Lights, Camera, Action!

“You’re ok live on camera, right?” This simple question makes many uber-confident heads of school, principals, and executive directors shudder!

Chances are, like it or not, you will be asked to do live interviews. Some might be the softball variety – requiring perhaps a few nice words as an honoree, some may be for local TV stations seeking color about Jewish holidays or your social action leadership program, while others may be interviews with reporters whose agendas are not clear-cut.

We’ve all suffered through dinners featuring normally vivacious educators and leaders looking stiff and uncomfortable. Worse, we’ve seen articulate people deliver memorized words in drab monotones. Since you don’t want to be THAT person on camera, take some time to prepare!

Click here to read Lights, Camera, Action! – part II

To learn more about compelling video marketing tools or any of my other day school marketing and development services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

Lights, Camera, Action! – part II

Set the Stage

Except for circumstances where you have no advance warning, it’s best to prepare by practicing your message and your presentation style. These tips from photographer/videographer Judah Harris should help.

  Be sure that you know, to the greatest extent possible, the intended purpose of the video, where it will be seen, and why you’re the person being asked to appear on camera.

  Think not only about what you want to say, but also – especially if this is a marketing message – what the viewers might want to hear. Connect the two as seamlessly as possible. Stick to your message, but consider your audience.

  For a more natural (and believable) presentation, DO NOT memorize your text. Of course, you need to remember select ideas and specific key words so that you remember to incorporate them.

  Don’t be afraid to stop talking and look directly into the camera. Pauses can be very effective.

  Let the interviewer lead the way. Refrain from answering before the question has been completed… even if you are sure you know exactly what the question is.

  How are you doing on camera? If your school is producing this video, ask for the producer’s candid feedback. Are you coming across as interesting, believable, and clearly understood? If not, request a retake. (You certainly have this luxury when your school, not a TV station, has commissioned the interview.)

~~~~
Judah S. Harris is a photographer and filmmaker whose photography documenting Jewish life has been exhibited at the Jewish Museum and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum in New York City, Beth Hatefutsoth in Tel Aviv, and the Klutznick National Museum in Washington, D.C. To learn more, visit his website.
~~~~

There is a classic tale from the Talmud (Ta’anit page 23A), of Honi Ha-Me’agel, the circle maker, who came upon an old man planting a carob tree.  Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?”  The man replied, “Seventy years.”  Honi then asked, “And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?”  The man answered, “Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.”  Trees help us focus on the next generation… on a meaningful future.

On Tu b’Shevat (and every day) we applaud the Jewish educators who focus on the next generation day in and day out to ensure that our legacy continues mi’dor l’dor. I extend a personal mazal tov to our next generation: Bella! Of course… a hearty yashar koach to her parents and all her morot at Yeshiva Har Torah.

Click here to read Lights, Camera, Action! – part I

To learn more about compelling video marketing tools or any of my other day school marketing and development services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

The Treasure of Trees – part I

It’s Time to Celebrate!

While some people I know and love are counting down until Pesach, I’m thinking about birthday parties. Truly, I’m thinking about one in particular – the one that occurs on the 15th of Shevat.

My mom and I share an annual laugh recollecting buxser – that inedible fruit that PTA moms, for some inexplicable reason, distributed to us each Tu b’Shevat. Perhaps they were dentists. Thankfully, my children were presented with sweeter, easier to bite, fruits and even participated in meaningful Tu b’Shevat sedarim. (Turns out that buxser is actually carob – but not those chocolaty chips I sprinkle on my frozen yogurt while pretending virtuously that I am eating a healthy, low-fat treat. Buxser is also noticeably absent from the list of biblical fruits that includes olives, dates, grapes, figs, and pomegranates.

Tu b’Shevat presents many easily implemented opportunities for marketing messages. In fact, this morning, I received a LinkedIn offer for a free poster from Aishdas. I must say that I was quite attracted to its marketing message, “We often complain that we spend so much time on the halachic trees, we lose sight of the forest. Hoping this helps you remember.” Why not take advantage of Tu b’Shevat to publicize how you keep your eye on both the trees and the forest – nurturing children, planting seeds, and reaping lasting, nourishing, wholesome, results?

Reach out to your stakeholders using these themes of planting, sowing, and reaping.

For a comprehensive list of resources, click here to read The Treasure of Trees – part II.

Should you have any questions about implement a Tu b’Shevat plan, marketing, resource development, assessing present materials, crafting compelling stories, utilizing data-driven research to present your case, or about any of my cost-effective day school services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

The Treasure of Trees – part II

Resources to Explore

Lookstein Center
The Lookstein Center compiles an extremely comprehensive annual list of resources including creative teaching activities, projects you can recommend to families, and Tu b’Shevat sedarim.

Hazon
Hazon
 is offering a variety of resources, lesson plans, and an updated Tu b’Shevat Hagaddah this year. 

The Jewish National Fund (JNF)
See JNF’s
 Tu b’Shevat Across America Page for a host of ideas, projects, and resources.

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)
The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) website provides creative resources about the Jewish approach to the environment.

Jewish Interactive
For a host of interactive experiences, please visit: Jewish Interactive.

Click here to read The Treasure of Trees – part I.

Should you have any questions about implement a Tu b’Shevat plan, marketing, resource development, assessing present materials, crafting compelling stories, utilizing data-driven research to present your case, or about any of my cost-effective day school services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman

What’s Your Story?

Tell me a story. Make it a good one!

Savvy administrators, educators, and fundraisers know the power of a compelling story. We’re told to collect them… so we always have the perfect story to illustrate a point, convince a parent, persuade a student, or seal a deal. Yet, finding a perfect gem to add dazzle to your school’s story collection can be overwhelming.

In her pitch for a nonprofit storytelling conference, Vanessa Chase shares five concrete questions you can use as prompts when trying to motivate others to share their stories. 

Watch and learn!

I hope that you are creating wonderful memories and stories this summer! Should you have any questions about marketing, resource development, assessing present materials, crafting compelling stories, utilizing data-driven research to present your case, or about any of my day school services, please feel free to send me an email or call me at 516.569.8070.

Kol tuv,

Candace Plotsker-Herman