134. Should This School Event Stay or Go? How Schools Can Evaluate Events and Programs with Miriam Stein

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[00:00:00] Welcome to Mindful School Marketing, your go-to podcast for personal and professional growth. We’re school marketers, business owners, and moms passionate about connecting other school professionals with tools and strategies for success. We love solving problems, exploring new ideas, and thinking outside the box. Let’s transform your school and life starting right now. 

[00:00:22] Aubrey: Welcome to Mindful School Marketing. I’m Aubrey Bursch. Today we’re gonna talk about something schools don’t always love to talk about, but probably really need to talk about more often, and that is how to decide whether an event, program, or tradition should continue Because schools are really, really good at adding things.

[00:00:39] We add events, programs, celebrations, fundraisers, community-building moments, events, anything. Any new initiative, we love adding them onto our plates. But, often each one started for a good reason, like there was a need for it, right? But over time, those events, you know, may stop serving the school in the same way, and parent volunteers may dry up.

[00:01:00] We see this a lot. Staff take on more of the lift. The event may really look successful from the outside, but internally it may be draining time and energy and resources from everyone. So today Miriam Stein of Thrive Hive is joining us to walk through a decision-making matrix that will help schools move from, you know, the emotion around events and these programs and stuff to strategy.

[00:01:22] So we’re gonna talk about how to evaluate whether something is still aligned with your mission, your enrollment goals, your community needs, and your actual capacity. So I’m super excited for this conversation for many reasons. but because I see this as one of the time that independent and private schools, especially small schools, you know, where every hour counts, and every staff member counts and every event has to matter, like this is a great episode for you to tune into, to figure out like how do you evaluate your events, programs, and see what stays and see what goes.

[00:01:52] So Miriam, thrilled to have you here. Thanks for joining us today. 

[00:01:56] Miriam: Oh, gosh, Aubrey, it’s such a pleasure to be here. I love your content. I love following you. I love your webinars and your podcasts, and thanks so much for having me. I’m really honored to be here and excited to share. I’m a part of Thrive Hive.

[00:02:09] I work with my, power partner, Laurie Ehrlich, on enrollment and marketing strategy for schools. Some of you may know me also as Miriam of Saddle Rock Strategies. I have two identities, as many of us do, just mine have names to them. But my number one goal is to help people get better at what they do, especially in schools with enrollment, with marketing strategy, and I served for many years in a private independent school.

[00:02:33] It was pre-K through 12th grade of about 1,000 students, and I felt like we had to fight for every kid and every family. It is not easy. It is complicated, sophisticated, hard work, and I’m so excited to be here today and talk a little bit about programs. 

[00:02:47] Aubrey: Yeah, this is gonna be awesome. And as many of you know from- I- Miriam’s been on many of our conferences and webinars and everything, so I love having her on, and I am so glad she’s joining the podcast today.

[00:02:57] So we’re gonna really dive in right now, to kind of why schools hold onto events, right? So let’s talk about, you know, before we dive into the matrix, what’s the emotional side of this, right? Why is it so hard for schools to stop doing something even when they know it might not be working anymore?

[00:03:15] Miriam, do you have insights? 

[00:03:15] Miriam: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, I think if you think about schools, there’s such a power in the, like, repetition of the day-to-day. Like, every single day the kids are showing up, the parents are dropping. Like, there’s a real power in routine there, and I think that there’s this like emotional momentum- some around programs also.

[00:03:32] I would bet you, Aubrey, I wish I could see our listeners, but if I said to you like, how many of you have thought about letting go of your open house, which is like the biggest anchor program, more than 50% of the people driving right now listening are saying like, “Mm-hmm, that’s me.” Like, it- you’re not alone if you think about that, but I think that there is this like emotional umbrella of like we have to.

[00:03:53] We’ve done it for so long. Um, what if, what if that was the thing that would get us the, the right family? So I think people are afraid to let it go. I think there’s like an emotional legacy. Sometimes you have also a significant influencer in the school community, like a board member, a donor who, you know, the donor who owns the donut shop and says, “We’re gonna have the donut breakfast,” and that was 25 years ago, and like people aren’t coming anymore, and they retire.

[00:04:20] You know? So it’s like something that was important once and we haven’t evaluated like should we keep this? And I think that should is like very murky, and people just like don’t quite know what to do with it. so I think admission and marketing are always driving towards like let’s cast as wide a net as possible, but we don’t always have the tools to evaluate, like how can we discern what’s effective, not effective?

[00:04:46] Aubrey: Absolutely. I think that’s so interesting. I mean, I, I love that the emotions you hit on. I think that fear element is so key because it is we are afraid of the ramifications of if we take this thing away. Mm-hmm. What are the ramifications, like, internally from stakeholders? Like, what if we take this away and

[00:05:04] I’m thinking of auctions. There’s this big fear around taking away an auction. Mm. What if we don’t make up the money elsewhere? Yeah. You know, there’s, there’s a, a lot around that. So, there is a lot of emotion surrounding, you know, even thinking about, like, an event and, and either, you know, f- figuring out what to do with it or figuring out if it serves your school anymore, for sure.

[00:05:23] Miriam: Yeah. I mean, are there other … You work with so many schools all over. Are there specific types of programs? Like, the auction is definitely one that’s, like, a bear. Are there other types of programs that come to mind that you feel like, okay, this kind of pro- … Like, some things are trendy, you know? Like, this kind of program is kind of, like, out of style, and maybe schools can have permission to let go a little.

[00:05:45] Aubrey: Oh, absolutely. I think it’s different for each school, but I mean, before we start- hit record, we were talking about, like, just those things that become, like, even traditions, right? you were saying, like, you know, uh, what was it? Coffee with Kara or something like that. Like, the head of school, right?

[00:05:58] And like- Yeah … that was the tradition, and that kept going. But then, like, you know, Kara left and the new head came in, and they were like, “This isn’t working,” right? Yeah. Or if your parent demographic changes and they’re not at school anymore, right? Yeah. So, like, the purpose of the event and what it started out is no longer serving, Mm

[00:06:13] serving the school. Auctions certainly. I think, community-building events, or community-building events, the interesting one I always find, is, like, this hybrid between community-building and fundraising. Mm-hmm. And there’s, like, this gray area event that is i- I find, you know, the schools struggle a lot with that one because they’re like, “Are we actually doing this?”

[00:06:33] Like, is this serving? What purpose is it serving? So unclear purpose and fear of, of taking it away, for sure. 

[00:06:39] Miriam: Absolutely. It’s so interesting. This just jumped to my mind actually. And, and, like, at the school where I worked at for many years and my kids go to school, for the longest time we didn’t have an annual gala.

[00:06:50] and many schools do. They have an annual dinner or a gala of some sort, and we didn’t because the development director at the time said it’s not worth the time to invest in … Like, the time, the expense, the headache, the emotional energy to make it happen, and I think those are all costs that go into running events.

[00:07:10] Like, for sure time, which is, like, the most precious commodity. like, m- man, woman hours that go into things. asking of teacher … How many times are we gonna ask teachers to show up outside of school? What does it look like if we don’t have teachers show up outside of school? Like, you know, should they come?

[00:07:24] Do we comp them a ticket? Like, these are all questions that go into things too. And I think, you know, if we, what we’re gonna show you in a little while is this matrix, but the key is to really think about, like, how is this program helping move this school forward? And if, if you’re listening right now and you’re thinking about, like, “How can I turn this into something practical with my team?”

[00:07:45] We’re gonna drop a few juicy questions in a- along the way, and this is one of them, to just, as you’re planning a program, like, how is this helping our mission, or how is this helping us move the school forward? The answer may be it’s not mission-aligned, but there’s a reason why we’re still gonna do it.

[00:08:03] But it’s important to at least come in with a critical eye, and that’s okay To ask that question. 

[00:08:09] Aubrey: Yeah, I love that you’re, you’re kicking us off with some great questions. I have a question for you, Miriam. Yes. Like, as you know, when I think of our listeners of our, o- this podcast, you know, a lot of them are e- enrollment marketing advancement professionals.

[00:08:21] And so, you know, I’m curious, we talked about a few, things earlier, but how, how would this, like thinking about program review and evaluation matter to people in those positions and for people telling the school’s story? Like, what’s the broader implemen- Mm … implications to not like taking, say asking these hard questions, right?

[00:08:40] Miriam: okay, so it’s so interesting like how programs end up falling into like which departments at schools. And if we think about like advancement, when I think about school advancement, which looks different in every single school, and some schools have a 10-person advancement team that, you know, each person has a small slice of a job, and some schools have a one-person like admission marketing, magic wizard professional, and that’s it.

[00:09:04] But the interesting thing about advancement professionals is that we’re facing outwards towards the school, like towards the community, and we’re showing up and saying like, “Hey, come hang out with us,” but also we’re trying to reflect what happens inside the four walls of the school building. So if there’s language like our messaging, what’s our value proposition, like why invest in us, we have to take all of that language that’s like happening inside and try to like make it show up on the outside.

[00:09:33] if I went to an open house, let’s say, or to like a fall festival, let’s say, of five different schools, how would I know the difference between each of the different schools? And I think that, like if you’re in the marketing department or development or admission, that’s what you wanna be able to say.

[00:09:49] Like you want a parent to be able to walk away and say, “This is why I would go to that school.” so as you’re planning events, think about where is our value proposition showing up. Is it on the marketing materials? Like are we brand and mission aligned? Are we, you know, Aubrey, you brought up earlier like, you know, if we are committed to the outdoors and to nature, what’s the carbon footprint of the program that we’re running?

[00:10:14] Are we running a program with five bounce houses that feels like electric and like does that align? Gosh, make sure that the program you’re running reflects your school values. 

[00:10:23] Aubrey: Oh, I love that so much. Yeah, and I, I would add like the plastic water bottles for that carbon. 

[00:10:28] Miriam: Yes. Yes. I love- Oh my God, I got called out on that by the way one time.

[00:10:31] I remember we were having a parent ambassador program early in my admission career, and we had curried coffee. and a parent came up to me afterwards and said, “I don’t think this is reflective of our school values.” And I was like, “Gosh, you’re so right. Okay, you get to pick up the like big Starbucks jug next time.”

[00:10:47] Aubrey: Thank you, and help. 

[00:10:49] Miriam: Totally. And she got … We laughed about it, but, like, she was so right. And she was right- Yeah … and I was right to say, like, “This is what’s easy for us. Like, how can we make this work?” 

[00:10:58] Aubrey: I love that so much. Yeah. So I, you know, I think this is why, like, evaluating the programs is so important. I mean, from a marketing perspective, I’m just thinking about, like, if you’re putting on a program and it doesn’t instill the value proposition and the values of your community, and you’re asking these hard questions, right? You can figure out, like, is the ROI on this event actually worth it, right? Yep. Are we accomplishing our goals? And I mean, for marketing, it, it is that, messaging that’s both internal and external and how

[00:11:26] And it’s aligns, similar to how we just discussed with this event. So definitely important. Yeah. And, and this is why I’m so glad we’re having this conversation today. Um- 

[00:11:34] Miriam: Yeah. Can I … So can I just offer something? Yeah. So, when Thrive Hive works with schools to help them with their enrollment and marketing, one of the key things that we do is we talk to families and we’ll say to them, like, ” what are three words you would use to describe our school?”

[00:11:46] And you can do this. Those of you who are listening, like, choose five families over the course of this summer and just ask, or send out a survey and just say, like, “What are three words you would use to describe our school?” Hey, use those words in your marketing. So if people say, like, “My kid is happy.

[00:12:03] They’re challenged. They’re,” you know, whatever. use that language when you’re talking about your open house or your fall festival or, or your auction, whatever it is. Just say, you know, “Come learn about a place where your kid will be happy, they’ll be challenged,” or … And, like, use that language to, anchor everything that you’re doing with regard to your events.

[00:12:23] I’ve worked with so many schools where, we do all the work and, like, we come up with those keywords, and then they don’t use it on their flyers. And I’m like, gosh, stop sounding generic. Like, yes, sound like who you should be. 

[00:12:33] Aubrey: Oh, absolutely. I think that messaging is really important. I always say you have a built-in audience, especially from your new…

[00:12:38] So when we work with schools, we’re always like that your new families who just went through the process are like a goldmine of data- Yes … for you to collect and to understand the messaging, and talk like they talk. Like, what were the words they were using- Yeah … um, to describe your school and the reasons that they have chosen to come there.

[00:12:54] so definitely things that you all can think about as you’re moving through, you know, putting on this hat to kind of figure out things and, and have, some action items and takeaways here. Um- Yeah … Miriam, I’d love to get practical here. Yeah. So we’ve talked about a lot here.

[00:13:09] So what… Let’s say you’re a school, and you’re like, “Okay, what are the signs that it’s time for my school to reevaluate an event, program, or tradition?” Like, are there some key signs that you often see? 

[00:13:21] Miriam: 100%. So first of all, the most obvious one is, like, low participation, or, like, a lot of very last-minute RSVPs.

[00:13:29] So I think, I mean, we all know, by the way, and if you don’t know this, you should know this, that, like, there is a trend of last-minute RSVPs. Like, when you put out an event and people are like, “No one’s coming,” just wait till the week before. But if you feel like in your admission office or your marketing office you have to, like, convince people to come, that may be a sign that people are not into it.

[00:13:50] Um, if you have a lack of parent volunteers around a specific program, like there’s just drag around it, um, that may be a sign. Um, if you’ve run a program for too many years in a row, and sometimes there’s an expiration date on programs. I once worked with a company- By the way, this wasn’t a school. It was super interesting, though.

[00:14:07] They had a policy when they hired people, there was a seven-year employment limit They said, “After seven years, you should have a new job. We d- like, it’s not till death do us part.” And I thought, I thought that was the best idea I’ve ever heard. You can re-interview for your job, you can find another job in the same school, let’s say.

[00:14:26] But I think that when you set out to add a program in, I think it’s really helpful to say, how long do we wanna be committed to this? And it’s okay to say, we’re doing this for now. We’re gonna run this program for the next three years, and we’ll see how it goes. You know, how many of your schools have an arts festival or have, like, that fall festival or something, and, and it just, like, it has to be on the calendar?

[00:14:51] Maybe it doesn’t have to be. If you’ve been running it for more than seven years, I would seriously evaluate, are we sure we wanna be doing this? Could we be doing something else? I would say also, obviously, like, if it’s financially not worth it, like, that’s worth looking into. Sometimes people find, like, we used to be able to do this, but the costs have just gone up too much.

[00:15:08] That’s okay. Drop it. Find something else. Like, that’s capitalism. Let your vendors figure out another way to get your money. and again, like, does it reflect our mission? Are we sure that what we’re doing is actually showcasing who we are? Those are all signs to say, I don’t know, are we sure that we should continue with this program?

[00:15:26] Or also, questions to ask if somebody promotes a program. If you’ve got that parent ambassador that’s like, “I just saw that, you know, St. Andrew’s down the street is running this, you know, their turkey trot, their apple bob, their whatever,” like, you can ask these questions of, okay, what would it, what would it take in order for it to be reflective of our values?

[00:15:45] Like, are we sure that we can do this? 

[00:15:47] Aubrey: Those are some great questions. Yeah, I mean, I, I know that working with, small schools, a lot we, a lot of things we see is, like, also that, that piece of two to three people lifting an entire event, right? 

[00:15:58] Miriam: Yes. 

[00:15:59] Aubrey: And what happen- or, or worse, they’re volunteers, and w- what happens when those volunteers

[00:16:04] Believe me- 

[00:16:05] Miriam: Yes … 

[00:16:05] Aubrey: hard to replace them. so events do have a cycle i- in that sense too. I think, like, the people willing to work on the events, when they cycle out, then you have a void of, potential staffing. And- 

[00:16:16] Miriam: I love that. Actually, that’s such a good thing to be aware of and, and, like, something important to remember for, like, the planners who are listening, to think about, like, do we have a staggered age group of who’s in charge of a given event or parent association or something.

[00:16:29] Like, do you have somebody of an older grade and younger grade so that as that younger grade grows up, you replace it with somebody else, you know, in a younger grade too. Because if you think about it, like, I think about all the people who now used to be so invested in, like, building community in our lower school, and now they’re not even lower school parents anymore.

[00:16:46] Mm-hmm. So are we sure that those pl- you know, playground meetups are still happening? You have to make sure that you’re, like, you know … So that’s another thing to be aware of, is like, are our parent volunteers age appropriate for the events that are important to us? 

[00:16:58] Aubrey: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s amazing thing to think about.

[00:17:01] And I would also say, you know, the, the lack of clarity, is, I would say, another sign that, maybe- Yeah … you need to rethink an event. If you can’t actually decipher, like, its purpose, 

[00:17:13] Miriam: Yeah … 

[00:17:13] Aubrey: and what it’s there for, and you can, you know, everyone who’s planning it can articulate the goal- then that would be where I would say, you know, may be time to rethink that event.

[00:17:23] Miriam: Yeah. I have a worksheet. Actually, there, I’m gonna, we’re gonna show you the program evaluation matrix and also a worksheet to attach with that. But I also have a program planning worksheet that helps schools distill, like, what is the purpose of this. you know, is the location reflective of the purpose of this?

[00:17:40] So also just making sure that, like, what we’re doing is what we should be doing. I’ll tell you also, there was one year where w- we had, in, in my school, we had strategized that we were gonna have parlor meetings. Like, that was- Mm … our strategy. Like, in-home hospitality parlor meetings in, in a, you know, 10 different ZIP codes over the course of the school y- you know, in the school community.

[00:18:01] and I remember, like, in the summertime we were like, “Yeah, it’s gonna be great,” and, like, we’re planning it out. And then come, like, November, December, February, like the February funk, and, and you’re, like, holding these meetings and, like, three people RSVP’d. And I remember saying to my director of enrollment, like, “Why are we doing this again?”

[00:18:15] And she said to me, she said, “‘Cause Miriam, we agreed this was our strategy this year, and we’re trying to see if it’s gonna work.” And it was so powerful because it shut me up, and I, I was like, “You’re right. Like, we gotta try it and see.” We thought it was a good idea. We had data and evidence to try it out.

[00:18:32] So my, like, emotional, like, laziness around it, that’s not enough to cancel a program. Like, we had good reason to think it was a good idea, and we went ahead with it. And I don’t know, I don’t remember if it was successful or not, but I certainly remember that commitment to our strategy. 

[00:18:48] Aubrey: Yeah. Well, we have to…

[00:18:48] It’s, I always say with marketing, a lot of things are like, it is throwing things against the wall in a strategic manner, but also you have to see what sticks. and so I think it’s similar to that. And then, you know, reevaluating, and it’s okay to say goodbye to things, and it’s okay to stick with things, so- 

[00:19:03] now that brings us to where I’d love to go, which is let’s talk about this evaluation matrix. Like- 

[00:19:09] Miriam: Yeah … 

[00:19:09] Aubrey: I’m sure, like we’ve talked about a lot of different things regarding events and programs and stuff. I’d love for you to talk a way, about the evaluation matrix in a way that, you know, gives schools a way to move through feelings and, you know, into an actual criteria of, you know, how to do this.

[00:19:25] You have this event. You have this program. So can you walk us through the purpose of the matrix? 

[00:19:30] Miriam: 100%. I wanted to share also, I learned about this matrix from a CFO of a company. I, I learned about it, I was attending a conference, and he presented this as like how do we know… And this was like a high-stakes corporate environment, but I was like, “This is the coolest thing ever, and I’m gonna recreate this for schools,” because it’s, I, like the problems are universal.

[00:19:49] Like, don’t you think, you know, IBM also is like, “Should we continue with the golf outing or not?” Yeah. Like, everybody has, any program that you’re running, somebody’s gotta run it. 

[00:19:57] Aubrey: Yeah. 

[00:19:58] Miriam: We just have a much smaller budget and like- Yeah … a, you know, very holy purpose. So, you know, the questions I think that…

[00:20:05] Like, one of the challenges with programs also is people have difference of opinion, and people feel differently about the program and have a different emotional attachment to it. And one of the elements that I think is really powerful about having a matrix like this is like it just puts it down in black and white, and we can all see and have shared language around like how we think and feel about programs.

[00:20:28] And it gives boundaries to how we feel about programs, and boundaries are like a hug and make people feel safe, as our middle school principal, Joan Vanderworld used to say. So can I sh- Aubrey, should I show it? Yeah. Should I share the screen? Yeah, let’s do it. Okay. Let’s do it. So here’s, here is what, it looks like for those of you watching, and for those of you listening, I’m gonna describe it to you.

[00:20:47] So we’ve got a matrix here with four different quadrants. It’s like four different, you know, corners. And in the top left, we’ve got a heart. well, all around we’ve got a heart on the top left. We’ve got a star in the top right. You got a question mark in the bottom left and a tree in the bottom right.

[00:21:04] So the heart represents high mission, low return, and this is a program that is really reflective of our mission but doesn’t necessarily have a high financial return or enrollment return. this might be, you know, if you, are- let’s say it’s, you know, if you’re a, a faith-based school, it might be, like, traveling to a country that it…

[00:21:27] You know, if, if you’re Jewish it might be traveling to Israel, or if you’re a Catholic it might be traveling to Rome and, like, having a heritage tour. Okay? that’s gonna be very expensive. It’s definitely not gonna be a money-maker for you, but it’s incredibly high mission. Like, you are living the values of the school, and that is something that is important.

[00:21:45] in the bottom left-hand corner you’ve got low mission, low return. So this is a program that we run that is going to be very loosely committed to your mission, and is gonna be very loosely reflective of, like, bringing in money, bringing in enrollment. And this is the program that, like, e- is easy for us to say, “Gosh, why are we running this?”

[00:22:05] And that might be the auction. Like, is the auction actually reflective of our school values? Like, do we actually make money from it? Is it actually something people look forward to? Gosh, if the answer to all these questions is no, let’s just, like, recognize that and say, “Why are we running it?” And the other thing is, like, you can say, “We’re not running it for now.”

[00:22:27] Let’s give it a rest for three years, see how we feel about it, see if we miss it, you know? the top right corner is high mission, high return. programs that are very mission-aligned and very high return. So this might be, by the way, your open house. It might be a tour, a one-on-one tour versus a group tour.

[00:22:44] Okay? obviously, very high mission. We’re gonna show you everything about our school’s value proposition. If you’re able to track that people who go on a one-to-one tour are more likely to apply and enroll, even though that’s super time-consuming for you and your admission office, you know you now have data to tell you, “We should hold on to that one-to-one tour versus a group tour.”

[00:23:04] Okay? and finally, in the bottom right is low mission, high return, and it’s a tree, ’cause we call this the money tree. Like, what is a program that you run that’s not really connected to your mission, but is actually super helpful in getting kids to enroll, or is a big money-maker for you? that might be the auction.

[00:23:21] By the way, there’s a school that I worked with one time that there was all this energy around the auction, and I wondered, like, “Is this really worth it?” But they bring in a ton of money. It’s a huge community builder. not really reflective of the school’s values, but it’s a really important… Like, it’s a money tree for them, so they hold on to it.

[00:23:38] So the way that I would recommend using this matrix is, if you’re looking now, like, the, the slide up here is blank, and I would just say put four gi- Like, this is a great thing to do if you’ve got an offsite, a summer retreat or a fall retreat with your team, or even by yourself. Like, block off some time, put four different pieces on the wall: one with a heart, high mission, low investment; one with a star, high mission, high return; one with a question mark, high investment, low return, or, like, low mission, low return, basically questioning why are we even doing this; and then, the money tree in the bottom right, low investment, low mission, but high return.

[00:24:18] and then take a bunch of Post-it Notes and write down every single event that you run over the course of the year, okay? From Coffees with Claire, Tea with Timothy, the p- the playground meetups, the open house, your arts festival, your play, whatever it is, your football game, homecoming, whatever it is that you do.

[00:24:38] Okay? And if you have multiple people on your team, by the way, it’s really interesting to do this. Everyone write down all the programs, and then stand up and put them up on the wall where you think they go. And if everyone on the team is putting, I don’t know, the, like- I wanna say March Madness pool, but, like, we, we’re not gonna get rid of that.

[00:24:59] But something, okay? If everyone’s putting the winter concert that nobody ever comes to because it’s wintertime and people aren’t coming to it, okay, if everyone puts that in the question mark category, now it feels like a lot… Like, we all have permission to just say like, “Let’s not do that next year.

[00:25:14] Let’s just, like, stay home in our sweats.” And, and, uh, and maybe what we do instead is send everyone a cozy blanket in January, and we just say, “We hope you’re having a cozy winter. We can’t wait to see you at spring festival.” Like, that probably takes 30 minutes to do instead of a zillion hours to plan the winter concert.

[00:25:34] No offense to the arts. I love the arts. but just as an example. Do you know what I’m saying? Like, it gives you the permission to say, “Wow, turns out we all agree it- that belongs in the question mark category.” So this matrix is really helpful. Like, I’ve used it, I’ve run through this with teams, and it also provides us an opportunity to, like, wrestle with ideas of like, hey, I don’t know, Valentine’s Day.

[00:25:56] Like, is it… Like, where does that actually fit? Should we? Should we not? And then we kinda come to a direct answer together. Like, we can wrestle with the decision, and we come to a decision, and we can s- we can commit to it. And you also, like, if you’re a director of a management, you can keep this up in your office and, and keep the, you know, for the year and say, “Hey, this is what we agreed to.”

[00:26:14] So that’s why I really like using this matrix. And I have a worksheet also. I’ll share it with you. We’ll put it in the show notes. both my program planning worksheets to, again, just be able to map it out and have shared language around what we think about programs. 

[00:26:30] Aubrey: That’s so great. So- I love 

[00:26:31] Miriam: it … that’s my matrix.

[00:26:33] Aubrey: are there any criteria that you go through when you’re looking through this matrix? Or do you wanna, like, walk through it as a school, like, with a real-life school problem? 

[00:26:41] Miriam: Sure. Absolutely. I think what I would do is, just, like, pulling up the matrix again- I would map out every single event of the year.

[00:26:48] Hopefully you guys have a spreadsheet with all of your events, where you have everything from, like, student orientation. I think, you know, some schools have graduation falls under admission and marketing, which is interesting. Not every school does, but that’s also, like, a big question. Like, should you be the one running it, or what events go on around graduation?

[00:27:07] And I would, like I said, like, really just, like, put it on Post-it Notes. Well, first I would make sure that you have a spreadsheet with every single event on it, and then put each one on a Post-it Note and just, like, plot them here. Another piece that you could do, by the way, is if you’re doing this, you could also use red, yellow and green Post-it Notes where you write down things that you wanna stop on red, things that you know you wanna continue on green, and yellow is like, “I’m not sure how I feel about this.”

[00:27:37] and then put them on the wall also, which is really interesting to see, gosh, do we all align on red on certain events? or if things, if everything comes out as, like, red and yellow, let’s try not doing that for a couple years. that’s also a fun thing to do. And the other question also, like, you kind of need a 3D matrix for this, is there’s the mission alignment, there’s the return on investment, and there’s also the invest- like, the man and, you know, the human and financial investment that you’re putting into events.

[00:28:04] So you can map that out in, like, a large blob or a small blob that you’re putting on the matrix. 

[00:28:11] Aubrey: I love that so much. that’s the one thing I, I’ve run into many of these things when working with small schools, is the time investment that doesn’t often get calculated into the ROI of an event or program.

[00:28:22] Mm-hmm. That time commitment, and, like, what else, if the school, if the goals of the school are X, Y, and Z and we’re spending this much time over here, you know, if we took away this time that you’re spending over here and, and put it towards something that was more goal-oriented, for the school, what would that mean for the school?

[00:28:39] Miriam: I think another thing you can do, by the way, if you feel like you’re at capacity, which I bet a lot of people do, is have a policy of one in and one out. 

[00:28:49] Like, I know I have that with shoes in my closet- … for, for some people in my house. But, like, it got to the point where it was like, “You wanna buy new shoes?

[00:28:57] That’s great. One in, one out.” So we can’t, we just can’t absorb any more shoes in this house. So, you know, d- in, in your… Like, could you as a team commit to each other and say, “We wanna add something new. Okay, but we gotta get rid of something.” Or, like pruning back, i- you know, for the gardeners out there, like, pruning is healthy.

[00:29:17] Yeah. It’s good to trim. So maybe as a team you make a commitment and you say, “Every year we’re gonna get rid of a program.” We’re gonna, and we’re gonna, like, cut that fresh root, and we’re gonna say, “What else can we do? How- let’s force ourselves to be creative here.” And that’s bold. But you, you certainly can do that, especially if you have people on your team who are incredibly creative and, like, wanna keep watering that creative spirit.

[00:29:42] That’s okay. Like, do something new. You don’t have to do the same thing year over year over year. I think it’s worth asking, and this is something that you could ask families or ask your administration, if there’s one program that you knew you would attend or wanted to keep, what would it be? See what the results are, and then, like, respond to your community like that.

[00:30:00] Keep that, and then see what it is that we wanna get rid of. But it’s, I think the big takeaways here are it’s healthy to prune back, it’s healthy to have shared language around it so that we know, and it’s okay to, to take a risk and say, like, what’s, what’s at stake? This is another juicy question I ask all the time.

[00:30:20] What’s at stake if we do? What’s at stake if we don’t? You know, what’s at stake if we hold onto this program, and what’s at stake if we don’t hold onto it? Try to figure that out, you know? That’s amazing. And, and I think that’s helpful to just, like, build a habit of asking that kind of question too 

[00:30:33] Aubrey: . Let’s say a school made a decision to cut- Yeah … like, what are some… or significantly change one of their programs or events and stuff. You know, what do you think, you know, is important for the school to keep in mind, perhaps around communication or, informing the community? What are your thoughts on that? 

[00:30:50] Miriam: I love that question. So, one is, you know, from a relational approach, if there’s a parent who you know, like, holds this program very dear to their heart, I would give them a heads-up and just call them and say, “Hey, I wanna let you know our calendar’s changed for next year.

[00:31:05] We’re not including our fall festival, and here’s why.” So being very clear about the reasoning. They don’t have to agree with it. They don’t have to like it. Let them think what they wanna think about it. It’s okay. You’re never gonna please everyone. You know that. But just being kind and being thoughtful about it.

[00:31:23] Another thing is early communication around what the calendar will hold. So, at my school, for example, in November, 2026, they’re gonna share with us the fall ’27, ’28 calendar. so they’re super, super early, because people plan. People plan their grandparents’ 50th anniversary trip or a Bar Mitzvah trip or, you know, when is spring break next year?

[00:31:48] and if your kid is the star of the show, you want to know when is that spring musical going to be. So early communication and sticking to the calendar and not messing with dates unless it’s really, really essential, I think is also a very kind way to interact with the parent community and to alert them about things.

[00:32:08] Yeah. You may have half the parents who don’t care, but for the half who do, it’s really important. 

[00:32:13] Aubrey: Oh, as a planner, a fellow planner mom. 

[00:32:15] Miriam: Same. I- I got- When I get that email in November, I’m like, great, like, you know- Exactly … days off, whatever, I’m planning that 

[00:32:20] Aubrey: out. Yeah. It’s so true. I’m like, what conferences can I attend?

[00:32:24] You know, all those things- Yes … that a, you know, a busy working mom, you gotta think about. So, um, yes, agreed with the, the calendar. And I would say about messaging, I would say, just be mindful of how we’re messaging about when something is, if we’re, reimagining something or- Yeah

[00:32:38] taking something away, just the language and how we describe it, it can be done in a positive way. It doesn’t need to be in, like, overly apologetic and very wordy and, like, defensive. so just really looking, looking at ways that you can acknowledge that this event- Yeah … how val- value and that it means something to people, and then, gently explain and tie it to mission as to, you know, what’s happening next.

[00:33:02] And then also a remind- like, that positive note at the end could also be the other things that- that are key parts of your school and traditions that you are keeping- Yeah … like, “We hope to see you at X, Y, and Z,” right? Yeah. Or, you know, something along those lines. I think the, the, the communication around events, um, and event changes is also important, as well as making sure they know about them well in advance in that calendar.

[00:33:24] Miriam: Yeah. I think also, right, as you’re talking about this, I think an easy, like a gimme line could always be, like, as a school, we, you know, school administrators, we’re lifelong learners, and we’re reflecting on our calendar and, how our events are reflective of our school experience, and we, we are excited to share with you our calendar of events for next year.

[00:33:44] Aubrey: Yeah. 

[00:33:44] Miriam: You know, just something like that to just, like, reinforce that we’re being thoughtful about it and we’re hopeful that these reflect the school mission. 

[00:33:53] Aubrey: Absolutely. 

[00:33:53] Miriam: I think also something interesting, by the way, especially, like, for faith-based schools is, well, for all schools, like, what events are you not including in the calendar and why?

[00:34:01] I know, so, like, my kids go to a Jewish day school, and therefore we don’t celebrate, in school, we don’t celebrate Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, St. Valentine’s Day. And our head of school always sends out an email the week before just reminding- parents, saying, like, “As a Jewish school, these holidays we understand are American in nature, and many kids may celebrate them, but we don’t celebrate them in school.

[00:34:26] We respect everyone, but, like, as a reminder, please don’t come to school in costume.” You know? So, like, that’s also, I think, an opportunity to reinforce, this is who we are- This is who we’re not, this is what you committed to. and that’s, I think, you know, that’s also important to remember. I don’t… That doesn’t quite fit.

[00:34:46] I mean, you could question it on the matrix, like bring it up and say, “Hey, like, I’ve got this idea. Where does it fit on the matrix?” 

[00:34:52] Aubrey: Yeah. I think that’s so key. well, Miriam, we’re at that time of our episode where we, transition to our rapid fire questions. 

[00:35:00] Miriam: Yes. 

[00:35:00] Aubrey: So are you ready? ‘Cause you’ve done, you did this a long time ago.

[00:35:04] Miriam: I know. Oh my God. I- There’s one question that I think about all the time, by the way. I hope you still ask it. I, I don’t remember if you do, but I’m ready for it. Oh gosh. 

[00:35:11] Aubrey: I hope I do. All right, so here we go. So, if you could put one book as mandatory reading in your high school, the high school curriculum, what would it be?

[00:35:19] Miriam: oh gosh. I would put in Unreasonable Hospitality, which is such a, like, wonderful and delicious book, and it’s just so fun and whimsical and yummy. I highly recommend it, and it’s great for, it’s great for teams also. 

[00:35:32] Aubrey: Yes. It’s a good read. It kept me entertained the entire time while also learning and questioning things.

[00:35:37] So 

[00:35:37] Miriam: yes. 

[00:35:37] Aubrey: Yes. Love it. what is one app you couldn’t live without? 

[00:35:40] Miriam: Okay, that’s the one. Last time I think I remember GP- like Google Maps- Yeah, I 

[00:35:44] Aubrey: think it was Google- … ’cause I get lost all the time … I think it was, yeah. 

[00:35:45] Miriam: Okay. now I use Mile IQ, which for me is incredibly helpful. What I love about it is it calculates mileage for me, and like, as a, I need to calculate my mileage for reimbursement all the time, but what I love about it mostly is that it solves a problem for me and helps save me time.

[00:36:03] So I’m a big fan of Mile IQ. If anyone is an entrepreneur listening to this, I encourage you to check out Mile IQ. Actually, the most, the most helpful one for everyone listening actually is called WhisperFlow. I just downloaded this app, and it’s like a talk-to-text app. It’s incredibly accurate, different languages, it remembers spelling.

[00:36:20] I really recommend it. WhisperFlow. 

[00:36:22] Aubrey: Well, we got two. Two for one. I 

[00:36:23] Miriam: know. Sorry. 

[00:36:24] Aubrey: No, I love it. Both of those apps I’ll be downloading, so thank you, Miriam. what are you reading right now? 

[00:36:29] Miriam: I just started reading the book Glad We Met. I’m always reading books for business, so I just started reading Glad We Met, which is about the art and science of one-to-one meetings.

[00:36:37] I think it’s going to be really good. I just finished reading this book, Beyond High Performance, which is about teams. so I also really encourage you that. And I’m also always reading a fiction book, and I’m rereading Outlander right now because- Ooh … it’s just so delicious. 

[00:36:50] Aubrey: Wait, who, what were the authors of the two books 

[00:36:52] Miriam: that you read?

[00:36:53] Oh, sorry. Yeah, no. Okay. Let me circle back. Glad We Met is, Steven Rogelberg. 

[00:36:56] Aubrey: Okay. 

[00:36:57] Miriam: I’ll send you the info on it. you know, for anybody who has a one-to-one, I think that’s- Yeah … really important. And then Beyond High Performance is by Jason Jagard, J-A-G-G-A-R-D. This is a great book about not just being the best, like everybody wants to…

[00:37:12] Well, hopefully people, like, wanna be good. but it’s, like once you’re really good at something, then sometimes people say, “I’ve mastered this. I have nothing to learn. I’m not coachable.” Like, people don’t wanna be vulnerable, and that’s not healthy, so this is Beyond High Performance, and the question is what are we capable of?

[00:37:28] Aubrey: Ooh. 

[00:37:29] Miriam: How can we do 

[00:37:29] Aubrey: more? That’s so… Ooh, I want- 

[00:37:30] Miriam: It’s really good. I’m like- 

[00:37:31] Aubrey: This is 

[00:37:32] Miriam: really good … 

[00:37:32] Aubrey: ah. And I love, by the way, if you don’t follow Miriam on LinkedIn, she al- you’re always taking pictures of the books you’re reading. I’m like, “How many books does she have on her bedside table?” I can’t. 

[00:37:41] Miriam: Well, I do. Here’s a, here’s a tip. What I do is I start every day by reading for 10 minutes or 10 pages. 

[00:37:47] Aubrey: Yeah. Yeah. That is great. I keep it, I do the end of the day. I start, I do the end of the day 10 minutes. so but I do not count the pages, so good to know. okay. Finally, last question. What is one great piece of advice you’d like to leave us with?

[00:38:00] Miriam: A great piece of advice, I think, is stop looking at what other people are doing and just look at what you’re doing, and just be awesome at it. There are other schools who are gonna be competing with you, and they’re gonna do a really great job. Social media’s gonna make it look shiny. but just, like, be amazing.

[00:38:14] Connect with your families. Focus on what you do have, and be really good at that. 

[00:38:18] Aubrey: I love that so much. And Miriam, I know people are gonna wanna follow up with you afterwards. Where can people find you and learn more about what you do? 

[00:38:26] Miriam: Okay. I, I love connecting with people. Please, I’m on LinkedIn. Search up Miriam Posner Stein or Miriam Stein, you can find me.

[00:38:33] We’ll put it in the show notes. I’m also on Instagram under the handle saddlerockstrategies, so you can find me there. But you can also look up thrivehive.group. That’s… You’ll find me and Laurie, and honestly, our number one goal is to help school professionals with their enrollment and marketing. We are thrilled when we hear people call us and say, “We’re at capacity.”

[00:38:54] That’s, like, our dream situation. so please, please be in touch. I’m so happy to talk to anybody about this stuff all the time. It’s what I love to do. I also am at conferences all the time, so if you’re ever at a conference and see me, like, please come up and say hello. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.

[00:39:09] Aubrey: She’s amazing, yes. I highly recommend doing all those things. Miriam, thank you again for being on the show. We really appreciate it. And, audience, I hope you enjoy. Thanks, everyone. Thanks 

[00:39:17] Miriam: so much. Thanks, Aubrey.

[00:39:19] Thanks for joining us on the Mindful School Marketing Podcast. We’d love it if you’d pop into iTunes and leave a review. Five star preferred. Let us know how you like the show. It helps us improve what we’re doing and helps others find us too.