Hello Fellow Education Consultants,

First, I would like to welcome all of our new members. Please take the time to "meet" your colleagues by visiting each other's profiles and introducing yourself in the forum. We have an incredible wealth of knowledge and talent here among our members!

After some great member feedback, I am going to try to limit direct emails to a monthly update. So, this will be my first official update. I apologize for the length, but remember, it is only once a month.

Ways to Participate in the Network
Introduce yourself in the Forum

*Fill out your Profile
*Add an RSS for you blogs, twitter, etc.
*Post a picture so the group can put a face with a name
*Post your favorite resources, networking groups, etc.

*Fill in your information on the Member Directory

*Post events to the group calendar
Add videos and pictures to the group (these can be about your products/services, samples of your workshops or public speaking, anything dealing with education)

*Don't forget to follow http://twitter.com/educonsultants on Twitter and join the Twibe http://twibes.com/educonsultants so that we can push quick updates out and keep up with each other
*Welcome new members as they join

*I could use some volunteers to help out (don't worry, I won't ask for a huge time commitment) with such things as Forum discussion starters, Group organizers, etc.


Exciting Things to Come
*Book club for our group (since we have a few writers amongst us, I thought that we could start with one of our fellow member's books) Please send suggestions

*Using the Member Directory (on google docs), I am going to create a web page with a searchable directory of our members for us to send to customers. I would like to see this page include video samples of products, services, presentations, workshops, etc. I am open to suggestions as to the best platform for this directory. I thought about a separate Ning Site or a Wiki, but in order to draw our customer base in, I would need help with content that they would see as a resource, rather than just a bunch of spam (any thoughts?).

*Group Meetups: I thought that we could plan periodic group meetups when and where possible. Obviously some members would have to attend virtually, but I thought that we could take advantage of National Conferences, such as NECC to meet in person. Please send your feedback/suggestions.
Scheduled Guest Interviews (does anyone feel up to playing the interviewer?) Again, we have so many talented and knowledgeable group members, I thought we could start right here with our own group members and expand outward.

*Please send any other suggestions for what you would like to see here


Group Guidelines:
I don't want to post a bunch of rules for our network, but, I do want to offer a few guidelines for the best way to participate.
*Spam
Obviously this group is made up of your colleagues more than your customers, so, spamming about your products or services won't do much for you anyway (not that spamming in any forum gets you very far). That being said, we do want to know about each other's products and services so that we can refer people to you.
Spam can also be repeating the same message to all or a majority of members. That does not mean that you have to come up with a completely different message for introducing yourself to each member, but try to make any other messages tailored to that member. If you have a message that you want to "brodcast," simply post it in the forum.

*Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself. People tend to get leary of "lurkers" who don't reveal anything about themselves or contribute to the group.

Please update your information in our Member Directory (2nd tab from last)


*If you are interested in assisting on the administrative side of this network, ie. welcoming newcomers, adding content, updating events, etc. please contact me.

*Hi Education Consultant Members,
I have created a Group for us on LinkedIn to give us further exposure and for job/project postings and searches. Please join and invite your friends: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=1943371