PTO Today

Save time!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that we have reorganized the popular File Exchange section of our site. We’ve added new categories, renamed a few, and moved around a bunch of files that were getting lost — so leaders can easily find the forms, flyers, letters, and surveys that they need. Hopefully, the changes will also take the guess work out of where to put something when you upload files to share with others.

Some new categories include:

• volunteer recruitment
• fundraiser forms & letters
• fun run, walk-a-thon
• spaghetti dinner
• holiday shops
• audits
• community service

New file additions of note include a slew of generic parent group logos and a new email opt-in form.

Thank you to all who have uploaded documents to share with fellow parent group leaders. We hear from leaders all the time that the file exchange is such  a powerful resource.  Happy sharing and swapping!

Man, it’s been fun watching our community functionality explode these past few weeks.  Reminds me of when we first launched our message boards back in 2000.

Then, our boards were really the first web home for PTO and PTA leaders to share ideas and solutions  (and sometimes commiserate).  There was nothing else like it on the web.  Those first few months it was like we’d invented the wheel or provided oxygen to a drowning man.  The enthusiasm was palpable, and there was this “where has this been?” reaction.  Well more than 100,000 posts proved that our boards were helping tens of thousands of leaders.

In the ensuing 9+ years, all kinds of sharing came around.  From facebook to myspace to sub-groups on the big parenting sites – over time our message boards became less cutting edge.  More importantly, they became less essential. Still great and uniquely active – but there were other places to get similar feedback, many of them with all of the bells and whistles of Web 2.0.

That’s why I’m so excited about our new PTO Today Community.  It has all that stuff – the profiles and the private messaging and the ratings and the friending – plus several other “only at PTO Today” tools that make life easier for PTO and PTA leaders.  And all of it is integrated in our community. There’s our Ask a Question feature for quick responses (from many)  to your most perplexing questions.  There’s our File Exchange for sharing the best flyers and letters and posters from other groups.

And the action is back!  That’s the cool thing.  It’s like that first launch in 2000 – new leaders finding out that ptotoday.com is the most practical site on the ‘Net  for helping them do their jobs. Love that.

Just check-out our PTO Today Community homepage for a snapshot of just how much is happening every day.  Dozens and dozens of new members; new files in the Exchange; new questions; new answers; new threads in the still-great message boards.  It’s the place to be.  Hope you’ll make it work for you.  More activity, more leaders getting help and helping others, and more great groups helping kids.

Now, a request:  Here’s my community profile.  (Yes, I’m “Rockne”) I need some PTOtoday.com friends.  Seriously.  We can’t have Lisa Gundlach, our Community Host, out-friending me so badly. ☺ Send me a friend request, and we’ll be connected.

Look forward to seeing you on (and all over) the site.

Wanted to call your attention to PTO Today’s newest program, Healthy School Kids. You can find a link to the Healthy School Kids (HSK) sign-up page on ptotoday.com in the main navigation bar, under Helpful Tools.

This is a great program for parent groups who are trying to mix healthy habits into fundraising and school family events.

By signing up to become a HSK group, you’ll get:

1) Priority notice for FREE Healthy School Kids sample offers to share with parents at upcoming school events (you”ll also be one of the first to be emailed of any health and wellness free samples offers that come up throughout the year – i.e. hand sanitizer samples for an upcoming fitness night, healthy snack samples for Family Reading Night, etc.)

2) Immediate access to a special HSK home page web page on ptotoday.com, which features all of our best health and wellness PTO content. We’ll be adding more content to this page each month.

So go check it out and tell us what you think.

Some important changes being made to PTOtoday.com the next couple of days. Listen to what Tim has to say about these cool new features and what it all means to busy parent group leaders.

How many of you have lamented, “If only I had more time in my day?”

We hear that from parent group leaders all the time! That’s why we’re excited to let you know about some changes to our site that will give you the tools and information you need to do your job more efficiently! Not only that, you’ll also feel more connected to other leaders.

Later this week we’ll be going live with some pretty cool community sections on our site:

My PTO Today will allow you to designate what content is most relevant to you and then track all the articles, message board threads, and blog posts that relate to your interests. Very cool feature for busy leaders.

Community will help you connect with other leaders who share the same roles, interests, and issues.

Ask a Question will let you ask a quick question within specific categories and get concrete advice from PTO Today experts, or community members.

Our message boards will still be your place to have conversations, express opinions, and bounce ideas off of other leaders —  but you’ll see a new look and feel, and some added functionality. Think you’ll like the new ways to connect and identify with your peers.

What you need to know about the upcoming changes:

- The existing message boards will be down between approximately 9 and 10 pm EST on Thursday night. All of your past conversations, user and login information will be carried over.  Note that when the boards come back up  at @ 10 pm, your profile will be turned off.  On Friday morning  it will be back on and you will have the ability to edit your profile so you can participate in the PTO Today Community on a site-wide basis.  Posting anonymously will still be an option.

-Note to night owls: from 1am to 6am EST on Friday night there may be an interruption of service, but ideally we are aiming to make this upgrade as seamless as possible.

- You’ll see in the top navigation bar that our new sections: Message Boards, Ask a Question, and My PTO Today all have the word “Beta” on the tabs. For those of you not familiar with this term, here’s the scoop:
Beta level features are between 60% and 70% complete, generally include all features, but may also include known issues and bugs of a less serious variety. So we’ll be very busy working on enhancements in the weeks to come.

Your feedback is very important. There will be a new section in the message boards called: Comments, Questions and Feedback on the New PTO Today Community. You can also email me directly with your questions and feedback at lgundlach@ptotoday.com

Look forward to seeing you around the community! My username is Lisa @ PTO Today – be sure to friend me when you update or create your user profile.

By now the lastest issue of the issue of PTO Today should be in your PTO or PTA mailbox. Don’t let it sit there — lots of great stuff to make this your best year yet!

Some of the article highlights in this issue include:

• Yearlong Travel Theme Makes Learning Fun
• Creating a Long-Term Plan
• Get Out and Smell the Coffee
• Sample PTO Strategic Plan

Happy reading!

Smart and creative PTO group ideas, from awesome leaders — we love to hear them! I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss the latest, greatest ideas that leaders have contributed to our Idea Bag. Here are the highlights:

• Buddy Family Program
• Recycling Cans for Cash
• Staff Check-in
• Welcome-Back Treat
• 6 Tips for Volunteer Coordinators

Keep those great ideas coming!

Our blog readers always get this scoop first….

So it looks like our 2010 Expo schedule is firming up.  The cool news — several more Expos in 2010 than in years past.  There will be 8 or 9 in the 2nd semester of this coming school year.

Old stalwarts Boston, Philly and Chicago?  Check.

Coming back to Columbus and Minneapolis? Check.

Bringing the band to Houston, St. Louis and Tennessee?  Hmmmmm.

Watch for complete details and dates in August. Want to make sure you don’t miss an update?  Subscribe to our e-newsletter, the Leader Lowdown.

On the business side of the PTO world, a couple of us from PTO Today had a great meeting last week with the folks from Rhode Island Novelty and Fun Services.   Nice guys, and very interesting company.  We got a tour of a ha-uge (very huge) warehouse filled with every kind of carnival prize and plastic snake and stuffed animal you can imagine.  My kids = very jealous.

The key point is that Fun Services is very much still going strong.  There had been some questions about what would happen, because Fun Services was technically a part of a big behind-the-scenes fundraising company called “Giftco”, which went into bankruptcy.   But the various Fun Services franchisees have been working throughout the transition, and now are on even stronger ground with the Rhode Island Novelty folks.

Will keep you informed of any other developments.

Grrrrr….. this goes in the same category as the recent discussion on restricting PTO fliers and categorizing them the same as fliers from outside community groups.  This Pennsylvania district is considering charging outside groups for use of school facilities.  I understands the budget pressures that lead to that conclusion.

But, ummmm, PTOs are not outside groups.  Are they going to charge English teachers for use of the classrooms, too?  The local sports league, the Girl Scouts — yup, those are outside groups.  But an active, effective parent group focused on building parent involvement and community and supporting the school is a key part of a great school.  It’s foundational, not extra… and certainly not “outside”.  Double grrr.