Report on Professional Advising Leadership (PAL) Fellows Training Program
Research Project - Publicity and Marketing of the Advising Centers
May – June, 2005
Conducted by College Board
Washington DC, New York, Seattle

My training program started with the SDO (self directed orientation) training , when I was still in Baku. The training was conducted by Deborah Hefferon. She was sending the participants by E-mail necessary materials for better preparing to the program, provided useful Internet links and gave assignments that we had to fulfill. There were four modules in general, which included following topics: Preparing for your appointments in the U.S.; Clarifying goals; Defining/articulating your research project; Developing a template of guiding questions: the big picture; Making effective presentations; Teambuilding; How do I measure success?; Mind Mapping; Preparing to process the experience/journaling. After finishing the modules, Deborah Hefferon gave the feedback on tasks fulfilled.

The program in the USA started in Washington, DC, at College Board with orientation, where the participants introduced themselves, the goals of the program and the research project of each participant were clarified.

This was followed by Leadership Development Workshop, conducted by Deborah Hefferon, and Presentation Skills Workshop, on which the conductors Joe Shortell and Jim Brown (College Board) provided necessary information about the peculiarities of effective presentation and gave useful tips. After this each participant gave 1 minute presentation on free topic, which was recorded. The conductors and participants discussed this, and then participant was able to go to separate room and watch his/her presentation.

Different team building exercises, including working in the groups and defining the goals of the participants as PAL team were conducted.

This was followed by the exercise on self-reporting of the type of the person, which was followed by group work. Then Myers-Briggs test was administered and the participants were provided with the results of the test. This was compared with the self-reported types.

Marketing Strategies and PR workshop was conducted by Tom DeLorme, Interactive Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. This was extremely useful because of the topic of my research project. The issues discussed: target audiences, attributes, core communication objectives, designing message platform, defining the brand, and other constituents of Marketing Strategies. With this workshop our group work was finished and personal program started.

I started with visiting Foundation Center Library, Washington, DC
The Foundation Center's mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy. To achieve this mission, the Center: collect, organize, and communicate information on U.S. philanthropy; conduct and facilitate research on trends in the field; provide education and training on the grant-seeking process; ensure public access to information and services through our Web site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers. Founded in 1956, the Center is the nation's leading authority on philanthropy and is dedicated to serving grant-seekers, grant-makers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public.
The next workshop I took part also was very close to my research project topic: What’s in an Image? Developing Your Brand & Strategic Marketing Approach. It took place at Center for Nonprofit Advancement, was conducted by Brooks B. Kenny, Promoting Public Causes, Inc.

Next visit: American University, School of Communication.
I took part at 3rd annual Institute Proceedings with the topics on: The power of Documentaries in Mobilizing the Public, Documentaries as a Tool for Social Action which were accompanied by broadcasting the Documentaries and discussion on each.
The proceeding were moderated by Pat Aufderheide, Center for Social Media, American University

I had the meeting with Ezra Krumhansi, Director of Graduate Recruitment and Admissions at School of Communications, who gave the information about the Master’s Program in Public Communications, program and courses, concentrations, internship opportunities, academic requirements, etc.

During the following visits to non-profit organizations I had the meetings with the representatives of these organizations and discussed the ways and problems of publicity and marketing of non-profit organizations in the USA.

The Support Center for Non-profit Management, New York

The Support Center for Nonprofit Management strengthens the leadership and management capacity of nonprofit and public service organizations to fulfill their missions and vitalize their communities. It serves greater metropolitan New York and New Jersey by providing management training and consulting, dissemination information and practical resources to the sector, and building strategic alliances.

Meeting with Steve Damiano, director of public training.

Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, New York

Within international, multicultural and urban areas the Center works to enlarge the pool of scholars engaged in the study of giving, voluntarism, and civil society, to increase the opportunities for collaboration with practitioners in the field, and to enhance public understanding of trends in philanthropy and civil society through research, seminars, symposia, conferences, courses, awards and publications.

Meeting with Barbara Luria Leopold, faculty and student coordinator

PRSA, Public Relations Society of America, New York
The Public Relations Society of America, based in New York City, is the world's largest organization for public relations professionals. The Society has more than 28,000 professional and student members. PRSA is organized into 114 Chapters nationwide, 19 Professional Interest Sections, along with Affinity Groups, which represent business and industry, counseling firms, independent practitioners, military, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations.
Meetings with Cedric L. Bess, manager of public relations, and Catherine A. Bolton, executive director and COO.

Independent Sector, Washington, DC

The Independent Sector is the vast network of voluntary organizations, foundations, religious congregations, social welfare groups, and corporate giving programs working together. It works to promote a just and inclusive society of active citizens, healthy communities, and vibrant democracy. The mission: to promote, strengthen, and advance the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good.

Meeting with Bill Wright, associate director, communications and marketing.

The next event, in which I was going to take part, was nonprofit management conference: “Building Blocks to Excellence” to be held at University of Maryland, Adelphi, MD, but it was postponed to October, 2005.

NAFSA part of the program started on May 30th with the workshop #:Pre-departure/Orientation Programs in the United States and Abroad for International and US Students.

During the conference I participated at a range of sessions: Setting Scores for the Next Generation TOEFL Test; Influencing International Student Mobility: Regional Educational and Recruiting Trends; The Impact of SEVIS on US International Students and Scholars Advisers; Promoting US Education Overseas: State and Federal Government Resources; Consular Affairs Update Session, and others.

I chaired and presented on the session: Quality Criteria of Effective Work: A Look from Eurasia Advising Centers, June 2nd. My presentation was on Organizational Development at the Advising Centers.

I took part at Poster Fair: Overseas Educational Advisers-EducationUSA-Embassy Dialogue Country Fair, presenting Azerbaijan Education with the other adviser from Azerbaijan Hasan Huseynli, June 2nd.

I also visited International Education Expo, and made new contacts with different organizations and universities, volunteered at EducationUSA booth.

During the conference PAL fellows had three meetings: PAL Fellows 2005 Debriefing, PAL Fellows Alumni Meeting and PAL-REAC Summit. The issues discussed: expectations and goals, were they achieved during PAL program; what worked and what didn’t work; what could be changed; plans after the PAL program; PAL alumni – how can they work effectively; PAL –REAC interactions – possible ways of collaboration; PAL alumni as the experts in the regions, and other issues.

8-05 Hadji-zadeh, Bahar R. [Hadji-zadehBR@BEIC.OSI-AZ.ORG]