On a westbound American Airlines flight this week, I was surprised to see Waiting for “Superman,” the tough-minded documentary about the failure of our public schools, on the drop-down screens.  For those of you who fly a lot, you’ll know that you are far more likely to be forced to sit through Grown Ups or The Other Guys or any other film stocked with recognizable stars and comfortably devoid of content than you are to be confronted with a movie that actually addresses a subject that could make people locked into a jumbo-sized cigar tube even a little bit nervous.

Waiting for “Superman” can and should make you nervous—if not angry.  By the director of An Inconvenient Truth, this documentary catalogues the manifold failings of public schools in districts across the nation, and avoids offering any simple or easily digestible answers.  We’re in crisis, it says, and we’re not serious about the solution.  Both American Airlines and Participant Media should be congratulated for the work they did to get the film on in-flight screens—and the latter, in particular, should receive extra kudos for what they are doing in terms of stimulating and organizing a response through their “take action” website.  Participant Media is also working with longtime Lipman Hearne ally Active Voice, who has pioneered techniques for using the power of documentary storytelling to nudge public opinion on issues from HIV/AIDS to immigration to food justice.  With Superman, Active Voice is developing community discussion guides that can be used to mobilize parents and grassroots organizations around the fact that “every neighborhood needs a great public school.”  Details about upcoming screenings are available from info@activevoice.net, and other avenues for engagement can be found at the Participant Media “Superman” link above.

Maybe I’m a bit more attuned to the importance of making this issue visible because of our work with the Gates Foundation, and other organizations that are addressing the problem, but the endemic problems in our schools can’t just be wished away.  So click in, get involved, and fly American—my return in-flight feature on United on the same West Coast loop was just more of the usual pabulum.

- Rob Moore, President and CEO

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The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is a current public affairs client of Lipman Hearne, Inc.

About the article authors: Frank Alvarez is president/CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which has awarded more than 100,000 scholarships over 35 years. James McNamara, former president/CEO of Telemundo now serves as chair of Panamax Films in Coral Gables.

Having a muddy, chaotic brand is like trying to simultaneously cram through the doorway of a party with five other guests. The host opens the door to a dismaying display of mass confusion—six people grunting, swearing, shoving, and throwing elbows. Meanwhile, the host stands there baffled, thinking, “What am I to make of this? What am I supposed to do?”

A clear, well-defined brand would enter the same party much differently. One person would take the lead: “Hi, John, thanks for inviting us! I’m Rob from Lipman Hearne, and I’d like you to meet Jeff, Sara, Libby … .” No one is left bruised and sulking on the stoop. No one has to compete for the host’s attention. The host knows who is who, how they’re connected, and how to make further introductions...

To read more, download Join the Party

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Over the past 35 years, HSF has been content to fly under the radar, quietly giving out $300 million in scholarship aid to students. With Generation 1st Degree, however, the Fund realized it needed to make more of a splash, and it’s been fascinating to work with them to help raise visibility for their organization and efforts like these.

President Obama is also a fan of HSF’s work, and donated part of his Nobel Peace Prize winnings to the Fund. His support was honored today as well with the announcement of HSF’s first “Obama Scholars.” Check out the coverage some of these scholars received today in this article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The media, however, is interested in more than HSF’s generosity as a scholarship fund. In meetings here in D.C. last week, we found education reporters were particularly interested in HSF’s willingness to tackle cultural barriers.

Though study after study shows that Hispanic students often fail to attend (or graduate) from college because of either familial expectations or obligations, few propose a solution to overcoming these hurdles. The Fund, however, addresses this challenge front and center, most prominently with this current Ad Council campaign:

English:

Spanish:

In the coming months, be sure to check back here as we feature more video clips showing the creative ways HSF is hoping to effect cultural change within the Hispanic community to boost college attendance.

- Elizabeth Farrell, Client Development Manager

Traditionally, these imperatives have put community colleges in a tough spot. There is a natural tension between their institutional commitments to open-access for all students, and their characteristically low graduation rates.

This challenge has made it particularly gratifying for us to partner with Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. Since 2008, we have been working with ATD – which has received significant funding from Lumina Foundation for Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – to help community colleges stay true to their role while improving their outcomes. What began as a 26-college pilot program in 2004 has blossomed into a network of 130 such institutions spread over 24 states and the District of Columbia.

The success of this initiative receives some much-deserved credit and recognition in this Sept. 6th cover story in Community College Week. By highlighting the practices some “leader colleges” have employed to boost their graduation rates, the article provides ample food for thought for institutions struggling with similar challenges.

Céad míle fáilte: While the Irish greeting for “100,000 Welcomes” hasn’t translated exactly to  that number of new client relationships in 2010, we have had quite the busy first two quarters at Lipman Hearne establishing new partnerships. We are proud of, and excited by, the collaborations that are underway and would like to take a moment to properly welcome the following nonprofit organizations:

Advocate Health Care
Alverno College
American Medical Association
California State University, Northridge
Council for a Strong America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
George Washington University
National Defense University
Northwest Area Foundation
Rhodes College
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Schoolnet
Seton Hall University
Society of Actuaries
University at Buffalo
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business
University of Virginia Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

This topic has had a lot of coverage for several years, starting even before Enron and other high-profile ethical messes. The global financial meltdown has given this issue even more steam. I just hope that this time the discussion evolves past “teaching ethics,” which is a questionable concept (adults learning to be ethical). I see a lot of business schools digging way deeper than new courses or experiences or requirements of some sort. They are looking at their entire cultures, the values that the institution stands for, the deeper ethic of the place and how the entire enterprise reflects that there is a lot more to sustainable business success than technical skills, hands on experience, global perspectives and the many other buzzwords nearly every business school today tries to use to differentiate its value in the marketplace. Beyond the fact that this is the right thing to do and will, if pursued seriously, perhaps up the esteem the world currently has for business education, it’s also a smart strategic step from a reputation building standpoint. I’ve studied many business schools and never seen one that doesn’t have at its core particular values and a related educational culture that really makes it unique. I see an era where great business school brands will be built on the character of institutions and how well they cultivate a new set of values in students. For further reading on the subject, I recommend this recent article in the Baylor Business Review.

- Tim Westerbeck, Managing Director & Principal

Why Character is Destiny for Business Schools – and the MBAs They Groom, in the new issue of the Baylor Business Review takes a look at the role issues of “character formation” play in the business school of the future.  In the article, I observe that this is not only important from a curriculum standpoint—and, we all hope, for the future of the global economy – but also regarding how schools will differentiate their brands in today’s hypercompetitive management education marketplace.

Marketing on a specific type of program attribute is ineffective, when so many business schools – or at least their marketing – look the same on nearly every level.  What each school owns that is unique is its values and culture, the basis of a distinctive brand.

- Tim Westerbeck, Managing Director & Principal

Like Tweets and most texts, bubbles are short, with a recording limit at one minute.  But Bubbly has added intimacy – users hear a favorite, well-known, or trusted voice instead of just reading a simple message, which, for celebrities, could have been written by an agent.

While the BBC is leading networks in using Bubbly to release breaking news, the Indian film industry is using Bubbly as a tool to build buzz – and brands.

Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, Bollywood stars who appear together in the film “3 Idiots,” were using Bubbly to promote the film before its release.  Their bubbles soon had hundreds of thousands of followers, and built incredible anticipation over the movie.  The film swept India’s 2010 Star Screen and Filmfare Awards, and has grossed over $86 million – the highest profit in history for any Indian-made film.  It seems the film owes some of its box office success to Bubbly.  And so do its stars.

Bollywood stars aren’t free from Hollywood’s standards of youth and vitality to grab choice roles and maintain careers.  And what better way to appear young than to be among the first to popularize a new social media tool?  In a recent interview, the mid-40s Aamir Khan was asked how he stays young looking enough to play a 20-something college student in “3 Idiots.”  He answered that it’s essential to eat a balanced diet, drink lots of water, and get plenty of rest.  He could have added bubbling to the list.

The list of countries in which BubbleTalk has been launched is limited so far, and there aren’t immediate plans for a U.S. (or U.K.) launch.  So while there aren’t options here now for utilization, there is time to investigate how potential users respond to this new media and the potential impact on communication channels here.  Is enthusiasm for Twitter fading?  Nonprofits struggle with being both media savvy and able to implement new options usefully, could BubbleTalk be the righ solution?  Or is this mode of information dissemination not the right match?  One blogger notes, “ears are for music and for live communication, not for news that I scan more quickly with my eyes.”  Let us know your initial reaction to this emerging tool.

- Liz Arora

New legislation being considered by the U.S. Department of Education is squarely aimed at for-profit colleges, with the intent of linking a student’s debt with their post-graduate earnings.  Their concern is that students—lured by advertising—are investing in credentials or degrees that don’t actually deliver the earning power that the student expects, generating flotillas of “underwater” degrees that are as much a burden on American households as those unsupportable mortgages. (A recent New York Times article made waves around this issue—sourcing their critique primarily from a handful of disaffected students and former administrators of for-profit institutions.)

While one might argue about the philosophical underpinnings of this argument (is college really all about making more money?), my question is bigger: why stop with the nonprofit institutions? Make all higher ed institutions earmark their cost with the earning potential of their graduates.  I mean, the Ph.D. philosopher cab driver is a cliché because it actually happens, and next time you have a heavily-tattooed barista steam you a mocha skim latte, you could amuse yourself by asking if their MFA is in fine, performing, or written arts.

My point is simple: while there are, indeed, some suspicious players in the for-profit education sphere, the underlying tax status of an education provider does not predict whether or not a student derives value from the investment he or she makes.  Plenty of folks have walked out of nonprofit colleges and universities with a costly degree that doesn’t actually gain them much in the marketplace, and plenty of folks have walked out of for-profit providers and gotten decent jobs afterwards.  The issues that Congress should concern themselves with have to do with quality of programs, retention/graduation, accreditation, and the like.  We all know there are a lot of nonprofit institutions out there that generate income in excess of cost—it simply becomes a reserve fund or quasi endowment, rather than being paid out to shareholders.

And the bigger point may be that nonprofit education providers should perhaps spend their time developing more competitive offerings rather than worrying about the perceived advantages of the for-profit providers.  All of our research shows that students have a very strong brand preference for the nonprofits as opposed to the for-profits—so make the most of it.

- Rob Moore, Managing Partner