Whacking Random Acts

It's the time of the week when thinking can get sluggish and we can all benefit from a... whack on the side of the head! Today we defer to the work of Roger Von Oech, whose Creative Whack Pack jars traditional thinking so that we might generate creative solutions to typical dilemmas.

First a quick observation and then note... I set out my Random Acts Books at 8:47 a.m. on a coffee table at a Starbucks, just up the block from where my boys go to school. I then got a coffee and headed outside to the sunshine where I enjoyed my coffee and scoured the paper for creative ideas until 9:34. Periodically I looked up to see if anyone acknowledged the prominently placed books, but the glare from the sun made it impossible to see inside. Instead I resigned myself to waiting until I was finished and then just being surprised. Forty-seven minutes later... the books were still there and while the stacks were moved slightly to one side, they were still completely in tact! Yes, I was surprised!!! Update: At 4:52 just before picking my sons up from school, I swung back by the Starbucks to see if any of the books were gone They were all still there... still on the same table, but no longer in a neat stack.

You know what this means? The books were New York Times best sellers, so I think it means, people are just NOT used to have random acts of kindness come their way. They were skeptical...unsure if there was a motive... or, what kind of commitment they might get themselves in if they actually delved into the stack and... heaven forbid... took one! I'm not discouraged. Instead, it fuels my fire. I envision a world where people jump in with two feet when accepting a random act of kindness. A world where no strings are attached and a free book is just a free book. Today I resolve to do more acts of kindness, starting in my own little corner of the world, and maybe just maybe, you'll join me. We'll start our own little random acts revolution and we won't wait until National (or World) Random Acts of Kindness Week in November and February.

Perfect segway into today's post...

I entered today with no real dilemma, other than my less than good mood... and my new observation that people are hesitant to accept a random act of kindness. Self-Help 101 says nobody can change the behavior of someone else, so I didn't think it smart to set my challenge around making people more receptive to random acts. I suppose the dilemma could have been, "how do I snap myself out of a funk?" That didn't seem appropriate for a week where my instruction to self was, "Forget about yourself, focus on others." Besides, with two random acts under my belt, I'm starting to feel better and "snapping out of it" seems less urgent.

At a loss for where to go, I decided to start backwards this week. In other words... first pick the card and then establish a dilemma. Interestingly enough, the card I chose read, Try a Random Idea." I took this as a good sign, since this week is Random Acts of Kindness Week. So, here we go...

Try a random idea. There was once an Indian medicine man who made hunting maps for his tribe. When game got sparse, he'd fold and twist it, and then smooth it out. The rawhide was now etched with lines. He marked some reference points, and a new map was created. When the hunters followed the map's newly defined trails, they usually discovered abundant game. Moral: by letting the rawhide's random folds represent trails, he pointed the hunters to places they hadn't looked. Stimulate your thinking in a similar way. Open any book at random and put your finger down on a word: "magnet." How does it relate to what you're doing? What associations can you make? What random ideas can you try?

I did, in fact, have a book with me... Never Eat Alone: And other secrets to success, one relationship at a time, by Keith Ferrazzi. It is a book I am finishing with the hopes of sharing a point or two with you over the next couple of weeks. I opened up to a random page (pg. 165) , closed my eyes, and pointed to the word, "other." So, with that I decide to ask how the word, "other" might be connected to doing random acts of kindness. Still stuck, I decided to take a peek at the context in which I found the word. In other words, what was Ferrazzi talking about when he used the word, "other." So listen to this and tell me the coincidence is not more than can be left to chance....

"There are a lot of things we can do for other people: give good advice, help them wash their car, or help them move. But health, wealth, and children affect us in ways other acts of kindness do not."

I'm sure you're sitting wherever you are... work, home, etc... thinking I rigged this. I did not. I randomly assigned this week to Random Acts of Kindness. I randomly selected the "random idea" card from sixty-four cards in von Oech's whack pack. It just so happens I am reading the book mentioned above AND that I picked the word "other" from thirty-three lines of text, embedded in a paragraph about doing acts of kindness!!! If you just so happen to be reading this then you, like I, should be convinced there is a reason. There are way too many planets falling into alignment for there not to be something preordained about the whole darn thing.

Read on...

Ferrazzi goes on to define, "health," "wealth," and "children" and explains helping people in any one of these three ways impacts people more profoundly than other acts of generosity. Health can be things as sharing a diet or an exercise regiment for someone working hard to become more healthy. Wealth can be as blatant as helping someone make money to less direct efforts such as passing along a referral, helping someone make money, or sending business someones way. Finally, "children" refers to assisting the children of a friend with a goal he/she might have. Examples might include helping someones child land an internship or job, introducing him/her to someone employed in his/her area of interest, or showing a keen interest in some other aspect of the child's life.

My synopsis... there is someone in your world who is in need of your generosity with regard to either health, wealth, or their children. That is why the chips fell as they did and why you are sitting here reading this right this very minute. So, take a minute and figure out who that person might be and how you can help. Then, do it. Make the phone call, send the email. Do whatever necessary.

As for me... I'm still reeling from the coincidence of it all. Once recovered, I'll get busy too.

Announcements:

• Today "Taste of USA" features Texas.  Regardless of whether or not you are a resident of the state, let us know if you have a fond memory, funny story, joke, favorite song... something you associate with Texas.  Then, on Friday residents of Texas, along with Alabama, New Mexico, D.C., Massachusetts, and Hawaii will compete to post the largest number of favorite (and most creative) things about their state.
  
• Helena, if you're out there... let me know if there is something I can do to help get Stanley on his way to Julie in New York.

Signing off until tomorrow...

Go Ahead, Judge This Book By Its Cover!

Yesterday kicked off Taste of USA and thanks to Corrie, Artnme, Cheryl, and a handful of others we had a fun little tour of Alabama. Today we pick up with New Mexico. So, if you have a fun New Mexico story, know someone who lives in the state, or know of a "must see," then click on the Taste of USA icon and leave a note. If you have no idea what I am talking about... visit me in the Announcements at the end of the blog.

Today is Day #2 of Operation: Snap Out of It! As you might have read yesterday, I'm in a little bit of a funk and I've determined the best way to work myself out of the funk is to follow the wise words of an anonymous author who said, "Forget about yourself, focus on others." So, today is day-two of a six-day random acts of kindness run. By Saturday, I expect to be whistling Dixie, with blue birds on my shoulder, and rays of sunshine escorting me wherever I go.

The idea for today's random act of kindness is compliments of my mother. She told me of a recent trip she took into Manhattan on the Long Island Railroad. She bought a book at the train station, hoping to make the thirty-minute ride in and out of the city pass more quickly. It wasn't until my mother, the avid reader, was on the train and twelve pages into the mystery that she realized she'd already read the book. She immediately turned to the man sitting next to her and asked if he would like to have it. He gladly accepted her offer, explaining that his wife loved mysteries too.

My mother explained she'd often thought about creating a book mark or cover (brown paper bags, look out) that she could place on a book, once it was read, permitting the lucky finder to enjoy the story before passing it along again. I don't know if my mother ever did it, but today I will. We have a small stack of books my husband has read on recent business trips. They are good books, but not books worth keeping. I have just finished putting covers on them.

The front says...

I'm done, now it's your turn...

Enjoy the Book

Catch the spirit, do a random act of kindness

And the back says...

Pass it along when you're finished...

Do a Random Act of Kindness

I will bring them to Starbucks when I go for my morning cup of joe and place them on coffee tables around the store. That and a cup of coffee is sure to start my day off on the right foot.

Now, if you commute on a train, bus, subway, or plane; frequent a local coffee shop; exercise at a gym; share common office space; visit a local park regularly; or even shop at a supermarket, consider doing the same. Use brown paper, a mailing label, or something as easy as a sticky note and invite complete strangers to be the recipient of your random act of kindness.

Let us know how it goes and I'll do the same.

Announcements:

• Taste of USA: Today we celebrate New Mexico, Wednesday is Texas, Thursday is Washington D.C., Massachusetts, and Hawaii. Friday these states must muster up as many people as possible to... "tell us what your state's made of." On deck... Idaho, Alaska, New York, Tennessee, and Michigan.
  
• Free For All Friday: We have some takers for this week's Free For All Friday Challenge. First, Andrea (killer aerobic instructor) is hosting a Carnival-themed party for her six-year old son. She has some games brainstormed, but is looking for the extra fixins (party favors, prizes, decorations, music selections, fun outfits she and others can wear the day of the party, food choices, etc....) Important Note: Andrea will not read the blog until FRIDAY, so mill over it for the next few days, but don't post your genius ideas until this Friday.
  
• Also, Maureen's daughter is turning 16 in February. In New York this is serious business, so a reception hall has already been booked and party planning is in full swing. She is looking for our readerships' collective knowledge and creativity surrounding Sweet Sixteen Court Ceremonies (did you know this existed?), as well as best places to purchase once-in-a-lifetime-princess-tiaras (she said if Texans, host to pageants galore don't know where to get a tiaras then who will?).
  
• Congratulations to Heather. She was just offered a new position AND PROMOTION at the University of Texas at Arlington. This, of course, means she will be moving my way in the next couple of months. Can you see my smile coming through your computer screen?

Signing off until tomorrow...

Confuscious Says...

Fun announcements at the end...

Life ebbs and flows.  Sometimes we're up, sometimes we're not.  The past four or five days have been the latter for me.  No real reason.  The weather has been great.  I've been the recipient of good news.  I'm fine.  My family is fine (knock on wood).  I'm generally just feeling blah... Maybe it's a Libra thing, a year-of-the-snake-thing, the curse of my Colorstrology, or the pull of tides.  I have no real idea and I'm sure tomorrow by this time, it'll be a done deal.

In the meantime, a good friend of mine forwarded a mass email (something I would typically delete immediately).  For whatever reason I kept it and stumbled upon it this weekend while getting ready to transition into next year's calendar.  It is titled, Food for Thought In Tough Times.  The whole, "tough times' thing might be overstating the case, but still the message was good and it immediately let me know in which direction highlowaha.com would go this week.

The article shares ten recommendations for things to do when feeling less than perky.  I'll tell you all ten (just so you're not left wondering), but we'll immediately hone in on one in particular.  I should tell you there is a descriptive paragraph to go with each recommendation, but for brevity's sake, I'll just share the key points.  They are: forget about yourself, focus on others; forget about your commodity, focus on your relationships; forget about the sale, focus on creating value; forget about your losses, focus on your opportunities, forget about your difficulties, focus on your progress; forget about the '"future," focus on today; Forget about who you were, focus on who you can be; forget about events, focus on your responses; forget about what's missing, focus on what's available; forget about your complaints, focus on your gratitude.

The focus of our thought and creativity today... and,  in fact, this week... "Forget about yourself, focus on others."  Yes, this week we are going to focus our creative energies towards thinking about, talking about, and maybe even doing RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS. And if you're really up for it... SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY!

For those of you who have been with me for quite some time, today's blog will not be a discussion of my Annual Random Acts of Kindness Party - held every October.  No, this will be a much more informal attempt to explore all the clever ways we can brighten the days of people around us (...and in turn, lift our own spirits). 

My Random Acts Compatriots might be wondering why I am choosing to focus on random acts of kindness when the observance of the next nationally recognized Random Acts of Kindness Week is not until February 9-15, 2009 and World Kindness Week is not until November 10-16, 2008.  In short... to wait until then would (1) NOT be random, and (2) be of no help to the funk I am in... NOW!

The first example for this week came to me immediately.  I went to dinner with an old friend of mine last Thursday and on the way back to her car from the restaurant, I shared a short story about a ritual - an actual random act of kindness - that Richard and I do each time we visit that restaurant.  Lisa and I went to P.F. Chang's for dinner, so we could catch up (and so I could inhale as many lettuce wraps as possible before my Szechuan Beef arrived).  

When Richard and I eat there on Saturday nights (which is somewhat frequently, since I am a creature of habit), there is typically a 2-hour wait.  We immediately take our pager and move toward the bar where there are numerous tables seated on a first-come-first-serve-basis. Richard orders his regular... Makers Mark (he's an Ambassador) and diet coke, while I stalk the people eating in the bar area.  It never fails that within 15-20 minutes of lurking... bam... we have our seat.  We enjoy our meal, laugh over fortune cookies, pay our tab and are out of there in 60-90 minutes.  If you're doing the math on this, then you know by the time we leave we usually only have 10-15 more minutes before our pager is scheduled to go off.  So here it is...

As we leave the restaurant, we identify the people in the parking lot upon whom we would like to bestow our random act of kindness.  We greet them with big smiles an then inform them that their 2-hour wait has just become 10 minutes! I love it!  It makes me feel so good every time we do it.  I feel better right now... just talking about it. Next time you go out to eat, try it. You'll feel better too.

Oohhh... and if you're wondering... "Luck happens when hard work meets opportunity."  That was this week's fortune.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Taste of USA: What's Your State Made Of? is fully up and running.  Click on the icon in the top right hand corner of my blog to discover the rules of play and to check the fun out along the way.  It is going to be a fun couple of months and you won't want your state to miss out.  Speaking of states... Alabama, New Mexico, Texas, Washington D.C., Massachusetts, and Hawaii you are all up first.  On deck (May 26-31) are Idaho, Alaska, New York, Tennessee, and Michigan.  It will be much more fun if people from each of these states participate, so if you know someone... encourage them to tune in.  As for you... get ready to share your stories of people you know, vacations you've taken, fun facts you've learned, etc....  I'll go first... I don't have much association with the state of Alabama, but I do have a friend and valued colleague who lives there.  Corrie... if you're out there and reading this...HI!  I'd love a quick update on the other Corey.
  
• Helena and Julie... hopefully you are working out the Flat Stanley pass off.  Let me know if I can help.
  
• A big thanks to Cheryl and CSPgradstudent for making Taste of USA happen.  Cheryl is a creative (and technological) genius who helped make the click-on page (my technical term) work and CSPgradstudent is the conscientious, detail-oriented - and also technologically savvy - person who will be reporting updates on where each states stands.

Speaking of Presents...

Before the week is out, I thought I would share with you some special gifts I received this week. Both are creative yet different.

The first gift was my Mother's Day gift and I must warn you... no one I've shown it to has "gotten" it. I LOVE IT!!! It's not a sweater, a new dress, a family photo, new perfume, or spa date. Nope. It is a completely impractical and quirky piece of art. My family and I recently roamed an art festival where the artist responsible for my gift was featured. I was immediately drawn to his booth because of the whimsical items he created out of nothing more than wood, appliances and other random items. Richard and I pined and poured over the selection, debating whether or not we should splurge on one of his pieces for our study. There was one in particular piece incorporating a globe, but made to look like a hot air balloon. That was the one I wanted! Perfect for the study. As Murphy's Law would have it... after an hour of roaming the show and debating back and forth, Richard and I headed back to his booth, prepared to take the plunge, only to find out he just sold the very one on which I had my mind set. You can imagine my excitement when my thoughtful and loving husband presented me with a second rendition created by the artist just for me. If you like it, great. I'll share the artist's name. If you don't, join the ranks.

The second thoughtful gift I received this week was presented to me by Heather (who was a colleague of mine when I lived in Kentucky). Heather knew that each fall I would have my class of first year students submit a weekly index card to me. On the card, the students were to record three things... you got it... their HIGH, LOW, and AHA for the week (see April 28). Many students continued submitting their highs, lows, and ahas through the spring semester and one student in particular CONTINUES (four years later) sharing her weekly highs, lows, and ahas. So, imagine my surprise and pleasure when Heather presented me with a series of index cards, completed by seniors on graduation day! That's right. Heather had the students... in their caps and gowns... complete ONE more index card for old time sake. The cards tell of the students high, low, and aha after four years of college. It brought my experience at Bellarmine University full circle and maybe it even did the same for the students.

NEWS FLASH:

This week starts Taste of USA: What's Your State Made Of. For those of you new to the site or too busy to keep track of all we have going on... Taste of USA is a competition between states. The purpose... tout the fun, unique, and noteworthy things about your state with the hopes of luring me there for a fun-filled day of brainstorming and creativity. That's right. I will fly to the winning state sometime in either late August or early September to meet with readers and to develop the direction and fresh content for the second half of our year. The day is sure to be chock full of surprises and fun. Cheryl will be our "tour guide" for this whirlwind tour and CSPgradstudent will be our "Bean Counter," reporting on state standings. Rules will be posted later today, in the section on the front page labeled, "Taste of USA." Check it out, since we have no time to waste. The first five states begin participating this week. They are: Alabama, New Mexico, Texas, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Hawaii (go Hawaii. I'm rooting for you :)).

Free For All Friday: Packaging is Everything

T.G.I.F. A busy week of mailboxes, journaling, whacking, and then even more whacking on the side of the head.

Today is all about teachers and what they consider - after a LONG, hard, year of work - to be ideal gifts/gestures of appreciation. Before I simply open the floor up to our loyal readers and visitors, let me add another dimension to our Free For All...

Before I got married, I always strived to be the most "creative" gift giver. That meant that I thought I was too creative to defer to the couple's registry. The registry, in my mind, was for lazy people who lacked any imagination. Then I got married. I came to appreciate - with every ounce of my being - the "experienced" people who in their infinite wisdom knew that a place setting of china would ultimately be more appreciated than his and her watches bearing each other's names. The truth is, neither of us has much occasion to wear our watches, but each time we set our dining room table we have cause to think about the thoughtful people who chipped in and helped purchase the place settings included in so many of our family celebrations.

My point... sometimes practical has its place. The handful of teachers and educators with whom I have spoken in the past three or four days have all suggested they appreciate receiving gift cards. Teachers, as we know, do not make a lot of money so the ability to shop for something they've eyed but couldn't afford, is actually a thoughtful gesture. So, gift cards should not be considered an impersonal, thoughtless, cop-out.

What is sure to transform a gift card from simply generous to... generous, thoughtful, and even sentimental is... PACKAGING. So, today our loyal readers and visiting teachers should feel free to comment on EITHER: (1) the gift you've most appreciated receiving, or (2) the best packaging of a gift card.

For those of you who love packaging... have no fear. This will not... I repeat will NOT, be the last time we visit this topic. It is one of my favorites and therefore will be revisited again (and again). To get us going, I am including a photograph our loyal reader Heather sent yesterday. It is a photograph of appreciation gifts she just presented to her daughter's teachers. I am happy to report it is a spin-off (much enhanced) of an idea shared via highlowaha.com. The stick of dynamite contains Hershey's Hugs and Kisses, along with Target gift cards for each teacher. The note on top reads, "Hugs and Kisses to a DYNAMITE group of teachers." Proof that creativity breeds creativity and, that on a good day, creativity can be found right here at this very blog site.

Have at it.

Signing off until tomorrow...

What's In Their Water?

Idea first... announcements at the end.  This change in format is thanks to my good and trusted friend.

A part of my morning ritual is flipping through the newspaper in search of interesting stories. If the stories translate into creative ideas then all the better.  Below are two stories I ran across. Individually they might not be all that interesting, but combined... I think they can be something of interest. 

See what you think.

Story#1: Sweet victory: Girl Scout sets cookie-sale record. 

The article tells of a 15 year old girl from Dearborn, Michigan who sold more girl scout cookies in a single season than anyone in the U.S.  ever has.  Her approach... set up Girl Scout Cookie shop in a church parking lot, Monday through Saturday between the hours of 3:00-7:00. Sundays she moved her location to an auto part store and extended her hours.

Story #2: More news play makes sense

This story tells of a 10-year old boy from Carleton, Michigan who collected his goal of 1 million pennies and then presented a check for $10, 000 to his catholic school

Again... individually, maybe not so interesting, but together they at least make you stop and go hmmmmm.  Same Dallas Morning New newspaper, two different sections.  Both articles reporting on resourceful children... IN MICHIGAN... who raised large sums of money.

There's got to be something here.  ESPECIALLY in light of next week's kick off to Taste of USA: What's Your State Made Of. 

For those of you new to the site... Taste of USA is an upcoming contest - showcasing the best of your state.  The winning state will be named host site for the First Annual Highlowaha Brainstorming Summit.  It is bound to be a fun-filled, high energy, community building, you-won't-want-to-miss-it event... complete with giveaways and all.

We are a blog of creative thinkers.  So, put on your thinking caps and help me figure out how we can either capitalize or adapt this information to benefit highlowaha.com.  Need some creative jarring?  Dig into our Wednesday archives for a Whack on the Side of the Head. Literal "brownie" points for the first person who applies one of von Oech's principles.

Announcements:

• According to CSPgradstudent - who was appointed highlowaha.com bean counter, all but three states are accounted for.  We need a mere three readers from the following sates: West Virginia, Montana, and Wyoming.
  
• The reader for whom we brainstormed ideas about moving from one office to another reported a successful event.  She used some of our ideas by asking students to record favorite memories in a journal.  She also distributed cards featuring a photo of the view from her office window. Cupcakes were had by all, her signature treat.
  
• CSPgradstudent also hosted the graduation celebration for which she was seeking our ideas. Maybe she'll post the outcome.
  
• Remember!  Our goal is to have 100 educators post favorite student gifts they have received (or wish they would have received) THIS FRIDAY!  It is not to late to help make this happen.  Contact, parents, aunts, uncles, former teachers, coaches, neighbors, former classmates, etc...  All we're asking is that they post one idea.  Their name will go in a drawing for a box of school supplies for next year's classroom.
• Added incentive... if they mention your name... you also win a treat.  

Signing off until tomorrow...

Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday: School's Out!

New Readers... today is Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday.  It is the day we draw a card from Roger von Oegh's magical deck of cards and use the concept described to jar our own creativity.  We do this with a particular highlowaha.com predicament in mind and then, of course, I also challenge you to apply the concept to something in your own world.

Today's predicament is compliments of my trusty and creative neighbor.  She called me last night suggesting that highlowaha.com spend some air time generating creative gift ideas for teachers.  It is, after all, the end of the school year and many of us will be looking for ways to show our appreciation.  This might even apply to day care providers... or heck... even your favorite college professors or administrators.  

To the untrained eye, this might sound more like an idea for Free For All Friday.  Friday's, after all, are reserved for generating creative solutions to problems just like these.  But, I got to thinking... Much like we did with Mother's Day (and to a lesser degree Father's Day), it might be nice to hear from actual teachers when generating gift ideas.  What are some of the favorite things/gestures teachers have received?  

How will we muster up enough teachers to make this segment truly useful?  That's where Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday comes in....

So, today's predicament... How will I assure a significant increase in readership among educators for THIS FRIDAY (5/16).  My goal... have 100 teachers post the favorite treat/gesture they have received... or wish they would have received!  Now to the Whack Pack for my creative solution.

Make a Metaphor.  Philospher Ortega y Gassett:  "The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man."  The key to metaphorical thinking is comparing unrelated concepts and finding similarities between them.  Example: what do a cat and a refrigerator have in common?  They both have a place to put fish; they both have tails; they purr; they come in a variety of colors; and they both have a lifetime of about fifteen years.  What similarities does your idea have with cooking a meal?  Conducting an orchestra?  Building a house?  Raising a child?  Waging war?  How can these help you understand your idea in a new way?  What can you compare your idea to?

Hmmm... I'll start with the first one and see where that takes me.  What similarities does my idea, of recruiting 100 teachers who are willing to post their ideal gift on this Friday's blog, have with cooking a meal?

• There's more than one way to cook an egg, just like there's more than one way to recruit teachers: Scrambled, poached, sunny-side up, fried, hard boiled, soft boiled... these are all the ways you can prepare and egg.  Call, email, write a note, personal invitation, list serve, word of mouth, students, contact professional teacher associations, notify the PTA, advertise... these are all ways to recruit teachers for Friday's blog. 
  
• Both require turning up the heat:  Barbecue is low and slow.  Grilling is hot and fast.  For the purposes of this week's exercise, we will be GRILLING.  Today is Wednesday.  We have until mid-night on Friday to solicit input from 100 teachers!
  
• Chefs and recruiters follow recipes: A recipe when talking about cooking a meal is fairly obvious, but what about a recipe for recruiting?...  For the purposes of this activity, we'll view recruiting as a form of marketing (marketing the idea of posting to teachers far and wide).  The four "P's" of marketing include : Product (getting teachers to post); Price (free); Promotion (Any teacher who makes a post on Friday will be entered in a drawing to receive school supplies for his/her classroom next year); Place (teacher lounges, highlowaha and other relevant blog sites, pick up and drop off lines outside of school, etc...)
  
• Both are better when they include dessert: Preferably CHOCOLATE.  So, have I got a treat for you!  Refer the greatest number of teachers (which we'll know if they mention your name in the post) and YOU too will earn a treat...compliments of Sous-Chef Claudia.
  

Now your turn.  What ideas can you cook up, using the analogy above?  Or, test out one of the other metaphors...recruiting teachers and... raising a child, conducting an orchestra, building a house, or waging war.  

Either way, we want everyone to pitch in.  Contact every teacher you know and have them tell their friends.  There's no time to waste.  ... Dig in!

Signing off until tomorrow...