I am learning a lot from my 13-year-old this summer. How to sleep in. How to make a perfect s’more. And best of all, how to use Skype.
Skype is a social media tool I’ve wanted to try for many months, and once I finally sat down to figure it out, it took me five minutes. Five minutes to sign up, search for contacts and place my first call.
It’s easy, it’s fast and it’s free! Now I’m excited by the possibilities for school PR. Here are a few ideas that will make Skype a must-have tool:
Include out-of-town school board members in public meetings:
Worried about an absent board member missing an essential vote? Set them up on Skype before they depart, and then have them participate in the public meeting via video chat. By pivoting the laptop, the absent Board member can watch all the proceedings as a full participant.
Connect parents with your multilingual outreach team:
If your bilingual staffers are geographically scattered or few in number, use Skype to quickly connect an interpreter or outreach specialist with newcomers in any school or office. Training school secretaries on Skype makes every school a welcome center, and starts new families who don’t speak English off on the right foot by connecting them with a friendly staffer who speaks their language. This strategy could be used any time you need an interpreter, especially in an emergency situation.
Interact with your NSPRA chapter:
Need to share advice with distant colleagues? Want to start an APR study group? Hoping to save travel costs for an expert conference presenter? Just dial them in via Skype. The free version of Skype enables easy audio conference calls with up to 25 participants. And for as little as $5, Skype Premium lets you host a multi-person video chat with up to 10 participants.
