Meet Molly

One of my favorite memories from Convention 2006 was getting to meet Molly McGinn, senior writer for Kindermusik International, in person.  We had emailed several times, left comments on each other’s blogs, and spoken via the phone, but I actually got to meet her in “real” life (vs. cyberworld) in Greensboro.  It was so much fun to find out that she’s even more fun in person than she is on the web!  Who can ever forget “Opera Girl”?!

Here’s a video that introduces you to Molly and gives you a little more insight into what makes her tick as a person, a Kindermusik educator, a composer, and a writer.  I know you’ll find yourself laughing and singing along as I did.

Convention News is UP!

It’s hard to believe that the 2006 convention could be topped, but 2007 really looks like it has the possibilities to do so!  Special speakers include Daniel Levitin, PhD., author of This Is Your Brain on Music, who will speak on the value of music education, Dr. Ysaye (pronounced “Ee-sigh”) M. Barnwell, composer/presenter/performer with the internationally acclaimed female a cappella quintet “Sweet Honey in the Rock“, leading a General Session on building a vocal community which will provide you valuable information and inspiration toward achieving a vocal community in your classrooms, and Dr. Becky Bailey, award-winning author, renowned teacher, and internationally-recognized expert in childhood education and developmental psychology.   Sweet Honey in the Rock will be there as well to thrill us with their beautiful music.  Additional presenters and speakers will be announced as they become available.  

All of the details, including links and maps to the hotel, airlines, finding a roommate, and the convention agenda can be found on KI’s Convention page found here.  Want to go directly to registration?  It can be found here.  You’ll need a major credit card to complete registration.  If you register by June 30th, you’ll receive a free gift.  Registration closes September 12th.

So, mark your calendars, make your plans, register with Travelocity, Expedia, or Orbitz, and sign up for a farewatcher to catch the best airfare. 

Hope I see you there!

Heads Up! Convention, Licensing, and Other News

I received my licensing confirmation today in the mail and wanted to share some of this information with those of you who might not have received theirs yet. 

 Updated “Active” Educator Requirements

1) Purchase of five or more sets of Kindermusik At Home Materials within a specific curriculum, minus returns, in the past rolling eight months

2) Purchase of three or more sets of Family  Time At Home Materials, minus returns, in the past rolling eight months

3) Purchase of 20 or more sets of ABC Music & Me At Home Materials, minus returns, in the past rolling eight months

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April 1st marks the beginning of KI’s first online national advertising co-op campaign, designed, tested, and tweaked based on feedback from Kindermusik educators.  During testing, it has proven to bring educators more enrollments.  For every 10 leads sent to an educator, 17% turns into an enrollment. Kindermusik listened to our requests for help in filling our classes, and believes that this is one proven way to accomplish that goal.

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2007 Convention News

The Kindermusik National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, October 17 – 20, 2007 will feature Daniel Levitin, Ph.D., author of This is Your Brain on Music, who will share his findings, beliefs, and applications of his life’s work on how music touches the mind, body, and soul.  There are also soon-to-be announced  Grammy-award winning guests as well. 

You can read more general information about Daniel Levitin here as well as on his home page.  You can read his bio here.  (Interesting background!)  I loved skimming through the listing of his tracks on his iPod.  He had some really *good* stuff on there.  That’s an interesting idea – what tracks (besides Kindermusik tracks!) are on *your* iPod? 

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In talking with Erin Mazzeo this week, she expressed to me that we will all be excited at the news for convention that is slated to be in our email on Monday, April 16th.  Registration opens this Monday, April 16th, so check your email on Monday!

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Another part of my conversation with Erin was about some feedback she was looking for on a project that Kindermusik is hard at work on for the KM educators in developing even *better* ways for us to use their website.  I can’t go into details just now, as they are still in the planning and developing stages, but all I could say was “*WOW!*  That will be *fabulous*!“ over and over and over again.   And if it does turn out half as well as she thinks it will, it will be *wonderful* for us all.

And, oh, yes, Erin’s busy at work on not only this project and October’s convention, but she’s also getting married on May 12th.  Talk about “Superwoman”!

Congratulations, Erin!

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Last but not least, the new silver medallion in our licensing information does *not* have “2008” printed on it.  Instead, it reads “Licensed Educator“.  According to Michael Dougherty’s letter, this is done so that future renewals can be done in a more environmentally responsible manner beginning in March of 2008.   So, no, you’re not missing a “2008″ sticker in this year’s licensing materials!

I hope you all have a terrific year ahead in 2007-08!

Blessings,

Merri Williams

State Representative for Georgia,

Partnership of Kindermusik Educators

 

Urgent Need

We are still in need of three educators to cover three Babies R Us stores on June 9th. 

The three remaining stores in Georgia are:

Douglasville 6875 Douglas Boulevard
Augusta 4225 Washington Road
Alpharetta 6380 North Point Parkway – North Point Mall area

This is a tremendous opportunity not only for an individual educator, but also to get the Kindermusik name out there in front of the public.  If you have some time that you can volunteer, please send an email to: btkindermusik@aol.com with the following information:

Your name

Mailing address

Email address

Educator Number

Phone Number

Address of the Babies R Us location you can fill:

The vast majority of locations must be filled by May 1st or Babies R Us may pull the entire event altogether.  Let’s work together to reach more children with music!

Heads Up! New for Summer 2007!

 

Just in time for summer camps, KI has released a free enhancement guide for Creatures in My Backyard which is celebrating its 10th year!  Evidently, it is definitely a keeper, lasting that long! 

Download your free copy here.

There is also a Summer Camp Activity Enhancement Guide that you can find here that gives you additional ideas for each available unit this summer. 

Plus there is a terrific online sale of the enhancement instruments and CD’s in the Educator’s Store.

Check it out!