National eXtension Initiative

eXtension held an outstanding first National eXtension Conference in St. Louis, MO October 20-23, 2009.  Many breakout sessions were web cast nationwide and recorded for future viewing.  The following is a list of those breakout sessions and the URLs for the recordings.  Simply click on the URL and you will be able to view and hear the sessions:

Wednesday, October 21

How to Host Your Own Webinar and Why
Floyd Davenport
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p25052985/

Technologies for Creating Educational Content for Online Programs
Floyd Davenport
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p99441424/

Yes, a multi-state collaboration can produce success, plus more!
Jody Johnson
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p76983911/

How the Virtual News Room Works for You
Lynette Spicer
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p48401053/

Thursday, October 22

Sensemaking for Qualitative Research: The research methodologies used by the Ask an Expert Task force
Kevin Gamble
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p14656678/

Using eXtension Tools, Technologies, and Concepts to Improve Extension Work
Jerold R. Thomas
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p22517464/

Guidelines for Information Technology-based Promotion & Tenure Expectations and Metrics: A Proposal
Robert Hughes, Jr.
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p88595072/

Implementing the eXtension Widget on County web sites in Ohio: A case study
Jerry Thomas
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p42389451/

Evaluate Your Content with Google Analytics (by Category)
Ben MacNeill
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p33068519/

Be, Grow, Create Phase 2 @ Oregon State
Mark Anderson-Wilk, Alex Stone, and John McQueen
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p53661579/

Introducing ideas for establishing a social media strategy
Anne Adrian
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p97065919/

Assessing County Extension Program’s Readiness to Adopt Technology: They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
Dana Martin and Jeff Hino
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p35128725/

Effective Review Standards: The Role of Authors, Editors, Reviewers, Users, and Communicators in Quality Control and Usability
Mark Anderson-Wilk
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p61842397/

A Creative Approach to Generating eXtension Publications in the Family Caregiving CoP
Amy F. Hosier
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p44999712/

eXtension held an outstanding first National eXtension Conference in St. Louis, MO October 20-23, 2009.  Many sessions were web cast nationwide and recorded for future viewing.  The following is a list of conference GENERAL sessions and the URLs for the recordings.  Simply click on the URL and you will be able to view and hear the sessions:

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Welcome

• Dan Cotton, Director, eXtension
• Karen Hinton, Dean and Director
• University of Nevada Cooperative Extension
• Chair of the eXtension Governing Committee
• Public Launch of the Extension Wildfire Information Network (EWIN)

Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present
Bob Johansen, Institute for the Future
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p53095789/

Ask an Expert Task Force Results
Kevin Gamble, eXtension Associate Director of Technology
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p12261706/

Institutionalization of eXtension Panel
Representatives from each Extension Region
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p20232503/

USDA Perspective
Roger N. Beachy, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), United State Department of Agriculture
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p39714451/

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Embracing the Chaos (& other scary tales from the social web)
Tara Hunt, Author, The Whuffie Factor Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Citizen Agency
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p26037816/

Friday, October 23, 2009

Cultivating Partnerships and Resource Development Panel

• Michael Ouart, Vice Provost for Extension, University of Missouri Extension, Chair, eXtension Finance Committee
• James Wade, Executive Director, ECOP, and Director of Extension and Outreach, Association of Public and Land- grant Universities
• Deborah Sheely, Deputy Administrator, Competitive Programs, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Cathann Kress, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Military Community and Family Policy
• Randel Raub, Director of Research and New Product Development, Purina Mills
• Michael McGirr, National Program Leader, Sustainable Development, Global Engagement, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p29888201/

National eXtension Awards

• Community of Practice Partnership Award
• Community of Practice Individual Achievement Awards
• Outstanding Community of Practice
• eXtension Champion Award

http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p46899902/

eXtension 2010 and Beyond

• Expectations for 2010 including key milestones projected to occur
• Alternate Content Management System options
• New tools and technologies to be implemented in 2010
• Metrics task force report and reporting tools
• Report of Be, Grow, Create status and roll out
• Scholarship of eXtension
• New Partnerships

Closing Comments
Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University ExtensionIncoming Chair of the eXtension Governing Committee
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p72493462/

The following books have been recommended by those attending this NEXT2009 session:

1491 by Charles Mann

21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John C. Maxwell

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Choosing Civility by P.M. Forni

Clicking: 17 Trends that Drive Your Business — and Your Life by Faith Popcorn and Lys Marigold

Death by Meeting: Having Four Different Types of Meetings by Patrick Lencioni

Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

Discover magazine

Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations by Clay Shirky

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Leaders Make the Future by Bob Johansen

Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync? By Seth Godin

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers by Robert Scoble

National Geographic magazine

Natural Capitalism by Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken

Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company by Andrew S. Grove

Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe

slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte

Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen

TECHNOLOGY’S PROMISE: Expert Knowledge on the Transformation of Business and Society by William Halal

The Art of Engagement: Bridging the Gap Between People and Possibilities by Jim Haudan

The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude by P.M. Forni

The Extraordinary Leader by John Zenger

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle

The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt

Troublesome Creek by Jan Watson

Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Who Moved the Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Work Naked: Eight Essential Principles for Peak Performance in the Virtual
Workplace by Cynthia c. Froggatt

Recommended by conference speakers
A New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution From National Research Council, recommended by Roger Beachy, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA

How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins, recommended by Russ Roberts

Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism by Richard C. Longworth, recommended by Michael McGirr, NIFA

12:00 (Central): Lunch Speaker: Embracing the Chaos (& other scary tales from the social web) Tara Hunt, Author, The Whuffie Factor, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Citizen Agency

Watch it here:
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/versailles

Tara Hunt

Tara Hunt is a leading authority on online communities—how they are changing our culture and how businesses must behave in order to succeed in the participatory web economy. She is one of the most respected and cited thought leaders in community marketing—how to delight and enchant the people in the communities your company serves with products, experiences and communications that honor an all-new set of expectations. The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business is Tara’s new breakthrough book on community marketing. It provides the strategic map and specific tactics for success in the new economy and its elusive, lucrative world of online communities.

eXtension will be web casting several sessions from the National eXtension Conference, October 20-23, 2009 in St. Louis, MO.  Below is a listing of both general sessions and concurrent sessions that will be available.  All times listed are for CENTRAL TIME.

To attend a session:

1. Click on the web address listed for the session (listed with each session or cluster of sessions).
2. Log into the meeting room as a guest:
3. Enter as a Guest: Type your name and click Enter Room

Session audio and Q & A:
The audio will play over your computer speakers.  Make sure they are turned on and not muted.  If a session has a question and answer period, you can post question via the chat window.

Before the event, it is best to test your computer:
Before the conference, go to http://www.extension.iastate.edu/testconnect to test your computer’s ability to participate and to install an optional plug-in.

Wednesday, October 21
General Session

Log onto: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/versailles

All times listed are for CENTRAL TIME.

8:00 Welcome –

• Dan Cotton, Director, eXtension
• Karen Hinton, Dean and Director, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, Chair of the eXtension Governing Committee

Public Launch of the Extension Wildfire Information Network (EWIN)

8:20 Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present–

Bob Johansen, Institute for the Future
This interactive presentation will draw from Bob’s new book, Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World, but he will also provide an experience that will help you sort out what these leadership skills mean for you. Foresight can provoke insight and lead to better decisions—and better leadership—in the present.

10: 15 Ask an Expert Task Force Results--Kevin Gamble, eXtension Associate Director of Technology
10:45 Institutionalization of eXtension Panel– Representatives from each Extension Region

11:30 USDA Perspective –Roger N. Beachy, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), United State Department of Agriculture

Noon—Presentation of eXtension Champion Award
Speaker: How can eXtension Prepare for an Uncertain Future?–Russ Roberts, Adjunct Professor, Management and Organizations Department, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

Wednesday, October 21
Breakout Sessions
All times listed are for CENTRAL TIME.

1:30 How to Host Your Own Webinar and Why Floyd Davenport
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

2:30 Technologies for Creating Educational Content for Online Programs Floyd Davenport
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

3:30 Yes, a multi-state collaboration can produce success, plus more! Jody Johnson
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

4:30 How the Virtual News Room Works for You Lynette Spicer
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

Thursday, October 22
Breakout Sessions
All times listed are for CENTRAL TIME.

Thursday morning
8:00 Sensemaking for Qualitative Research: The research methodologies used by the Ask an Expert Task force Kevin Gamble
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

8:00 Using eXtension Tools, Technologies, and Concepts to Improve Extension Work Jerold R. Thomas
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/roomc

9:00 Guidelines for Information Technology-based Promotion & Tenure Expectations and Metrics: A Proposal Robert Hughes, Jr.
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

10:00 Implementing the eXtension Widget on County web sites in Ohio: A case study Jerry Thomas
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

10:00 Evaluate Your Content with Google Analytics (by Category) Ben MacNeill
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/roomc

11:00 Be, Grow, Create Phase 2 @ Oregon State – Mark Anderson-Wilk, Alex Stone, and John McQueen
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

11:00 Introducing ideas for establishing a social media strategy Anne Adrian
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/roomc

Noon: Lunch Speaker: Embracing the Chaos (& other scary tales from the social web) Tara Hunt, Author, The Whuffie Factor, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Citizen Agency
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/versailles

Breakout Session
Thursday afternoon
All times listed are for CENTRAL TIME.

1:30 Assessing County Extension Program’s Readiness to Adopt Technology: They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know Dana Martin and Jeff Hino
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

3:30 Effective Review Standards: The Role of Authors, Editors, Reviewers, Users, and Communicators in Quality Control and Usability Mark Anderson-Wilk
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/rooma

4:30 A Creative Approach to Generating eXtension Publications in the Family Caregiving CoP Amy F. Hosier
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/roomc

Friday, October 23
General Session
All times listed are for CENTRAL TIME.
Log onto:

http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/versailles

8:00–Cultivating Partnerships and Resource Development Panel

• Michael Ouart, Vice Provost for Extension, University of Missouri Extension, Chair, eXtension Finance Committee
• James Wade, Executive Director, ECOP, and Director of Extension and Outreach, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
• Deborah Sheely, Deputy Administrator, Competitive Programs, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Cathann Kress, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Military Community and Family Policy
• Randel Raub, Director of Research and New Product Development, Purina Mills
• Michael McGirr, National Program Leader, Sustainable Development, Global Engagement, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

9:15–National eXtension Awards

• Community of Practice Partnership Award
• Community of Practice Individual Achievement Awards
• Outstanding Community of Practice

10:15—eXtension 2010 and Beyond

• Improving Services to Our Customers
• Empowering CES Employees
• Transparency and Accountability
• Adding and Supporting Communities of Practice
• Content Development and Support
• Increasing Funding and Partnerships

11:40–Closing Comments– Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension, Incoming Chair of the eXtension Governing Committee

We’re happy to announce the release of one of the most requested features for the Ask an Expert application: the ability to follow-up with the person who submitted the question. This can be useful when we need to ask for more information before answering or if we need to provide clarifying statements once an answer is sent. This new feature is available starting today.

An Overview of Question Follow-up:

1. The person who submitted the question can post replies to AaE responses. If you need more info about a question, just ask for it.
2. Multiple responses from multiple experts can be sent to a single question.
3. The ability to close a question if no response is needed (e.g. someone replies to simply say “thanks”)
4. Follow-up is available for all questions in the system – existing and new.

There are very minor changes to the AaE application user interface in this new version. Most notably is the ability to re-open and reassign a question after an expert has provided an answer. The response section of the AaE question page will also look slightly different because it’s now designed to accommodate all expert and public users responses.

If the public user posts a reply after receiving a response, the question is reassigned to the last expert and an email is sent to that expert. The expert needs to respond if necessary or close the question if no response is needed.

We hope this feature makes it easier to work on questions and get the right answers out to the public. This completes Question Follow-up and Phase One which was released last month.

News consistently draws 10 to 11 percent of the pageviews on www.extension.org.

Top 10 releases during September were originally posted between Oct. 2007 and Sept. 2009.

Notice the key words loaded at the beginning of these headlines.

Source: Google Analytics
These were the top news stories ranked by number of pageviews for Sept. 1-Oct. 1, 2009
709–Aronia Berries Easy to Grow Organically, Have High Levels of Antioxidants (Aug. 26, 2009; Iowa State University)
693–Wooly Worms and the Weather (Aug. 26, 2008; University of Illinois)
443–Deer Overpopulation Causes Problems (Oct. 31, 2007; University of Kentucky)
381–Overseeding in Fall Can Repair, Improve Lawn (Sept. 3, 2009; Kansas State University)
351–Tax Credit Available for First-time Homebuyers (April 13, 2009; Oklahoma State University)
277–‘In Over Your Head’ Bulletin Offers Strategies for Financial Crisis (Aug. 14, 2009; Ohio State University)
234–Urinary Tract Infection Can Lead to Serious Problems in the Elderly (July 30, 2008; Texas Cooperative Extension)
205–The Pros and Cons of Television Viewing for Children (April 8, 2009; University of Missouri)
197–Late Blight Identified in Wisconsin; Gardeners and Growers Need to be Alert (Aug. 7, 2009: University of Wisconsin)
149–How to Talk to Your Creditors When You Can’t Pay Your Bills (Jan. 22, 2009; University of Illinois)

There is still time to register to attend the first National eXtension Conference, October 20-23, 2009 in St. Louis, MO. More than 250 of your colleagues will be attending this conference as of October 1, 2009. Join them! Go to: http://about.extension.org/2009-extension-national-conference/ for all the information you need on the conference. Early registration rates have expired but don’t let that stop you from attending the BEST professional development opportunity you’ll have this year!!! Join us in St. Louis!

For the past 18 months, the HorseQuest Community of Practice in partnership with My Horse University has distributed “e-Tips” an electronic newsletter for horse owners and enthusiasts. More than 4,000 subscribers received the newsletter featuring a Question of the Month, Photo of the Month, monthly e-Tips on nutrition, grooming, feeding, as well as information on new equine-related learning lessons. To subscribe to the newsletter go to: http://www.extension.org/pages/HorseQuest_and_My_Horse_University_e-Tips.

eXtension, in partnership with the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, has launched a new online investing course targeting farm and ranch families. The 8-lesson course helps farm families plan for a financially stable future that meets long-term needs. Enrollment is now open at: http://www.extension.org/pages/Investing_for_Farm_Families. The FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Investor Education Foundation worked with a team of 16 members from 10 different states, USDA/CSREES (now USDA/NIFA) and eXtension. Members of the Online Investor Education Team can be found at: http://collaborate.extension.org/wiki/OIE_Team