National eXtension Initiative

“Reach”, “follow”, “lead”, “innovate”, “engage”, “curate”, “initiate”. What does it all mean? How can each of us take advantage of the increasing flow of information we see every day? How can we learn more and bring value to our workplace and our clientele?

Navigating the information super-highway isn’t the same as it used to be. Curation, virtual worlds, social media strategy, new media trends, and media literacy are just a few of the intersections we are heading toward both professionally and personally.

The 2011 National eXtension Virtual Conference brings together an outstanding lineup of speakers for More Mind Reach, October 17, 18, & 19, 2011. Anyone working to reach and interact with the public will be interested in this active and reactive virtual conference designed to build your knowledge skill set about the changing world of information today and for the future:

Howard Rheingold [http://www.rheingold.com] is an internationally syndicated author of the weekly Tomorrow column, author of best-sellers Virtual Reality and The Virtual Community, and editor of best-seller The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog. He will kick off the NeVC2011 on Monday, October 17 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

Robin Good http://www.masternewmedia.org/ is an independent new media publisher, who has converted his professional skills and interests into a self-publishing career. He also curates on recovering from Google’s Farmer Panda Update. Robin will speak on Tuesday, October 18 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

Paulette Robinson leads the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, government, industry, and academia interested in virtual world use for confronting and solving common issues and is the Assistant Dean for Teaching and Learning for the Information Resources Management College at the National Defense University. Paulette will speak on Tuesday, October 18 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Clay Shirky [http://www.shirky.com/] is the author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (2008) and Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age (2010) and studies the effects of the Internet on society. Clay will speak on Wednesday, October 19 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

Steven Rosenbaum [http://www.steverosenbaum.magnify.net/] is the author of Curation Nation an exploration of the emerging phenomenon of human organization and publishing of content. He is also the founder of Magnify.net and the creator of MTV News Unfiltered. Steven will speak on Wednesday, October 19 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Following each day’s key conference presenters, as an attendee, you may join in the conversation surrounding their presentation with an opportunity to gain more insight into each of these topics with the presenter, facilitators, and reactors. Participants will be able to interact via live chat. All sessions will be recorded for later viewing.

Begin following NeVC2011 on Twitter at #nevc2011 and JOIN us October 17, 18, 19!!!

Kevin Gamble & Terry Meisenbach, Co-Chairs
National eXtension Virtual Conference 2011

From Entrepreneurs and Their Communities eXtension learning community
Thursday, September 8 — The Case for Supporting Entrepreneurs in a Jobless Recovery
http://www.extension.org/pages/60238/the-case-for-supporting-entrepreneurs-in-a-jobless-recovery

From the Dairy cattle eXtension learning community
Wednesday, September 14 — Handling High Commodity Prices
http://www.extension.org/pages/29156/upcoming-dairy-cattle-webinars

From the Plant Breeding and Genomics eXtension learning community
Thursday, September 15 — How to Use R Software for Data Analysis
http://www.extension.org/pages/60443/how-to-use-r-software-for-data-analysis-webinar

From the Animal Manure Management eXtension learning community
Friday, September 16 – Highlighted Findings of the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study
http://www.extension.org/pages/15370/upcoming-webcasts-livestock-and-poultry-environmental-learning-center

From the Horses eXtension learning community
Tuesday, September 27 — Reducing Hay Waste
http://myhorseuniversity.com/resources/webcasts/sept_2011

From the Small Meat Processors eXtension learning community
Wednesday, September 28 — To Build or Not to Build: Is a New Processor Really Needed?
http://www.extension.org/pages/59962/to-build-or-not-to-build:-is-new-processing-needed

From the Plant Breeding and Genomics eXtension learning community
Thursday, September 29 — How to Align Sequences
http://www.extension.org/pages/60428/how-to-align-sequences-webinar

From Penn State University and the Northeast Wood Biomass Energy Program
Friday, September 30 – Forest Biomass and Bioenergy: Opportunities and Constraints in the Northeastern United States
http://extension.psu.edu/energy/woody-products/northeast-wood-biomass-energy-program/webinars

About webinars
A webinar is an acronym for web-based seminar. Instead of traveling somewhere to attend a seminar, people meet in a virtual conference room on the Internet.

For a news release with more details: Free September Webinars Focus on Entrepreneurs, Feed for Dairy Cattle and Horses, Plant Breeding, Manure, and Facilities for Meat Processing

eXtension News in August 2011 featured 148 news releases that were posted from 37 states in 42 eXtension resource areas.

The analysis of news releases posted — by eXtension resource area and by state university source — is on the Communications and Marketing node in Create.eXtension.org. Scroll down to Recent Group News on http://create.extension.org/node/4893.

For more information about eXtension News contact Lynette Spicer at lynette.spicer@extension.org.

One of the strategic intents of the 2011-2014 eXtension Strategic Roadmap is to reach more customers. Social media makes the Cooperative Extension System more visible. It invites learner collaboration via reactions, comments, reviews and rankings.

Eighteen communities of practice and the Military Family Learning Network are on Facebook. Check out tips for Facebook and the list of eXtension Facebook pages at http://create.extension.org/node/87209.

eXtension hosted a very important meeting August 29-31 in Nashville, TN to discuss how to develop “blockbuster” Communities of Practice. The meeting included leaders of several Communities of Practice, members of the eXtension staff, and a consultant charged with organizing and orchestrating a successful workshop.

Today, eXtension supports the work of more than 60 Communities of Practice and while that number is expected to grow, to render true value for online customers, we need to enhance the customer experience, generate true transformative learning and extend customer reach. We believe the journey will require participation in “learning networks”, online areas where Communities of Practice and customers can engage in active learning and dialogue, and through “curation”, which involves adding context to content by categorizing, sense-making, commenting and/or remixing it to address individual learner needs. Interaction among Communities of Practice and other network members will help these learning networks focus on what is most important to individuals and create social learning.

Our work needs to ensure customer involvement and collaboration in order to create true customer “delight.” While the days were long and the work intense, much came out of the meeting. Key was identifying what currently works, what does not, and what must we do to achieve success in the learning marketplace. Stay tuned, more will certainly follow as we develop this all important blueprint for moving forward.

New editions of the Overall eXtension Metrics Report and State and Institutional Reports for January-June, 2011 are now available. Based on a review of the metrics in both reports, we have reduced the number of metrics we are reporting, beginning with this edition, to the ones we believe are most useful.

To see the Overall eXtension Metrics Report, go to:

http://create.extension.org/node/2790

To see the eXtension State and Institutional Reports, go to:

http://create.extension.org/node/2308

For more information, please contact Mike Lambur (mike.lambur@extension.org).

eXtension has developed a resource page to share information on how individuals throughout the Cooperative Extension System are working with scholarship, promotion, and tenure, etc.. This page houses links and instructions for obtaining information on an individual’s eXtension activities and contributions for use in scholarship documents (e.g., tenure and promotion dossiers, annual faculty reports). It is also a place where people can post documents and comments about their successes and challenges in documenting the scholarship of eXtension.

To see the eXtension Scholarship Resources webpage, go to:

http://create.extension.org/node/86591

For more information, please contact Mike Lambur (mike.lambur@extension.org).

To appropriately characterize, document, and communicate the value of eXtension as a resource to the Cooperative Extension System (CES), a set of Critical Success Factors (CSF) and metrics will be identified, reviewed and discussed by the Cooperative Extension System and reported on a regular basis. A CSF/Metrics Task Force has been named, including director/administrator members from the five regions, an eXtension Governing Committee member, and a representative from NIFA. The task force will meet this week. Task force members include: Paul Bonaparte-Krogh (N.H.-Northeast Region), Ed Smith (Texas-Southern Region), Louis Swanson (Colo.-Western Region), Richard Klemme (Wis.-North Central Region), Gregory Reed (Ala.-1890 Region), Jimmy Henning (Ky.-Governing Committee), Jane Clary (NIFA), Dan Cotton, Kevin Gamble, and Mike Lambur (eXtension Staff).

Once the CSF/Metrics Task Force has reached consensus on a set of CSF/Metrics, all members of the Cooperative Extension System will be invited to view and provide input on them through three national discussion sessions held via Adobe Connect. The sessions will take place in late September and early October. More specific information on the sessions will be forthcoming. We hope that you will able to join us for one of these sessions.

For more information, please contact Mike Lambur (mike.lambur@extension.org).

eXtension is once again soliciting applications for its 2012 Fellowship Program.

The purpose of the eXtension Fellowship Program is to provide opportunities for qualified individuals, within or outside of Cooperative Extension, to work on a temporary basis through either sabbatical leave or other contractual arrangements with eXtension on specific projects that contribute to the Initiative as well as to the individual.

The program will operate on a calendar year basis (i.e., January – December). The deadline for applications for 2012 is October 31, 2011. Once all proposals are received, they will be reviewed and selections will be made based on proposal merit, contribution to eXtension, and available funding.

To see the eXtension fellowship program details, go to:

http://create.extension.org/node/1433

For more information, please contact Mike Lambur (mike.lambur@extension.org).

eXtension is contracting with Global Advancement, LLC – http://www.global-advt.com/ – for assistance with developing new partnerships and funding opportunities. Strategies include the pursuit of public and private partnership opportunities, i.e., grants, contracts, and sponsorships. Efforts include crafting a strong and compelling eXtension “case for support,” writing and implementing a new development plan, and creating an eXtension Leadership Council charged with targeting and establishing new partnerships. The Leadership Council will include 15 to 20 leaders selected from across the eXtension Communities of Practice (member institutions) and individuals associated with existing strategic partnerships.

The 2011-2014 eXtension Strategic Roadmap includes an action plan focusing on building partnerships. With the assistance of Global Advancement we hope to continue to build upon a growing base of eXtension partnerships.