Our thoughts go out to those in Boston

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted by the horrible attack at the Boston Marathon.

We can think of no direct way to help yet, but will be looking to work to support appropriate charities and victims as details emerge.  If you have ideas on how we can help, please contact us.

In the mean time, we are changing our avatar to the image at the right.  We've placed it in the public domain, and you are welcome to use it yourself to show your support.

Maintenance & Upgrade Sunday Night 11pm-4am EDT

It looks like it's going to be a late night!

UPDATE (2:32): Ok, so Mail is a pain - but it seems to be working well now.  That's 100% functionality (as far as we can tell!)  Please let us know about any failures you see, as well as anywhere you see performance improvements - if you're looking for an example, make a big Bingo Game (like > 20 cards!)  I'm taking down the warning, and calling it soup! :-)

 UPDATE (1:18): One minor hiccup just fixed - we didn't have all the fonts available, so some materials generated in the last few minutes may have used different default fonts - not a biggie, and it's fixed.

UPDATE (12:53): Well, we JUST missed our 1 hour goal.. but the site 99% up and running on the new equipment and everything looks good!  Please make sure you let us know of any issues you see.  The only remaining piece of functionality is the "Photos By Email" feature that will take a bit more time (but we'll have it working sometime tonight).

UPDATE (12:37): The new environment is up and running with all the current data and we're just running through some final tests before we enable it to the general public. 

UPDATE (11:45): We've taken down the site temporarily to get a clean migration.  Thanks for the patience, and we'll keep you up-to-date.

LessonPix has been growing tremendously since the start of this school year, with thousands of new members, group licenses for school districts, private SLP practices and universities, and lots of folks who just found us on the internet.  Thank you all for sharing what you love about the site and helping us keep this tool affordable and effective by telling your friends!

We're very proud of the fact that we've been able to be a 24x7 operation, supporting folks on every continent with no downtime since Sept. 17, 2011.

That said, it's been quite a while since we did any major hardware upgrades and frankly, we're overdue.  So, we're about to cut over to a new environment that promises to be more scalable, faster, and be able to handle the new features that are just around the corner.

The switch will happen tonight between 11pm and 4am EDT, and while we hope this will take only about an hour of actual downtime, we want to plan for the worst and keep you all updated.

If you're in Australia or New Zealand (and a surprising number of you are!) I apologize in advance for any inconvenience as this will fall during your school day.

While the site is down, the main page will redirect here and I will update this post throughout the process.  Feel free to contact us at support@lessonpix.com or post in the comments below.

Thanks, and I look forward to providing you with even better service over the coming years!

Bill

New Materials and Templates for 2013

First, an apology: it's been far too long since we posted any tips here: but we've been working on very cool features that you'll love and just got swamped. 

We've just rolled out new materials and templates that are all based on user requests!  We love this, as it makes LessonPix more valuable to you and keeps us from running out of ideas.  If you've got things you'd love to see LessonPix do, tell us! If we can do it, we will!  If not, we'll explain why and give you some suggestions that will help.  Either way, we love hearing from you.

"Large and Small Pictures"

We wish we had a better name for this one (again, we'd love your suggestions), but it's basically a large symbol in the main area of the template with smaller pictures below.  There's a ton of uses for this, and it was suggested by several of our users:

• Cut & Paste: The main picture is a canvas where the smaller pictures are pasted.  Like in the example to the right, where the ornaments and bows are pasted on the tree
• Theme and Tasks: Put a central theme in the large image and individual tasks or activities in the small ones.  For example, a picture of a classroom Center theme (Housekeeping, etc.) with the individual activities that are checked off.
• Personalized Schedule: Our Visual Schedules are great, but this is another way to make a schedule: put the child's picture in the "Large" space, and their tasks in the small ones

You'll find the "Large and Small Pictures" material under the general "Visuals" category of the Wizard.

"Semantic Maps"

Originally requested for Early Literacy work, these maps are great tools for showing a central theme and the related items. Choose the main idea as your first picture, and then from 2-7 additional items that you want to surround it.

They're a breeze to make, and are great at teaching grouping, character development, and all types of early literacy activities.

You'll find Semantic Maps under the "Early Literacy" category of the Wizard.

"Puzzle Cards"

Under the Games category, you'll find a new Puzzle Cards option that is much like our "Number Cards".  However, in this material, you get to choose what's on both sides of the Puzzle piece!
This was a popular request, and there are lots of uses:

• Put colors on one side, and an object that matches it on the other. (See the sample to the right)
• Make Go-Togethers where objects that are paired in context like Pencil+Paper, Socks+Shoes, Fork+Spoon
• Pair words that rhyme or have the same beginning or ending sounds for auditory discrimination
• Build compound words like "Rain-Bow" or "Turtle-Neck"

 

"Find the Match"

When you want send home a matching game as homework, or you don't want to manage the cards, try our new Find the Match game!

It's a breeze, and you can match picture to picture or picture to matching word!

At the left, you'll see the Baby Animal matching game, where you match Bear to Cub, Sheep to Lamb, etc.

Both Puzzle Cards and Find the Match can be found under the Games section of the Wizard.

And Finally... New Game Boards!

We've added 6 new styles to our Game Board template! From "Ladders 'n' Slides" to our "Winter to Spring" seasons game, you'll find lots of new ideas under the "Game Board" option!

What do you want next?

Not what you wanted? Got a better idea? Let us know! We're always looking for new ways to make LessonPix better! Submit your ideas on our Contact Page and give us your image ideas on our Image Request page!

Ciao,
Bill

The #SLPeeps Top 10 SLP Gifts

What does your SLP really want this year?

The answer may surprise you: it did me!  We wanted to build the semi-official Top 10 SLP Gift List, so we put the question to the #SLPeeps on Twitter.  We used Google Moderate to let them add their own ideas and vote on their favorites. 

Drumroll, Please!

After a week of "moderating" (fermenting? festering?), 22 #SLPeeps suggested 27 ideas and cast 111 votes to choose their favorites.

Many thanks to those who participated and gave us the very original ideas!  We've combined a couple of very similar suggestions, done the number crunching, and we have winners!

So, at long last, here's this year's Top 10 SLP Gifts for the Holiday Season!

Attending ASHA? Play #SLPeeps Bingo & Win Big!

Keep an eye out for Julio in the Exhibit Hall!

Play #SLPeeps Bingo & Win Big!

Looking to make the most of your time in the ASHA Exhibit Hall?  Want to get to know your #SLPeeps Vendors live & "In Real Life"?  We've got you covered!

This year, you can win dozens of prizes from your favorite #SLPeeps vendors! How do you find them?  Just look for "We Party With The #SLPeeps" sign in our booths as you browse the Exhibit Hall!

Here's a complete list of the participating vendors and their Twitter handles so you can reach out them directly!

@LessonPix
@Pediastaff
@AshleyLesleySD (SuperDuper)
@ActivityTailor
@TactusTherapy
@ReadingWithTLC
@All4MyChild
@SaltilloCorp
@LittleBeeSpeech

@TalkingTiles
@NSSLHA
@MobileEdStore
@SmartyEarsApps
@TammyBasel (Autism Language Learning)
@ProxTalker
@PluralPub
@MHS_Inc
@ESailers

The prizes range in value from $20-$50, and include all sorts of SLP Goodies!  From our LessonPix Annual Subscription ($36) to the Lively Letters Character  Poem Book from Reading TLC, each of our #SLPeeps Vendors has donated something you'll love!

How do I Play??

First, you'll need a #SLPeeps Bingo card!  When you get to the convention, head straight to the PediaStaff Social Media Learning Center at booth #1823 and grab a card!  Or, if you see an #SLPeeps vendor booth, ask there - we'll all have some in our booths to get you started!
Here's what the cards will look like:

Each card has 9 random logos that represent booths you need to visit to complete the card!  Each vendor will have a blue owl ("Julio") sign making it easy to find us, and most will ask you to engage in some way before stamping your card: I know that LessonPix will show you a quick (1-2 minute) live demo of the site and invite you to use our "Make & Take" if you'd like.

 

Once you have all 9 logos marked, simply fill out your name & contact info and drop them off at the PediaStaff Social Media Learning Center at booth #1823 in the Career Fair -- that's it!  While you're there, learn how to get involved in the #SLPeeps community if you'd like!

When & Where are the Drawings?

We'll be drawing 1/2 of the prizes each day (Thursday and Friday) between 4:45 and 5pm--right after the last Short Courses get out.  The drawings will be held at booth #1823, and winners do NOT have to be present to win.  If a winner is not present, we'll notify them via email and/or Twitter ASAP (before the Exhibit Hall closes!).

 

If you have any questions about the contest, keep an eye out for our #SLPeeps Signs!  There will be 18 vendors on the floor proudly showing their community involvement, and we're all happy to help!

 

Have a great time, and we can't wait to see you there!

#ASHAVendors Almost Ready to Party!

As @MTMarySLP says, "We're a Fantastic Bunch!"

First, let me say right up front that I couldn't be any happier with how the #SLPeeps who are are exhibiting at ASHA 2012 have turned out and worked together to make the most out of this Convention!

UPDATED: The Sample Cards are ready to be checked! Thanks Everyone!

Thank you all for joining in and getting involved!

For those of you who haven't heard, I asked a couple of weeks ago if any vendors who were active in the Twitter #SLPeeps community wanted to work together to do some cross-booth promotion.  The idea was sparked by my reading the book "The Social Trade Show" by Traci Browne which explains that the success of today's trade shows are determined well before the show starts - and can be driven by Social Media.

I knew that @PediaStaff had created their social media booth and that the #SLPeeps were going to have a central hub (yay!) and I thought it might be worthwhile to try to create a network of "SLPeeps Booths" that all drove traffic to each other.  Very few of us are direct competitors, and we all are on Twitter for the "good reasons".

One Blog Post Later...

A few quick tweets and a detailed blog post got everyone moving, and take a look where we are now!

1. We have 18 confirmed vendors with one more popular booth trying to get approval before the deadline on Sunday:
@LessonPix
@Pediastaff
@AshleyLesleySD (SuperDuper)
@ActivityTailor
@TactusTherapy
@ReadingWithTLC
@All4MyChild
@SaltilloCorp (New!)
@LittleBeeSpeech (New!)
@TalkingTiles
@NSSLHA
@MobileEdStore
@SmartyEarsApps
@TammyBasel (Autism Language Learning)
@ProxTalker
@PluralPub
@MHS_Inc
@ESailers (New!)
2. We've designed our Posters, which can be downloaded here as PDFs for poster-sized printing:  They look great!  (If you absolutely can't make your own posters, let me know and I can make 18x24's for $20.)
• Download Letter 8.5"x11" Poster
• Download Tabloid 11"x17" Poster
• Download Medium Poster 18"x24" Poster (Recommended!)
• Download Large Poster 20"x30" Poster
3. Our Bingo Cards are almost ready to go... just waiting on those last potential vendors and some logo tweaking.  They'll go to the printer on Monday.  We'll be working on how to run the daily prize drawings over the next few days.  Each vendor only needs to pay $20 for their share of the Bingo Cards (you can pay me at the show - what a deal!)
4. We're building a Cheat Sheet, so that each vendor knows what the others do, where they are, and when to direct visitors to them. About 1/2 the vendors have provided their blurbs & key phrases -- we'll need the rest by Wednesday

What's the End Result?

Well, we won't know for sure until ASHA -- but one thing's pretty certain.  This absolutly can't hurt!

Those of us with small businesses have created a way to stand out in the crowded exhibit hall and will probably increase our foot-traffic dramatically.  All in a way that helps build the #SLPeeps community by making their social media booth our central hub.

Those with larger firms (and booths) get to show that they're still actively engaged with their customers: after all, Super Duper really IS active in the #SLPeeps - they deserve to get recognized as a vendor who still pays attention and listens to their community!

One Last Chance!

We still have a very short time left before we have to close the promotion and get the Bingo Cards printed.  After that, we really can't add any new vendors.  If you've got a booth at ASHA and want to join us, please let me know before noon on Sunday 11/4!

Again, I can't wait to Party with you all at ASHA, and thanks for helping make all of this possible!

Bill

ASHA Exhibitors: How to Party With The #SLPeeps!

It's On! Everything's a Go to Party With the #SLPeeps!

With just a few weeks left to prep for the national ASHA 2012 convention in Atlanta, we have made some great progress towards our Cross-Booth #SLPeeps Vendor promotions!

If you're an active member of the #SLPeeps Twitter community (or if you want to be prior to ASHA), and you have a booth at ASHA (even a non-profit booth or a Member Table), join us to make the most of your ASHA Exhibitor investment!

Who's In?

[UPDATED: Welcome MHS Inc. !]

So far, we've the following vendors who are also active #SLPeeps have agreed to participate (SO FAR):

• LessonPix Custom Learning Materials - @LessonPix (Me!)
• Pediastaff Pediatric and School-based Therapy Jobs -  @Pediastaff 
• Super Duper Publications - @AshleyLesleySD
• Activity Tailor Creative Ideas for Speech Therapy - @ActivityTailor
• Tactus Therapy Solutions - @TactusTherapy
• Reading With TLC - @ReadingWithTLC
• All4MyChild Collaborative and Technologies - @All4MyChild
• Let's Talk About Speech Therapy - @LetsTalkST
• Talking Tiles by Mozzazz - @TalkingTiles 
• National Student Speech Language Hearing Association  - @NSSLHA
• Mobile Education Store  - @MobileEdStore  
• Smarty Ears Apps - @SmartyEarsApps
• Autism Language Learning - @TammyBasel
• ProxTalker AAC Devices - @ProxTalker
• Plural Publishing - @PluralPub  
• MHS Inc. - @MHS_Inc (New)   

If you'd like to join us, or if I forgot anyone, please read on to see how to get involved.

What's the Plan?

A number of us had a conference call last week, and agreed on two promotions we could implement inexpensively that should greatly increase foot-traffic and increase engagement.

Both of these tactics center around Pediastaff Social Media Learning Center featuring the #SLPeeps.  This booth (#1823) has been generously reserved by Pediastaff to be a central gathering point and staging areas for the #SLPeeps community.  It will be staffed by community volunteers, and have training for SLPs who want to get involved.

Step 1: Identify Yourselves!

All vendors participating will display our rockin' "We Party With the #SLPeeps!" poster (shown above) in their booth at ASHA 2012.  This will identify your company as one that doesn't just advertise to SLPs, but is actively engaged in the #SLPeeps Twitter community.

As we've seen both on Twitter and here in our comments, there are already SLPs who are planning on looking for these colorful markers in the exhibit hall:

It would be fabulous to see more businesses involved in the #SLPeeps. I would love to see a sea of Party with the #SLPeeps" posters at ASHA12. Those booths are definitely where I would linger the most. - @mtmaryslp

We have taken the #SLPeeps mascot (w/Pediastaff's approval) and tweaked him a bit to show that as a vendor, we're proud to be a part of this community.  LessonPix will provide PDFs in all the standard page and poster sizes (8.5x11, 11x17, 18x24, 20x30, etc.) to all of the participants.  Each vendor will get their own posters printed and framed/mounted as they wish (please don't change any colors or design as we're trying to make this an identifying sign.)

Notice that there is no costs to participate in this part of the effort (other than your own printing costs).

The QRCode and the text will drive the visitor to the social media booth, as well as providing them with more details about who is participating.  Once they're at the social media booth, they can participate in our second promotion...

 Step 2: A Party Game - #SLPeeps Bingo!

To increase traffic and get people to actually stop and chat with each of the "#SLPeeps vendors", we're going to provide a Bingo game that they can play to win prizes drawn each day.  The drawings will be at the close of the day at the Pediastaff Social Media booth, and the #SLPeeps will help with the drawings and handing out the Bingo Cards.

Because LessonPix has a great Bingo Generator in our Material Wizard, we've offered to create 50 different cards and generate PDFs of them.

All the vendors who participate in this promotion will split the cost of printing the cards evenly (with no up-charge).  I have priced this at $150 for 1,000 cards (each 1/2 a 8.5x11 sheet including the cutting).  If any vendor can do this for less (and someone probably can), please let me know.

Here's how this promotion should work (none of this is set in stone --yet!).

1. Each participating vendor will provide a high-res square logo for the bingo cards, as well as some prize to be raffled off.  For now, I'd recommend something that is between $20-40 in value to the attendee (but that probably costs the vendor less than that).  For example, LessonPix will be offering an annual subscription (worth $36).
2. Attendees will pickup the cards at Booth #1823 (and perhaps at the vendors' booths -- we'll have to talk that through), visit each booth on their card (there are 9 squares) and then turn in the cards for the daily drawing.  
3. At the end of each day, 1/3 of the prizes will be raffled off at Booth #1823.  The cards have name/email/handle fields, so the attendees don't have to be present to win.  We will give the attendees certificates to take back to the donating vendor's booth to pickup their prize (so that vendors will have another chance to talk to them.)
4. All of the name/email/handle information will be provided to each of the participating vendors (and the attendees will be made aware of that on the card).

This should be a great way to get engagement from the community an I really think this should help us make the most of our ASHA investment and make sure we're actively bringing in attendees, not passively "manning the booth".

How do I Join?

Convinced?  Want to join us?  Great!  It's easy, but there's not much time!

1. Contact me on Twitter (or in the comments, but Twitter's easier).  I need names & good square logos THIS WEEK if we are to include you into the Bingo Game cards.
2. Figure out what prize you'll be offering.  Again, one per vendor please, and somewhere in the $20-40 (value, not cost) range.
3. Tell the other #SLPeeps vendors who we've not thought of - I've gotten input from many, but haven't reached some, and certainly there are others who will want to play.  Our only criteria is that they're active with the #SLPeeps on Twitter (and they can start that now if they try hard, right?)

I can't wait to move forward on this, and to Party with you all in Atlanta!

Bill

ASHA Vendors: Come Party With The #SLPeeps

[Updated: Conf Call moved to Tuesday @ 4PM EDT]

Have a booth at ASHA this year? Party with the #SLPeeps!

If you're hosting a booth at ASHA and you're not involved with the #SLPeeps on Twitter, you're really missing out!  They've been a huge help in launching LessonPix, and we're really glad to be working with them at the ASHA convention this Nov. 14-17.

PediaStaff (mainly Heidi, who's very active with the #SLPeeps) has sponsored a separate #SLPeeps booth (#1823) at the show so that the community can have a central location to meet #IRL (In Real Life) and keep the non-attending members in the loop.

In addition, we're trying to coordinate some cross-booth promotion between the vendors who are a part of the #SLPeeps and the rest of the community!  If you're already a active the #SLPeeps community, you might want to Jump Down to how you can join us!

But if you've never heard of the #SLPeeps or you want to learn more, here's a basic rundown.

Who are the #SLPeeps?

They are a fantastic group of SLPs from around the country have gathered on Twitter around the #SLPeeps hashtag to support each other, trade ideas, and generally have fun with like-minded geeky SLPs.  With several years under its belt, the hashtag is one of the best organized and most active health and education hashtags, and really has few equals in terms of the quality of participant and general "good behavior".

Hashtags.org has this to say about #SLPeeps

Why would a Vendor care?

It's easy to see why an SLP would join this group, but what about folks like LessonPix: we're not SLPs, but they're some of our biggest customers (and fans!).

Well, the #SLPeeps are, by their very nature, outgoing, influential and passionate SLPs.  Many have their own blogs, many of which are very active.  That makes them perfect for :

1. High-quality, free R&D (they make fantastic beta testers).  Check out this Chirpstory around some some SoundFinder changes we made last weekend.
2. Spreading the word about your product (organically, which is great for SEO & more)
3. Product ideas (they aren't shy when you're not given them what they need)
4. A good laugh (they're really very funny, outgoing people!)

How do I Get Involved?

Well, you can't just send out ads and add the #SLPeeps hashtag.  Technically, you can, but you'll be marked SPAM immediately, and generally the idea will backfire.  In our case, we lucked into joining well, and I'm happy to tell you how we did it.

1. First, Just Listen: Search for the #SLPeeps hashtag and just read the posts for a few days.  You'll quickly learn who's asking questions, who's answering them and what the general topics are
2. Second, Learn: These are your customers (presumably), so before you ever say a word, it's likely that you'll see a need that's not being met, or a product you could bring to market.
3. Finally, Try to Help: Note that I say, "Try"... you don't actually have to end up being helpful - they will appreciate the fact that you tried.  In our case, someone (@ndnspeechmom) ran a silly baby-picture contest and asked if anyone had a prize to donate.  We did, and got fantastic press across Twitter for weeks - total cost: two subscriptions.

 Ok! What's next?

If you're a vendor active in the #SLPeeps (even if you're just getting active), join us for a discussion this Tuesday afternoon at 4pm EDT to talk about how the we can work together to make the most out of our investments!

Specifically, we're looking to:

• Provide Posters for your booth, identifying you as active #SLPeeps
• Create some type of cross-booth promotion (Bingo Game, Scavenger Hunt) to drive traffic
• Coordinate in-booth activities (announcements, etc) to make help each other make the most of the show!

Contact @LessonPix on twitter for details!