Tyler VawserTyler Vawser

Tying it Together

August 01, 2024

Dear Team,

A close friend writes a weekly letter to her team. She inspired me to do the same, and you already know how I feel about new habits. Letters are in rare form these days, and my hope is that this letter and future letters (monthly at best, who has time for weekly?) will help us all to connect and start reading from the same page.

In short, here’s the disclaimer that will put your mind at ease: this is new, but don’t freak out—it doesn’t mean anything other than I wanted to write you all a letter.

Happy August! It’s back to school season, the end of summer (sorta?), and yet, somehow, the hottest month of our year. This year and this summer have been… something. Over the last ninety days we’ve had vacations, trips, health events, tragedies, family celebrations, new homes, found new/old hobbies, celebrated birthdays, accomplishments, and more.

While this summer has, in a lot of ways, given us opportunities to connect (with ourselves, our families, the things we love), I’ve also heard several of you mention feeling disconnected—from each other and from what we’d hoped for the year.

For me, August usually carries a different kind of new beginning than the first of a new year, especially with kids starting school again. And in 2024 I know we could all use another beginning, a new, fresh start.

With that in mind, let’s look at what we’ve accomplished these past six months.

  • We’ve published three magazines that dove deep into the most important challenges and topics for school leaders.
  • We’ve engaged other teams and departments in ways that were previously unthinkable.
  • We finished season two of the podcast and launched a new season with a whole new style.
  • We launched a new Apptegy website for the first time since 2017.
  • We published original research with NSPRA AND presented at NSPRA for the first time.
  • We introduced new presentations for sales and business development.
  • We’ve created a premium web experience on SchoolCEO’s site with designed pages and audio.
  • We’ve found our place within the company and realized the opportunity we have to support sales and client experience.
  • We launched Rooms Central.
  • We’ve expanded our newsletter and mailing list to reach more communications directors and many leaders in the largest districts.
  • We’ve kicked off new book clubs with rave reviews.
  • We started our “5 Things” newsletter, allowing us to get our resources directly to the company and remind the business of our value.
  • We made a kick ass video for NSPRA.
  • We launched an award and interview series to find the best school marketers out there.
  • We kicked off a webinar series that featured our research and our clients.
  • We’ve gotten our colleagues across the company involved in promoting social media.
  • We’ve secured 200+ registrations for SchoolCEO Conference.
  • And so much more…

I’m incredibly proud of our team. We’re a tight-knit crew that has learned how to adapt, change, mourn, and grow together. (Quick preview of our survey results: 100% of us feel as though we are part of a team.)

Sebastian’s last day at Apptegy is tomorrow. 10 years ago, he joined “an idea” from a self-described delusional entrepreneur. He is leaving a company that is a K-12 EdTech behemoth that serves a third of the market. Sebastian’s work and his legacy will outlive his tenure here.

It only recently occurred to me that there was rarely (ever?) a clear path along the way for Sebastian. Every season could have been described as a season of change. And yet, here he is and here we all are. While the last year has been full of changes, Sebastian’s tenure at Apptegy reminds me that change is the only constant.

From its beginning, Apptegy has been a changing business—we’ve just had recent milestones that make it easier to mark that change. Come next week Sebastian starts a new season too. Please join me in thanking Sebastian for his dedication, creativity, late nights, and, most importantly, kind heart. And, thank him for setting Apptegy on a path where a strong visual brand and intentionality is foundational.

I want us all to think about what strong connections can be made stronger and what connections we’ve let fray or have never really invested in to begin with.

Over the next week, there are a number of intentional opportunities to connect:

  • Friday (tomorrow) we’ll have our stand up meeting at 9:15
  • Monday, we will review our survey results and you can add additional feedback (I’m looking forward to this conversation!)
  • Tuesday, we will begin a conversation about our team’s values and by extension our team brand
  • Wednesday, we have the team happy hour at 5pm!

That’s only a start. With deliberate connection, we can shape our team to align to our WHY and see the purpose of our work together more clearly as we start this new academic year. (Queue future letters.)

For those who journal or keep morning pages, ask yourself,

  • What are the connections and relationships that have helped me weather seasons?
  • What would a fresh start look like for me right now?
  • Who is the person I’ve been all my life? What can that person teach me about becoming the person I want to be in this season?

My hope in writing this is that we all connect more: with who we are, with who we’re becoming, and with each other. When we connect better to each other, we find the threads that tie us together, that tie us to the meaning of our work. Those connections can give us confidence in this season, and the next.

Best,

Tyler

P.S. Writing a letter to a team filled with English majors, professional writers, and Hendrix graduates is not my idea of a stress free exercise.