LIVE AND LEARN, MESSY MOMENTS
We learned that an outreach presence at well-attended, live, local events does not necessarily translate neatly into new enrollments. We consider outreach efforts a success, in terms of creating name recognition for our program and services only. We learned that those who visited our booths were primarily looking for free marketing materials, not seeking to benefit from our services. We also learned that those who may benefit from our services may not want to self-identify their need by stopping by a public booth.
For future outreach efforts, we would like to target smaller local events that are geared toward populations that tend to need our services. Also, we feel that in a smaller more intimate setting, people who come by our booths are more likely to stop and talk to our staff members. Then we can determine if they need our services, or if they know someone who does.
MASTERY MOMENTS
Our mastery moments were primarily associated with responses to our Facebook presence. For example, two prospects were tagged in a Facebook post about career pathways. Both prospects came into a center and earned GEDs® within two months. Summarily, we estimate at least a total of 8 GEDs® earned for a single county and at least 10 additional enrollments can be attributed to Facebook. The total impact on provider-wide enrollment is likely much more significant, but data has not yet been quantified on personal page contacts. We need to drive students to our provider page in order to better quantify impact in the future.