Lifelong Learners Unite!
“Lifelong learners.”
What does that mean to YOU?
Public radio prides itself on attracting those “lifelong learners” – the people in the world who cite curiosity and intelligence amongst their highest-ranked values. And it’s often true of the people who WORK within the industry, too. Case in point: both of us at Whisper Speak Roar Media are former public media employees who proudly describe ourselves as “lifelong learners.”
Here’s the interesting thing about learning. YOU can control it once you’re an adult. YOU get to decide whether or not you keep learning and growing and developing and expanding your mind and ideas. No one is forcing you to learn once you leave school and so for those of us who LOVE to learn, the world becomes just a huge opportunity to meet new people and discover new ideas.
However, here’s something ELSE that happens. We get jobs that turn into careers. We maybe change jobs to keep the learning going. We start having families – and that’s a huge learning curve, right? Our priorities and responsibilities shift – our TIME shifts. And sometimes learning seems to…take a backseat to everything else in the world. AMEN!
One of the reasons we decided to start WSRM was because we were desperate to learn. That non-stop train of expanding our world view suddenly started to slow way, way down and both of us were simply not satisfied with the direction our learning trains were going.
Suzanne cited some INCREDIBLE sources of learning in last week’s blog. (You can find it HERE.) This week, I want to highlight some additional people and organizations who’ve been helping us learn and grow in the past year and a half – not just in media, either.
Greater Public
Looking for training? Looking for help? Looking for IDEAS? Greater Public just might be able to help – especially if you’re part of a smaller public media organization.
From their website: “Greater Public is a professional development association for public media fundraisers. For more than forty years, we’ve been facilitating conversations across the public media system by hosting the annual Public Media Development and Marketing Conference, and providing the members of our association with peer-to-peer connection, professional advice, templates, direct mail services, and cutting-edge strategies for modern fundraising.”
LinkedIn
Yep, THAT LinkedIn. Why has this site helped us with learning and growing? Because this is one of the primary places we’ve been able to connect with other folks in the industry who are doing great things! I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned just by following people I respect and reading their posts, articles, and updates.
A few to consider following in 2023? Levar Burton for positivity and fun ideas. Lily Zheng for new ideas and as a source to learn more about racial equity in the workplace. Sallie Krawcheck for a unique perspective on finance and financial services. Susan Cain to feel more confident about being an introvert who’s trying to speak out more regularly. Robert Half for thoughts around jobs and job trends in the present and future. Koya Partners for the same. Goodreads for your next favorite read. (I could go on – but would rather hear from YOU.)
Udemy
What are you interested in? No, seriously. What sparks your curiosity? I’ve been trying to learn more about SEO and digital marketing. I’ve also learned more about copywriting and, surprise, starting your own business. And it cost me all of $100 – or less. If that’s out of your budget – try a $15 dollar course – or one of Udemy’s free courses. This is a site that gives you the chance to learn a little bit about something you might just be really interested in. It’s a great way to test out ideas, too.
The Morning Wire Podcast
I listen to a ton of podcasts and more than one or two news podcasts show up in that list. I like this one because the hosts are quite intentional about the stories they share. From their website: “Trust in the media is at an all-time low. And there’s a reason—endless virtue signaling and manufactured outrage. Finally, there’s an alternative. Morning Wire is presented by Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief, John Bickley, and co-host Georgia Howe. Get daily coverage of the latest developments in politics, culture, education, sports and more. Wake up with Morning Wire and get the facts first on the news you need to know.”
TechSmith/Camtasia
I’m REALLY interested in learning more about video and video production (more to come soon) and I had to start at the very beginning – I’ve never, not once, done anything involving video or video production. These folks know what they’re doing – and if you sign up for a free trial for one of their video products, you get to do some fun tutorials, too!
Ok, you’ve got Suzanne’s choices for great learning and now mine, too. What ELSE should we be looking at? Where else should we be looking when it comes to learning and growing current skills and abilities and developing new ones, too?
