• Preparing the next generation's workforce.
• Helping students think entrepreneurially so they can run a business and change people's lives.
• Teaching students to invest their money and delay gratification along with other critical executive functions.
• Giving students an encouraging word when they need it most.
• Inspiring the next generation how to market their business ethically.
• Instructing students to program the next generation of e-commerce applications so we can all use websites that enrich our lives.
• Often earning less money so you can achieve a higher purpose
• Modeling successful behavior for students who are facing enormous challenges.
• Accommodating and able to be flexible in the most stressful circumstances.
• Staying current and knowledgeable on numerous content topics that are constantly changing.

Have another reason to be thankful for business educators? Add it in the comments box below.

September 3, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Technology is a Pain.  Except When It Isn't!
Layton, Utah

TheMarketingTeacher, a leader in providing digital resources for marketing and business teachers, has released Digital Business Technology 101.  This web-based resource helps bring technology into the hands of students while providing teachers with a variety of ways to assess learning. Suitable for an entire course or as a means of enhancing current teaching methods and materials, Digital Business Technology 101 fills a void in exposing students to technology beyond MOS and Google.

Digital Business Technology 101 is a dynamic resource that will evolve as new software, sites, and tools enter the market. Technology is often an effective way of integrating creativity, problem-solving, and fun into the classroom. Digital Business Technology 101 provides everything you and your students need to use tech tools effectively.

While using technology, students will:

• Learn to edit media (images, video, and audio)
• Build a website (no code needed)
• Work on shared documents and projects
• Develop a personal brand
• Harness the power of Chrome extensions
• Discover the effective use of Email
• Experiment with cloud-based tools
• Make use of a visual bookmarking tool
• Create and launch a podcast
• Design, create and use QR codes
• Explore business-related career opportunities
• Investigate international business cultures
• and more

TheMarketingTeacher is a leading source of digital resources for business and marketing teachers.  Established in 2000, TheMarketingTeacher has published several WebBooks, including bestsellers Marketing Gets Digital, Sports . . .  More Than Just the Score, and MarketingNOW.

Contact: TheMarketingTeacher.com, ReachMe@TheMarketingTeacher or 801.540.0977.

Marcia Peitzmeier Anderson is a native of Bloomfield, Nebraska. She completed the first nine years of her education in a one-room school several miles from town and graduated as valedictorian of her Bloomfield High School class. Her high school business teacher inspired her to become a business education teacher.

Her first teaching position was in Stromsburg, Nebraska (Swede Capital of Nebraska) where she taught business education and French. She joined the National Business Education Association during this time and has been a member since then.  She then taught business in Lincoln, Nebraska and completed the master’s degree majoring in business education at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and Dr. Gordon Culver, former NBEA president, was her mentor.

She joined the business teacher education faculty at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1970, completed the doctoral degree, and became coordinator of SIU’s Business Education Program.  NBEA was always the foundation organization that guided her preparation of future business teachers and her personal professional direction—course requirements included NBEA student membership. She rarely missed attending a national NBEA Convention and served in a variety of NBEA leadership roles including Chair of the National Policies Commission for Business and Economic Education and Delta Pi Epsilon National President.

Dr. Anderson was recipient of several awards during her career: SIU-C Alumni Association Great Teacher Award, 1981; University Teacher of the Year Award, National Business Education Association, 1995; Outstanding Teacher Award, Illinois Vocational Association, 1980 – 1981; John Robert Gregg Award, Highest National Recognition in Business Education, 2004.

In her spare time, she enjoys time with her daughter and her family, church work, volunteering, gardening, gourmet cooking, travel, and attending the NBEA national NBEA Convention to visit former colleagues and friends.

NBEA's Commitment to Transparency, Clarity, and Vision

2020 was a challenging year. The unexpected loss of loved ones from COVID-19 to increasing unemployment and inability to recognize how the future will unfold has affected everyone, including NBEA. 

A recent study[1] revealed 94.7% of nonprofit organizations, like NBEA, experienced an average loss of 23% of their members mainly due to the impacts of COVID-19. In the past year, NBEA was not immune to the effects of COVID-19 and lost approximately 20% of its professional members. This reduction comes despite increased communications, improved services, advanced networking, better professional development, increased committee opportunities, better access to resources, and much more. NBEA's 2021-2022 budget shows an expected deficit after numerous and deep cuts.  However, in the past year, NBEA has made significant strides toward strengthening the association.  NBEA needs our members' collective support to help fulfill the mission to "empower educators to achieve excellence in business education."

Our Executive Board has had to make difficult choices to lead effectively and is working diligently to identify new ways to improve NBEA and become indispensable to its members. As we continue our way forward, NBEA's executive officers and Board are committed to the following:

1. Making the status of your association as transparent as possible. NBEA's Members Only page on the website reveals our financial statements and reports available going back years. Also, our Affiliate Information Page contains updated monthly state and regional membership counts. Members can examine these reports to see a history of NBEA's performance, including revenue and expenses. Every future newsletter will report on NBEA's membership numbers, so you know how your association manages through one of the most tumultuous times in our history. NBEA needs approximately 3,400 members to maintain a balanced budget and move the association ahead toward new initiatives and member benefits. NBEA has about 2,400 members at this writing.
   
   
2. Using the association's resources wisely. NBEA has made substantial progress in making the association more efficient by adopting improved technology, downsizing office space, reducing staff, providing alternatives to expensive printing, substantially reducing association travel expenses, and more. Even with $379,000 in reductions from staff and operational reorganization this year, the anticipated budget deficit for 2021-2022 is $100,000.
   
   
3. Providing members with clarity on the future work and initiatives of the association. NBEA is your association. Collectively, we represent business educators across North America and some across the globe. You deserve to know where NBEA is going strategically. NBEA's Board at will be addressing some of the following issues:
   1. Ways NBEA can better advocate for business education.
   2. Ways NBEA can provide educators with new convenient resources they need without competing with larger, more well-equipped publishers.
   3. Improving the relevance and effectiveness of the national, regional, and state model for business education associations.

We are working with our members to forge a strong vision for how NBEA continues its evolution toward being the indispensable association for business educators.

Are you excited about the future? Will you join us in making your association more robust and more effective?  You can tangibly show your support by joining or renewing now.  (http://nbea.org/join  or http://nbea.org/renew).  You can also give us your feedback on what you would like to see at NBEA. Every submission is read and considered carefully.

With kindest regards,

[1] https://tasio.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-Association-Retention-Playbook.pdf

Learn By Doing: using simulations to help students learn better.

“NBEA has been one of our most effective conferences in terms of connecting us with instructors who are passionate and creative about teaching business,” says Tim Sams, Director of Marketing at Interpretive Simulations. “It’s the primary reason we decided to join because the interests of NBEA are our interests and we’ve found both the members, as well as the organization staff, extremely professional and eager to work with us.”

Interpretive Simulations has been developing and publishing business simulations since 1986. They have eleven simulations, typically used in marketing, management, or strategy classes (from intro to capstone classes). For students, the experience provides the connection between “concept” and “practice”, which is a vital component for any business student.

“Students learn best when they get a chance to apply the business principles they’re learning in your class to an actual scenario or situation,” says Sams, who has been with the company since 2010.

Instructors typically “adopt” a simulation, similar to the way they would adopt a textbook. Students then purchase the simulation and have a set of deadlines to make decisions over the course of the term. The simulation scenario sets them up in the role of manager, director, or in some cases the management team of a business with a particular challenge.

But before they adopt a simulation for their course, Interpretive provides ample opportunity for instructors to see the simulation in action. Each instructor is assigned a Customer Relationship Manager who plays an important role in answering the instructor’s questions about the simulation. “We’re happy to do walkthroughs of the simulation with instructors to help them see for themselves how the simulation will help them teach their class,” Sams said. Instructors are encouraged to play the simulation in advance, even before they adopt, to see how it works for them.

It’s not just a simulation though—along with the simulation come assignments and additional learning materials that the instructor can use to help students understand the material more deeply. The simulation and resources together have become a vital resource for the thousands of instructors from around the world who use Interpretive each year.

Most of Interpretive’s simulations come with helpful videos and easy access materials to help students get started. They also provide abundant instructor resources to help them integrate it into their class.

Interpretive also provides complete coverage for students’ questions or need for technical support. The instructor won’t need to address technical questions, login problems, etc. Interpretive’s support staff also answers general questions about the simulation—though they don’t tell what decisions to make!

In the end, students rave about the experience. “I had a group of MBA students from UVA tell me once that the experience with our simulation was the pinnacle of their experience in grad school,” says Sams.

Expect to see Interpretive around at NBEA, because they’re passionate and eager to help instructors do what they do best.

Find out more about Interpretive Simulations at interpretive.com