They are starting to pop up in retail ads—for Sears, Target, Sephora. Little square boxes with an array of black boxes in them. They could be coupled with teasers like “take a closer look” or “get more information. And you are going to be seeing more and more of them this holiday season. But what are they? And what are they for? These boxes are QR Codes or 2D bar codes that are readable with mobile phones with a camera or smartphones. The information encoded is a URL, text, or other data. Someone with a smartphone need only download a reader and then use the phone’s camera to scan the code. Once scanned, you ask the app to “decode” and more than likely you will be then linked to a Web site or a video with more information about the product. Your customer, user, or potential donors gets key information that can help him/her make an immediate decision in the most convenient way possible. It’s just another new technology that is making mobile marketing an essential tool for reaching your audience.

In our last issue, we published an article about managing stress, Managing Stress 101. At the conclusion of that article, we promised readers we would follow up with some stress-management strategies after giving them time to reflect on elements in their daily lives that may trigger symptoms. If you were one of the readers who, in fact, did begin a stress journal, and who pinpointed some stressors in your daily routine, as promised here are some management tools that may help you as you continue to de-stress your life.

Anoka-Hennepin, the largest school district in Minnesota, has been the center of a national spotlight over gay bullying and harassment issues. Seven students—five from the school district and two from affiliated area schools—committed suicide in the past year. Of those seven, activists said four were harassed because of their sexual orientation. School Board Chairman, Tom Heidemann, said Board members will not address the district's controversial policies. “They believe the policy is fine as it is now,” said Superintendent Dennis Carlson.

Schools nationwide are starting to question the way they hire and evaluate faculty. Seniority is becoming less important, which could be terrible news for teachers that use their tenure—not their teaching skills—as leverage. Today, more and more schools are not necessarily looking for teachers with the most experience, but teachers that can prove their commitment to the students, the mission of the school, and their positive contributions to the overall faculty culture.

Perhaps the two most obvious risk management benefits of implementing a wellness program are improved health of faculty and staff and, over time, the potential for reduced cost of health care (premiums paid by the school) since these are influenced by claims submitted by the school.

Many of us rely on caffeine to pick us up in the morning—perhaps even again in the afternoon—and don’t stop to think that it could be bad for our bodies. Don’t worry. Caffeine in moderation (about 18oz a day) is perfectly fine for the average person. When it becomes scary is when it is combined with alcohol.

Overuse sport injuries are on the rise for high school students. Whereas it used to be students would play several different sports over the course of a school year, now they’re concentrating their energies on their sport of choice and increasing their risks for injury.

Technology moves at a speed seemingly far faster than most of us can keep up with. As soon as you purchase a new computer and walk out of the store (or take it off the delivery truck) it’s obsolete. And, when you’re looking to replace all the computers in your classrooms so they can handle new server upgrades (have you heard Microsoft is finally releasing a new operating system—whooo-hooo!) it can make a huge dent in your already tight budget. Well, cheers to Eastern Lancaster County School District for thinking green—and smart.

From time to time I go to lunch with our HR Consultant, Michael Brisciana, just to catch up with what’s new on the Association tour, in the consulting world of ISM, and in life. Nothing fancy. Just your basic colleague lunch that is always a welcome break from my typical eat-at-the-desk routine. The last time we ventured into the square together, Michael mentioned Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model. At the time, I couldn’t recall ever hearing anything about it, but after he handed me a printed article later that day, I started to remember the long lectures and opinionated conversations from my required college psychology courses years ago. A few days later, Michael e-mailed me an article by Chip Conley that took Maslow’s theory and applied it to the business world. For about a month now, I have played around with different ideas on how to relay this information to you—our ISM’s e-Letter readers. Well, after several rough drafts that ended up in my recycle bin in tightly balled wads of paper, I think I’ve finally found a way to translate the information—I’m just going to write what I personally have taken away from this. This is certainly not going to be hard-hitting journalism or profound ISM theory, but if I can get this approved by the powers higher than me, I think you’re in for an interesting read.

We’ve received several questions recently concerning maternity leave policies. On the one hand, some have questioned whether such policies violate anti-discrimination laws. On the other hand, other schools have wondered how to coordinate paid maternity leave with their existing short-term disability (STD) insurance policies. We’ll try to address both issues here.