Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D
President, EdNET
MDR
2009

Bio | Induction Speech | Acceptance Speech

Acceptance Speech
by Nelson Heller, MDR

Nelson's speech included a PowerPoint presentation. Below is his speech, organized according to slide. Click here to download the images.

1. Thank you AEP, Anne, Vicki and everyone else. I'm a real softie and will probably be in even more tears before I finish. These breakfasts always make me feel really proud of our industry and how grateful I am to be a part of it.
    

   So much of what I've accomplished in my career I owe to the energy, courage, entrepreneurial spirit and friendship of so many of you here this morning. I started out shy and in electrical engineering so my route to education was indirect. In 1988, I lost my job and backed into starting The Heller Reports and EdNET. If you haven't attended an EdNET, "The View From the Catbird Seat" is our annual industry forecast session. Over the years, and with help from so many of you, I've gradually found my voice – and Catbird is a big part of it So I'm going to respond to this wonderful honor with a Catbird presentation, The Accidental Guru – a Journey and a Love Story.
    
   I always thought of the Catbird Seat as a lofty perch giving a better view of the horizon.

2. I'm getting the award – but I feel more like the hood ornament.

3. So let's have a peak inside.
4. There's Vicki - our beloved "Snoop" columnist, conference manager and I've lost track of what else. Here's the real Vicki,
   
5. I'm one of those white shirts, along with EdNET's speakers, advisors, sponsors, judges, keynoters and staff – and Vicki masterfully makes us all work together,
6. There's Anne, a friend, sounding board and counselor for decades. Here's the real Anne,
   
7. Classroom teacher turned journalist, funding and policy analyst, and market researcher who's kept me tuned to the kids, teachers and the classroom.
8. There's Andy Lacy, my boss, a gifted leader and rainmaker,
9. and, though I doubted it, has made a rainmaker out of me.
10. There's Fady, MDR's General Manager.
11. The Catbird Seat needs a ship and Fady's the Commander, an entrepreneur at heart, looking to the future while manning the bridge.
12. And my wife Pam. Early on Pam managed the office, books, subscriptions and the conference. Then and now,
13. She's my personal GPS - always there when life says "recalculating route," to pick me up and get me back on the road.

    I wish I could list all the others whose hard work makes EdNET purr. I will just say I've been blessed. When I think about how the last 30 years got me here, so much of what I've learned has come from you.

14. Even more interesting to me than the technology has been the search for viable business models as the old ones lose their edge. At the start I wondered if a newsletter might help get more consulting gigs. I sought advice from a friend who'd previously published a newsletter - Kathy Hurley, now a Hall of Famer herself. Do it she said, "you'll become a guru."
     
    I was stunned. Who me?

15. But I imagined a bed of nails instead of the leopard skin. Not long before this, at an SFN management retreat, one of the execs enlivened dinner by roasting me. Commenting on my frequent analyses of educational technology threats and opportunities, he observed "A day without a memo from Nelson is --- a Sunday" and awarded me a book,

16. Which I still have it on my bookshelf.
17. The lead story of the first issue was that Anne Arundel County had committed $30 mil for school computers. I was terrified we'd published the biggest story of the decade and would have nothing more to cover. But, thanks to you, we never ran out of news - and I loved the editing, writing and, especially, talking to you.
18. You fed my inner learning junkie – and challenged me to figure out what it meant. We scrambled to make EdNET happen in time for the first Heller Report issue.
19. For the first day we didn't have a room for the group to lunch together. So we made it look intentional with two "more intimate" lunch groups and had them take turns introducing themselves. It was a home run - and our signature 30-second intros session was born.
     

    For me EdNET is really professional development for the participants. I'm Jewish, so sometimes I feel researching my annual Catbird is like preparing a Rosh Hashanah sermon.

20. Which is a very scary proposition. But I'm not entirely alone in this, because I've got help.
21. From Rabbi Wujcik. Even with help it's a big job and I often wonder if I've got what it takes to keep pulling it off.
22. Even Einstein tailed off after Relativity. But I've learned part of the secret is to look confident.
23. Even if I don't feel that way inside. For all the hard work, EdNET has been good to me. There have been some real highs -
24. Like running the first international EdNET in London in 1998.
25. We had the welcome reception at the US Embassy. The atmosphere was primly dignified and very British. Against advice I invited everyone to take turns introducing themselves. Sound familiar? There was deadly silence – then a brave voice, then another, then people couldn't wait for their turn - and I was on a high I can still feel.
     

    We faced some painful lows too.

26. On September 11th 2001 EdNET was underway in Washington when the hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon a few miles away. Congressman Johnny Issacson happened to be a panelist. He said, "We mustn't hand victory to whoever did this by abandoning our own agenda - so let's talk education."
     
    Something else beautiful came out of it too: three weeks later our telephone roundtables were born with, "Grappling with Post 9/11 Education Markets," in a virtual format that required no travel.

27. The greatest joy for me all these years has been to have a seat at the table – your table - as you've worked to grow, adapt and live with technology. For that I will be eternally grateful. Thank you for letting me share your journey. It's been – and still is - a privilege to be in your company.
     
    IN closing I want to ask you why we're really here for breakfast?
     
    For me there are two reasons. First, we're here for the kids, the next generations.

28. Like my grandchildren Joshua and Naomi - – to prepare them to build happy productive lives and a strong nation.
     
    For the second reason I've borrowed an ad for Patek Philippe.
29. It reads, "You never really own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation." With a little editing it becomes,
30. "We don't really own educational publishing. We're merely taking care of it for the next generation." That guy on the left is us. And the one on the right, is the new talent we need to build this dream.
     

    I want you to do two things for me. One is to be helpful to our unemployed talent. Even if you can't offer a job, you can be a listener and counselor. It's cold and lonely out there – and I've been there - and you can make a real difference.
     
    Second, we need more explicit talent development in our industry, to recruit and nurture the people who will carry educational publishing forward. For several years I've worked with AEP, on a talent development initiative, called EPIC. Our training programs were successful but they took too much effort to be sustainable. So, working with Charlene, I've proposed we instead initiate an award to spotlight exceptional talent development, so we can all learn from it. In a minute Charlene's going to tell you more.
     
    As for me, EdNET is alive and well at MDR and The Heller Reports name is having a happy retirement,

31. And, you know what? I'm starting to feel this guru business isn't all that bad!
    

32. This award is beyond humbling. The voice is an event greater gift.