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As regular readers of this blog will know, Sameer and I have had a long partnership with Jostens. When I was in high school in the mid-1990s, our class rings and yearbooks came from Jostens, so I knew of the brand. About four years ago, Charley Nelson, who is the director of educator services for Jostens, contacted me to talk about our cyberbullying work. Little did I know that in addition to their yearbooks and rings (they designed the 2011 Super Bowl ring!), they also coordinate a number of professional development activities for educators, mostly centered on cultivating a positive school climate. Their Renaissance Program emphasizes academic achievement, encourages student and staff recognition, and promotes school pride. We’ve worked with them over the last year to develop materials for “Pause Before You Post” – a campaign to educate teens about responsible personal publishing (online and off). See our “Student Guide to Personal Publishing” here.

The flagship event for Jostens Renaissance each year is their national conference, which draws over 1000 educators and student leaders from around the United States. I have been fortunate to have been a presenter at this conference for the past three years and I will tell you that it is flat out the best educator conference that I have been a part of. The positive energy is palpable and I leave the conference inspired and reinvigorated. There is a lot of learning and networking, infused with A TON of fun. This year, the conference is in Anaheim (July 15-17) and both Sameer and I will be there, presenting on issues related to cyberbullying, sexting, and responsible social networking. Headline speakers include Bill Walton (basketball Hall of Famer) and Liz Murray (Homeless to Harvard). If you have never been to this conference, you need to attend – and there is still time to sign up. I personally guarantee that you will not be disappointed. If you have attended in the past, leave a comment with your experience. If you will be there this year, stop by and say hello. If you are a Facebook follower, find me and mention this blog and I’ll give you a gift (while supplies last!). Hope to see you in Anaheim!

Happy New Year everyone! We hope that you all enjoyed whatever holiday you celebrated and that your 2011 is productive and rewarding. Sameer and I have a number of exciting projects and initiatives planned for 2011 and I just wanted to preview some of those here so that you can follow our progress over the next several months. We are writing two books that will come out in 2011. The first is a collection of essays from the leading cyberbullying experts from around the United States titled: Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives and will be in print later in the summer. Sameer and I are very excited about this project as it summarizes insights from those who have been involved in exploring the issue of cyberbullying from various disciplines for many years. The book will summarize the current state of knowledge concerning cyberbullying and provide concrete prevention and response strategies for adults who have, and who work with youth.

In the second book that is forthcoming, Sameer and I explore the importance of school culture and climate in preventing a variety of school problems—including those that begin or are amplified online. We hope to enlighten educators, parents, and teens about the tremendous importance of cultivating a positive school climate, not only to enhance student achievement, success, and productivity, but because a respectful climate at school will produce students who are safe, smart, honest, and responsible while using technology. Stay tuned for more information about the status of these projects.

We are working with several public and private organizations on education programs related to cyberbullying and online responsibility. A number of these will be rolled out over the next few months. We are scheduled to present at numerous schools, conferences, and trainings across the United States (and abroad) in 2011. Be sure to regularly check our events page for a listing of appearances that are open to the public in your area. Finally, we will continue to update our website and this blog with the latest information regarding the nature and extent of cyberbullying, and ways to combat it. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have comments or questions about any of the information on our site. If you are reading this blog you share in our mission to encourage the safe and responsible use of technology. Together we can make a difference.

The 7th Annual Conference of the International Bullying Prevention Association in Seattle, Washington is coming up quick, and we really hope you’re coming (register here).  We will be participating in a pre-conference on Monday, November 15th, and will be giving a presentation entitled “The Online Experience of Adolescent Girls: Cyberbullying, Sexting, and Relationship Abuse” on the morning of Tuesday, November 16th.  Justin and I really look forward to meeting you if we haven’t already, catching up with you if we have, hanging out, and brainstorming about new initiatives and collaborations.  Many people are doing awesome, pioneering work in the fields of bullying and cyberbullying, and we are honored to be able to rub elbows with them.  If you have any questions about the conference or our roles in it, or if you want to get together to chat while we are there – please let us know.

I’m going to be in Washington, DC on Wednesday, December 10th and Thursday, December 11th for the Family Online Safety Institute’s annual conference, where I’ll be participating in a formal roundtable to discuss cyberbullying prevention and response and Internet safety issues.  I am really looking forward to this, as many top practitioners and authors in this field will be there.  It will be excellent to see and catch up with Anne Collier, Larry Magid, Nancy Willard, Michelle Ybarra, Sonia Livingstone, Janis Wolak, and Sam McQuade, and to talk technological strategies and solutions with some of the heavy-hitting corporations in the communications and social media stratosphere.  Look me up or set something up with me – I’ll be at the conference hotel in the early evening on the 10th for a reception dinner, and then milling about attending presentations and networking throughout the day before my 4:30pm roundtable on Thursday.

We are happy to report that our cyberbullying book is now expected to be in print on August 5th, 2008. We are very excited to have the book in our hands (and perhaps even more excited to have it in YOUR hands!). It represents the culmination of over five years of research and we worked very hard to make sure the book was comprehensive and easy to read. I will be doing a couple of presentations at the White Earth Communities Collaborative Brain Development Conference in Mahnomen, MN on August 13th and 14th and will have copies of the book available for purchase and signing. More info about this conference can be found here. We’ll post more details about the book as the release date approaches.