The Yearly Top Ten: Welborn Media’s 2020 Recap

Posted on January 5, 2021January 6, 2021 by Lacey Welborn

Every December we look back on the past year to point out things we accomplished, remind ourselves of all we’ve done, and also share with you some things we worked on throughout the year.

While 2020 was challenging for many, including us, we still have much to be grateful for.

Here are our 10 favorite things that happened to us in 2020.

#10 – Video Content

We are excited about the video content we produced in 2020 and are extremely excited to offer more video content production in 2021. These high-quality videos are used to tell customer stories, establish brand credibility and make businesses look good. Take a look at some of the videos we produced in 2020 and see if you’d like us to produce videos for you in 2021.

Click here to see some amazing videos – Welborn Media Videos

#9 – Website Management

We’ve performed website management as an added service for years, but now we are providing this service for more businesses than ever. Welborn Media Website Management can take care of your domain registration, hosting, website design, site security, regular backups, website updates and much more.

Clients love that when they need a change to their website they can just call Lacey. Learn more about our website management, click here.

#8 – Zeb’s Speaking Engagements

In 2020, Zeb continued to speak at conferences and workshops throughout the Western United States. This year, Zeb spoke in numerous workshops with San Bernardino County Workforce Development, the Southern California Professional Golf Association, was a keynote speaker at the California Placement Association’s Annual Conference and, of course, the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Zeb has gained a reputation for providing practical information that attendees can apply to their business immediately while also being entertaining and friendly. Zeb’s speaking engagements and workshops are always highly rated.

Learn more about Zeb’s Speaking and check out some of his reviews, click here.

#7 – Golf is Good

Zeb serves on the Advisory Board of the California Golf Course Owners Association. The CGCOA has worked to initiate a campaign to help highlight the great things golf can bring to people, the environment and local communities.

We took it upon ourselves to help create a video highlighting the great things golf does in a Golf is Good campaign video. The video is receiving national exposure for the CGCOA and helping tell the story of how Golf is Good in California.

#6 – Chamber Golf Tournament

For the past five years, Zeb and a team of volunteers have planned the Southern California Charity Golf Classic. This year, they transitioned the SCCGC to the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament. We are pleased to announce that the tournament was sold out and our participants enjoyed socially distanced golf on a beautiful day and a virtual banquet that included golf commentary from their round provided by a true Scotsman.

https://www.facebook.com/ChinoValleyChamberOfCommerce/videos/735283750386716

#5 – Zeb Surprised at Zoom Meeting

This year Zeb ran Zoom meetings to replace the usual Business@Breakfast events put on by the chamber. The events provide education for local business persons and a chance to network.

At one of the meetings many of the attendees collaborated to surprise Zeb with recognition and awards for his efforts to help strengthen the local business community during the Coronavirus pandemic. He, and the Chino Valley Chamber, received honors from:

U.S. Representative Gil Cisneros (California’s 39th Congressional District)
U.S. Representative Norma Torres (California’s 35th Congressional District)
the California State Legislature
County Supervisor Curt Hageman
Senator Ling Ling Chang
City of Chino Mayor Eunice Ulloa
City of Chino Hills City Manager Ben Montgomery
The Chino Valley Chamber Board of Directors & Ambassador Team
and many more

Hearing from so many people and organizations that his hard work makes a difference, Zeb was overwhelmed and full of gratitude.

The surprise starts at about the 35 minute mark:

#4 – New Clients

We added many new clients this year. We are always grateful and thrilled to work with new people to help them grow their business using digital marketing. For those of you that became new clients this year … thank you! We love working with you and look forward to continuing to work together for years to come.

#3 – San Bernardino County Business Consulting

With the County of San Bernardino Workforce Development Department, Welborn Media has had the amazing opportunity to help local businesses who need help avoiding company layoffs and growing their business. We love this program as it gives us the opportunity to teach many businesses on digital marketing and also allows us to consult directly with five businesses a year to help them grow and maintain their workforce. We are grateful for the chance to help even more passionate business owners in San Bernardino County.

#2 – Outstanding Citizen of the Year

Champion Newspapers named Zeb Welborn the Outstanding Citizen of the Year. They said, “Mr. Welborn was chosen for his work helping struggling local businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.” Read the article, click here.

#1 – Hello Leonardo!

On Halloween Eve in 2020, we met Leonardo!

Zeb and Cindy welcomed their baby boy into the world. His siblings Sebastain and Elena were excited to meet their new baby brother. Leonardo is a sweet, alert baby much loved by his entire extended family.

Zeb Welborn’s Top 10 Books Read in 2018

Posted on June 6, 2019June 11, 2019 by Zeb Welborn

I wanted to help all of you by sharing my favorite 10 books read in 2018. If you read these books I have no doubt they will help you be more successful in 2019 and beyond.

1) High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard

My favorite book read in 2018 was High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard. In the book, he lays out the top 6 habits of high performers. These habits are:

• Seeking Clarity
• Generating Energy
• Raising Necessity
• Increasing Productivity
• Developing Influence
• Demonstrating Courage

I’ve committed to working to improve each of those habits in 2019 and know my life will be better for it.

THESE SIX HABITS WILL MAKE YOU EXTRAORDINARY. After extensive original research and a decade as the world’s highest-paid performance coach, Brendon Burchard finally reveals the most effective habits for reaching long-term success. Based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on high performers, it turns out that just six habits move the needle the most in helping you succeed.

Buy High Perfomance Habits

2. Measure What Matters by John Doerr

#1 New York Times Bestseller

Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth—and how it can help any organization thrive.

In the fall of 1999, John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he’d just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had amazing technology, entrepreneurial energy, and sky-high ambitions, but no real business plan. For Google to change the world (or even to survive), Page and Brin had to learn how to make tough choices on priorities while keeping their team on track. They’d have to know when to pull the plug on losing propositions, to fail fast. And they needed timely, relevant data to track their progress—to measure what mattered.

Buy Measure What Matters

3. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

A former international hostage negotiator for the FBI offers a new, field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations—whether in the boardroom or at home.

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles—counterintuitive tactics and strategies—you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life.

Buy Never Split the Difference

4.Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness

A few common principles drive performance, regardless of the field or the task at hand. Whether someone is trying to qualify for the Olympics, break ground in mathematical theory or craft an artistic masterpiece, many of the practices that lead to great success are the same. In Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg, a former McKinsey and Company consultant and writer who covers health and the science of human performance, and Steve Magness, a performance scientist and coach of Olympic athletes, team up to demystify these practices and demonstrate how everyone can achieve their best.

Buy Peak Performance

5. Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk

Four-time New York Times bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk offers new lessons and inspiration drawn from the experiences of dozens of influencers and entrepreneurs who rejected the predictable corporate path in favor of pursuing their dreams by building thriving businesses and extraordinary personal brands.

In his 2009 international bestseller Crush It, Gary insisted that a vibrant personal brand was crucial to entrepreneurial success, In Crushing It!, Gary explains why that’s even more true today, offering his unique perspective on what has changed and what principles remain timeless. He also shares stories from other entrepreneurs who have grown wealthier—and not just financially—than they ever imagined possible by following Crush It principles. The secret to their success (and Gary’s) has everything to do with their understanding of the social media platforms, and their willingness to do whatever it took to make these tools work to their utmost potential. That’s what Crushing It! teaches readers to do.

Buy Crushing It

6. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.

What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility, distilling the world’s wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers.

Buy 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

7. The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman

Getting an MBA is an expensive choice-one almost impossible to justify. You can get better results (and save hundreds of thousands of dollars) by skipping business school altogether.

Josh Kaufman founded PersonalMBA.com as an alternative to the business school boondoggle. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. Now, he shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges.

True leaders aren’t made by business schools – they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to succeed. Read this book and you will learn the principles it takes most business professionals a lifetime of trial and error to master.

Buy The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business

8. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

#1 New York Times Bestseller

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—”not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter.

Buy The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

9. Raising Men: Lessons Navy SEALs Learned from Their Training and Taught to Their Sons by Eric Davis

After Eric Davis spent over 16 years in the military, including a decade in the SEAL Teams, his family was more than used to his absence on deployments and secret missions that could obscure his whereabouts for months at a time.

Without a father figure in his own life since the age of fifteen, Eric was desperate to maintain the bonds he’d fought so hard to forge when his children were young―particularly with his son, Jason, because he knew how difficult it was to face the challenge of becoming a man on one’s own. Unfortunately, Eric learned the hard way that Quality Time doesn’t always show up in Quantity Time.

Facebook, television, phones, video games, school, jobs, friends―they all got in the way of a real, meaningful father-son relationship. It was time to take action.

Using a unique blend of discipline, leadership, adventure, and grace, Eric and his SEAL brothers will teach you how to connect, and reconnect, with your sons and learn how to raise real men―the Navy SEAL way.

Buy Raising Men: Lessons Navy SEALs Learned from Their Training and Taught to Their Sons

10. Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus

The founder and CEO of Onnit, the mega lifestyle brand and one of the fastest growing companies in the country, teaches us how one single day of positive choices leads to a lifetime of concrete strategies for better living, optimal performance, and a stronger mind, body, and spirit.

Human optimization thought leader Aubrey Marcus’s personal and professional mission rests on a single question: How can we get the most out of our body and mind on a daily basis?

Marcus answers that question in Own the Day, Own Your Life an empowering handbook that guides readers to optimize every moment of the day, from waking in the morning, through work and play, until bedtime each night. With small, actionable changes implemented throughout the course of one day, we can feel better, perform more efficiently, and live happier. And these daily habits turn into weekly routines, ultimately becoming part of lifelong healthy choices.

Buy Own the Day, Own Your Life

Have you read any of these books or do you plan to read any of these books? Let me know!
email me at Zeb@WelbornMedia.com.

Click here if you’re interested in reading my Top 10 Books in 2017.

Note: We hope this article helps you find a book you are interested in. This article contains affiliate links.

Welborn Media Top Ten of 2018

Posted on January 1, 2019March 11, 2019 by Lacey Welborn

Every year Welborn Media likes to take a look back on the past year to reflect on the year we had and to plan for the year ahead. We always create a top 10 list as we celebrate another year in business. Here is our Top 10 for 2018!

10. University Club of Pasadena

If this year had a theme for our business it may have been about membership organizations. This year we took advantage of several opportunities to work with local membership organizations including the University Club of Pasadena. Our ability to help improve the impact these organizations have as well as increase membership has been noticed. The University Club of Pasadena is a social and business networking club with a beautiful home base facility that is also a desirable event venue.

9. Speaking Engagements

This year Zeb Welborn continued delivering presentations to business owners across Southern California. He spoke more than a dozen times in Southern California with the San Bernardino Workforce Development Board, the City of West Covina, the University Club of Pasadena, the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and more!

8. Shots in the Dark at Indian Wells Golf Resort

NextLinks – one of our most interesting and innovative clients – had a phenomenal year which includes the opening of a first-of-it’s-kind facility, Shots in the Night, at Indian Wells Golf Resort. The NextLinks Putting Green Experience allows golfers and non-golfers of all ages to play different golf inspired games together in a fun social environment. The experience has been commended for staying true to golf while also attracting new people to the game who maybe wouldn’t have tried it before.

7. Moving Websites

Welborn Media works on several websites and we fully manage and host about a dozen more. This year we tackled the challenge of moving all those websites to a new virtual private server. This move gives our websites better security and more opportunities for performance optimization.

6. Southern California Charity Golf Classic

We had another amazing year with the Southern California Charity Golf Classic at Los Serranos Country Club on June 29, 2018 as we raised $13,225.97 for local charities in our community.

5. Joined the Advisory Council for the CGCOA

If you’ve followed Zeb Welborn for any amount of time then you probably know about his love for golf. We even run 19th Hole Media, to provide social media tools and management to golf courses in Southern California and beyond. This year Zeb’s love of golf and enthusiasm to grow the game has earned him a spot on the Advisory Council for the California Golf Course Owners Association.

4. PR Chair for Rotary District 5300

Rotary International District 5300 covers Southern Nevada, the High Desert, Antelope Valley and more areas of Southern California. In June, Zeb Welborn was announced as the Public Relations/Social Media Chair. Zeb has met some wonderful people who are doing great things through Rotary District 5300. He’s also had some amazing experiences including attending the Rotary Peace Conference.

3. Rotary Club of Chino

Zeb Welborn finished up his term as the President of the Rotary club and passed on the role to Chris Foster. During his year as President of the Chino Rotary Club the club grew their membership from 14 to 26 members, the fastest growing Rotary club in District 5300 for the 2017/2018 year. Our club raised nearly $30,000 through our Dinner & Auction and gave back more than $30,000 to our community. Members of the Chino Rotary Club helped secure close to $1,000,000 to help support various causes throughout the world. We helped secure $600,000 for a water project in Honduras; several hundred thousand for Rotary Project Hope, a program to teach leadership programs in Mexico and a $61,000 scholarship for Anna Casalme to attend the University of Edinburgh for Childhood Studies. District 5300 also honored us with the Governor’s Bell Award for the most outstanding small club in our Rotary District.

2. Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce

Welborn Media has been involved with the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce since almost the beginning of our business. Zeb Welborn has been very active at the chamber and has been a member of the board, then Chairman of the Board and now he’s taken on the role of Executive Director. Since Zeb has taken the helm the organization has seen drastic increases in event participation and attendance (up 29%), sponsorship (added 5 major sponsors) and membership (added 60 members).

1. Elena

Elena Welborn-De La Torre was born on July 5, 2019. She is such a happy baby and it’s apparent that she is also full of love for her brother, Sebastian and parents, Zeb and Cindy. No doubt she will grow into an amazing passionate person.

Identifying Your Target Audience

Posted on June 1, 2018June 1, 2018 by Lacey Welborn

Integral to any marketing plan is a clearly defined target audience. The target audience helps you determine your approach, your messaging, and your distribution. Read this article then download the free worksheet at the bottom of this post to help define your target audience.

A common mistake is targeting too broad a selection of people. We understand the desire to want everyone to know about your business, but it can get you into trouble.

Poor Marksmanship

When you have a broad message you are just another fish in the overcrowded sea of marketing messages. Your marketing needs to attract attention which is a difficult thing to do when every other business is aiming to do the same thing. So don’t dilute your marketing message. By narrowing your target market you can zero in on what would appeal specifically to those people and that will help you get noticed.

In addition to standing out, your message also has to resonate with viewers to have any hope of compelling the desired action and it’s much easier to determine what will resonate when you have a specific group of people.

The other problem is money. Your advertising dollars are precious. When utilized to their full potential you can maximize your return and experience terrific success. When you try to reach too many people much of your budget will go to waste on those who are least likely to convert.

Think about it as if you are selling your products or services in person and groups of people are walking by. You don’t have the option to approach everyone. So, you prioritize and try to engage the people who appear most similar to your current customers. You realize that if you put your efforts towards engaging those who appear less likely to use your products/services you will miss out on sales.

Buyer Personas

Many businesses need to develop a multi-faceted target audience. Maybe your business has different products and services to meet different people’s needs. This is a situation where creating buyer personas can be helpful.

We work with Scott Goodwin Associates (SGA), a company that provides training for firefighters. They have a handful products that meet different needs: entry level firefighter bootcamp for those who are interested in becoming a firefighter, promotional bootcamp for current firefighters who want a promotion, and training for individuals or entire departments to improve fire command and communication. Each of these products has a different buyer persona: the entry-level bootcamp skews to a younger audience, the promotional bootcamp we can narrow down by job title, and the training program targets everyone currently in the fire service.

The overall target audience includes everyone in the fire service and people who are looking to join the fire service. We can execute marketing pieces and aim to reach all of those people. We can also use the buyer personas to create specific marketing pieces that showcase an individual product and distribute it to only that segment of the target audience. We like to do some of both.

Hitting a Bullseye

Try to think of a specific person and cater your message to them. What are their needs, wants, fears and desires? What message will appeal directly to them? Determining that is the hard part. Once you know who this person is other decisions become easy.

How will you reach them?

You can target an audience based on several factors including location, gender, age, income level, job title, interests, search history, website visits, connections, current customer status, social media engagement, and more. Ask yourself where do these people spend their time? Do they search on Google, scroll through Facebook, or examine their junk mail? How do they make their purchasing decisions?

Traditional Marketing Methods often let you target based on location, gender, age and income level. Sometimes they also can be used to target a general interest. Digital marketing can give you more ways to refine your audience — things like job title, keyword searches, web history, specific interests, online behavior, and engagement level.

Define Your Target Audience

Now you have a good understanding of why defining your target audience is important and how it can help you determine your approach, messaging, and distribution. Download our Target Audience/Buyer Persona Worksheet to help you zero in on your target:

[goal id=”3649″]

Examine your customer base and think of one specific person who can act as an avatar to represent your typical customer or client. If you need to, create separate buyer personas that represent your different products or services.

Now that you understand your target audience, you’ve completed one of the most important parts of your marketing plan. Use the target audience to help you make decisions regarding the rest of your marketing plan including messaging, content strategy, distribution, budget and more.

Need help developing an online marketing plan for your business? Check out our limited offer: Zeb Welborn’s One-on-One 1-Day Marketing Plan

April at Chino Rotary: Honduras Water Project, Stepping Up for Boys, Teacher Mini-Grants, Craft Talks and Big Brothers Big Sisters

Posted on May 14, 2018May 22, 2018 by Zeb Welborn

The Chino Rotary Club had an amazing April as we helped to support a Honduras Water Project, hosted our Stepping Up for Boys program, gave $2,500 to Chino Valley Unified School Teachers via the Mini-Grant program, had four craft talks, Arianna Fajardo shared her experience so far with Big Brothers Big Sisters and CP Phan created an amazing video from his experience at RYLA.

WASH in Schools Target Challenge

Our club is excited to be supporting the San Pedro Sula Rotary Club in Honduras on Rotary International’s pilot project WASH in Schools. The San Pedro Sula RC and other four clubs in Honduras were awarded a total amount of $500,000 as a global grant in order to provide hydrosanitary infrastructure, drinking water and education training for health for 31 schools in Honduras! You can read more about the project at https://my.rotary.org/en/wash-schools-target-challenge

Part of the challenge in this grant was to include international clubs to support raise a total of $75,000 towards the project, with the objective that Rotarians unite to benefit schools in needy communities. Our Chino Rotary member, Linda Perla, is a former Rotaractor of San Pedro Sula. With a desire to expand on Chino Rotary’s engagement on international projects, she presented the WASH project to our club so we could be a part of it. We are delighted to be supporting this project and also glad to know that other clubs like Pomona, Rancho del Chino, and District 5300 have also joined us in contributing to this pilot project.

Stay tuned to follow how this project develops and see Rotarians in action! Chino Rotary values our partnership with clubs, internationally and locally, to multiply the impact Rotarians can have when we work together. We are elated to further our partnerships and serve the needy worldwide!

Stepping Up for Boys

I believe this is the third year the Chino Rotary Club has sponsored the Stepping Up for Boys program and it was a tremendous success. On April 21, more than one hundred 6th grade students attended the Stepping Up for Boys program which helps young students transition from elementary school to junior high school.

The program has been a phenomenal success. Thank you to everyone who was involved and thank you to everyone participated.

$2,500 in Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grants

On April 25, the CHINO ROTARY CLUB awarded $2,500 to Chino Valley Unified School District teachers via the Debbie Bentley Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant program. Below is a list of teachers and the projects they planned to use the funds for:

2018 Debbie Wilson Teacher Mini-Grant Award Winners

Congratulations to:

Patrick Wood – Students will engage in model rocket testing and engineering as part of a unit capstone project that teaches Conservation of Momentum and Energy, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and Engineering Practices (NGSS).

Rebecca Reger & LauraLee Zuber – All third grade students will fully engage with science phenomena by participating in hands-on activities in order to deepen their understanding of grade level science standards. Students will witness the birth and development of baby chicks, butterflies, tadpoles, and ladybugs (NGSS standard 3-LS1,2,3). We have already purchased incubators and acquired fertile chicken eggs. Students will candle eggs at day 7 and day 14 to observe signs of life and movement. Then they will begin to witness signs of hatching around day 21 (peeping and pecking). They will observe the chicks as they hatch and grow into mature chickens, observing and noting heritable traits. Students will document and make models of different animal life cycles, including butterflies and tadpoles as they metamorphis into their adult stages. Throughout these lessons, students will analyze the similarities and differences between different animal species, including ladybugs. Students will design and perform experiments with magnets, including magnetic slime (NGSS standard 3-3PS2). Students will be amazed as they use magnetic forces to make a paperclip levitate or observe their magnetic slime “eating” a neodymium magnet while simultaneously learning about reactions within the slime. At this time, the state of CA has no adopted science curriculum to support the new Next Generation Science Standards. These materials will provide hands-on experiences for students with the newly adopted standards.

Jason Davis – Students will use the Lego Education MINDSTORMS EV3 Space Exploration Set to enhance and extend their understanding of robotics. By adding this set to our existing robotics program, students will simulate a mission to explore the harsh surface of Mars – right in the classroom!

Brianda Reyes – I want to integrate more hands on activities for all subjects. I want to be able to purchase or create learning activities for my students to become motivated to learn.

Chuck Pope – Each year we invite over 100 Veterans to attend an Oral History Day with th whole Junior Class. The students conduct interviews of one Veteran over a 3 hour period. They then must write a thank You Letter and an essay report on the experience.

Tracy Buss – The students have been learning about the life cycle of plants. We also researched plants and what types of fruits and vegetables will grow in our area during each season. Students have planted various winter lettuces and leaf vegetables. We want to harvest our vegetables and create recipes using our vegetables. We will then create a restaurant with the recipes. We will use the money skills we are learning in math to create a menu with prices. Students will make the food and serve it to the parents. We have already harvested and frozen butternut squash for soup and lemons for lemonade. We are going to create a soup and salad menu. The problem is that our irrigation system is in dire straights. Skateboarders damaged the sprinkler system in our garden. We have the basic irrigation system, but need to have the sprinklers repaired.

Ashley Rist – I would like to create a mobile green screen “kit” to provide our school with green screen technology. Green screens are used to super impose images into a background, and combined with additional pictures, animations, and media. The use of green screen tech is easy for teachers to use and teach the students to help them create engaging and fun 21st century technology for all elementary school students!

Paula Stow – With a Breakout EDU kit, I can turn my classroom into an academically-focused escape room and facilitate games where players use teamwork and critical thinking to solve a series of challenging puzzles in order to open the locked box.

Laura Grissom – The following information will be distributed to the class in some way (there is a printable document included in the file). It could be a PowerPoint slide. The purpose of the background story is to just to add a fun element. If you elect to, you could even decorate the room to correspond to the zombie theme. I’ve even thought about making a SAW like video or recording to add a sinister feel to the experience.

A former AP student, who is disgruntled from having received a 2 on the English Language and Composition Test in 2012, has locked you all into the room you are now in and has released a virus into the ventilation system. (Here you could elect to trigger a fog machine if you have one). If you do not find the cure in approximately 50 mins (this of course can be altered depending on adding or subtracting steps), you will all turn into brain-dead, Brussel-sprout-eating zombies who will score no higher than a 1 on your upcoming test. Good luck.

Step One: Take the Gatsby AP test to obtain the combination to the key lock. (I shorted the original test (also include in the file) for time sake. Any test could work here.) I’ve assigned each answer a point value. I then used the added points to create a combination for my number lock (ordered from Amazon).

Step Two: Use the correct combination to unlock key (realtor) lock (somewhere in the room) in order to obtain the key.
You could of course use the key to anything in the room that locks.

Step Three: Use the key to unlock the locked cabinet/drawer that hides the combination to the locked tool box, which contains an encrypted message. The real combination is written with a black light marker and then masked by shaded pencil numbers. I’ve taped this clue to the bottom of my empty file cabinet drawer. The clue says “hides” and a black light flash light is in the drawer with the combination, but I’m allowing the students no other clues than that for this step.

Step Four: Use the combination (158) to unlock the tool box lock and decode a question. The answer to that question is the password to a computer file found on the classroom computer desktop. The question is written in WWI code (just the first letter of each word). You can use any combination lock/box combo.

Step Five: Locate the computer document and access it via the password discovered in Step Four. The computer document contains literary term questions. If you can successfully answer the questions using the blank spaces provided, the special spaces will reveal a word. This word is the password to the cure – its use will ensure success in getting a passing score on the AP exam. I placed a key icon shortcut directly on my laptop desktop and labeled with the word “zombie.”

Step Six: Use the antidotal word to unlock the word lock to obtain the cure. Please administer the cure to each student in the room to eradicate the virus and prevent it from spreading to your loved ones outside these walls. Again, good luck. The antidote could of course be anything, but I am electing to use candy.

Roseann Graff – I would like to purchase materials to create a weekly Creativity Lab in my classroom using STEM, STEAM, and Makerspace.

All of which received $250 Debbie Wilson Mini-Grants. Thank you for sharing your projects with us and making such a positive impact in the lives of youth in our community.

Four Craft Talks:

This month we had craft talks from Gene Hernandez, Chris Foster, Al McCombs and Rick Bui. Loved learning about the lives of these remarkable human beings. Want to know why Rotary is the best of the best? Look at these folks.

Chris Foster and Gene Hernandez from the Chino Rotary Club

Al McCombs Craft Talk

Rick Bui Chino Rotary Club Craft Talk

Arianna Fajardo and Big Brothers Big Sisters:

Arianna Fajardo joined Big Brothers Big Sisters during one of her first meetings attending the Chino Rotary Club. She’s now been a Big Sister for over a year and her Little Sister and her decided to create a video about their experience in Big Brothers Big Sisters so far. We’re so proud of Arianna for the impact she’s making through the Chino Rotary Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Watch the video here –

CP Phan’s RYLA Video:

Lastly, CP Phan and Linda Perla attended RYLA in March and CP Phan created this amazing video for the event. Everyone in Rotary talks about how impactful the RYLA program is and CP decided to document it. Check out CP’s video here –

Zeb Welborn Reviews Top 10 Books Read in 2017

Posted on April 12, 2018April 12, 2018 by Zeb Welborn

Someone once asked Elon Musk how he learned to build rockets. He answered, “I read books.”

As an entrepreneur I try to learn as much as possible. Many of you have asked about books I’d recommend reading and so I thought I’d give you a list of all the Top 10 non-fiction books I read in 2017.

They’re ranked in the order in which I found them to be most valuable to where I am currently at in my life and business.

Below, I’m including a link to the books in Amazon and a brief description from their Amazon page.

They were all valuable and had great insights, so don’t read too much into my rankings…

As J.K. Rowling once said, “Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out.”

The Like Switch: An ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Influencing, Attracting and Winning People Over by Jack Schafer and Marvin Karlins

From a former FBI Special Agent specializing in behavior analysis and recruiting spies comes a handbook filled with his proven strategies on how to instantly read people and influence how they perceive you, so you can easily turn on the like switch.

Extreme Ownership: How US Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jacko Willink and Leif Babin

Combat, the most intense and dynamic environment imaginable, teaches the toughest leadership lessons, with absolutely everything at stake. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin learned this reality first-hand on the most violent and dangerous battlefield in Iraq. As leaders of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, their mission was one many thought impossible: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a violent, insurgent-held city deemed “all but lost.” In gripping, firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories, they learned that leadership―at every level―is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails.

Smarter, Faster, Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity by Charles Duhigg

At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key productivity concepts—from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently.

The 10x Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone

While most people operate with only three degrees of action-no action, retreat, or normal action-if you’re after big goals, you don’t want to settle for the ordinary. To reach the next level, you must understand the coveted 4th degree of action. This 4th degree, also know as the 10 X Rule, is that level of action that guarantees companies and individuals realize their goals and dreams.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say “yes”—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

Creativity Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

Creativity, Inc. is a manual for anyone who strives for originality and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about creativity—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”

TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson

Since taking over TED in 2001, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s worldview; it can be more powerful than anything in written form.

The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd by Allan Dib

To build a successful business, you need to stop doing random acts of marketing and start following a reliable plan for rapid business growth. Traditionally, creating a marketing plan has been a difficult and time-consuming process, which is why it often doesn’t get done.

The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage by Mel Robbins

Throughout your life, you’ve had parents, coaches, teachers, friends and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself?