It is with great excitement and anticipation I announce the birth of the Culture of Yes Flog.

We see the statistics and hear about how quickly the digital world is changing –standing still is not an option.  So, over the last few months my team at the Culture of Yes (I understand most people in our district affectionately refer to them as “Kennedy’s Yes Men”), have been hard at work designing our next project.  The project idea was put to seed just a few short months ago, when my colleague, mentor and friend, the Superintendent of Schools for the Vancouver School Board, Steve Cardwell, proffered a challenge in his interview with the Vancouver Courier, “I used to have a blog, probably ahead of most metro superintendents. I discontinued it. I find blogs to be not as useful, but I’m moving ahead of blogs. I’ll probably be the first superintendent to launch a vlog, a video blog.”  Wow! Now that sounds like a challenge. And, this is the why and how we are here today.  Mr. Cardwell, colleague, mentor and friend, I see your VLOG and raise you with the launch of my FLOG.

And, just what is a FLOG?

A FLOG is a fax-blog and combines the innovation of the blog with the safety and security of the facsimile machine.  While some see fax machines as the near-dead technology of the early 1990s, like many things that have enjoyed a renaissance revival, I think the technology is about to make a comeback, and I want to be on the front-end of  that edge with my flog. Once a week, I will be putting pen to paper, editing my work, reprinting it and then sharing it with the world through the power of faxing an exact copy.  If you are willing to share your fax number with me, once a week, I will fax you my latest thinking directly into your fax machine, letter tray.  And if you like my flog, please feel free to share it with others.  As an added value to this innovative service, I will also be encouraging re-flogging.  I hope you will consider sending my flog to others with employing the new old technology —  it IS all very exciting.

Further, in the spirit of Twitter, I will also send a Big Fax of the Day.  I will handwrite the most interesting thing I hear each day, and again fax it directly to you.  Again, please feel free to re-fax to your fax network.

We have lonely fax machines in all of our schools just waiting for this revival, and the hoarding mentality in all of us as educators will ensure we need never (or dare) discard our fax machines, so we ARE ready for this day.  As this movement grows, I can also see engaging others and hosting public flogging sessions. I think there would be real power in seeing all our educators engaged in flogging in all our schools and in the community – how thrilling it would be to be part of a flogathon.

Storing your favourite faxes would be simple — no longer would you need to struggle with saving files on a computer, simply take the printouts from the fax machine and store them in a binder for easy reference.  What better way to display your engagement in the digital era than with more binders sitting on your office shelf.

Now, I know some of you have not used your fax machine in quite a while, so let’s review some fax etiquette.  Always include a cover sheet when you send a fax.  If you would like to subscribe to the Culture of Yes Flog, indicate this on one sheet, and then add a cover sheet with the message “Page 1 of 2 – See other Page”.  If you hear a busy signal,  don’t leave — just wait a couple of minutes and then try your fax again.  Once you hear the dial-up modem tone – you know your fax has been sent  — but just to be certain, be sure to print a confirmation sheet for further reference.  And yes, long-distance charges will apply.

It has been a pleasure engaging with you on my blog over the last few years, hopefully, my flog will take our relationship to a new level and will save the fax machine.  Finally, I hope your first day of April is as good as mine.

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