Win a Trip! Raffle Ticket Online Sales Close Tomorrow

This is your last chance to get a raffle ticket online before the remaining tickets are sold onsite at the AACS Annual Convention Expo. The GRC Raffle is selling $50 raffle tickets for a chance to win a trip to Walt Disney World, Las Vegas or New York City. Each prize comes with some amazing giveaways, including airfare, hotel accommodations, 4-piece luggage sets, local attraction tickets, a musician laser-signed guitar and more! Only 200 tickets are available for each of these prizes (although only a limited number are left!) and the winners will be drawn on Monday, November 17 at the AACS Annual Convention & Expo. You do not have to be present to win, so get your $50 raffle tickets now! Online sales will close on Thursday, November 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern.

See What's Happening in Phoenix
The AACS Annual Convention is this coming weekend, and if you’re not coming—we’ve got you covered! We’ll be sending out our daily e-newsletter ConventionLink to recap events, announcements and session highlights. Find out who wins the N.F. Cimaglia Award, board election, pictures from the weekend and more! You do not need to subscribe—if you receive WINK, you’ll receive ConventionLink. You can also stay up-to-date by downloading the AACS Events mobile app!

Great Clips Celebrates Veterans Day
The Great Clips annual Veterans Day promotion took place yesterday, Nov. 11, in all U.S. salons. Their promotion was that veterans receive a free haircut or a free haircut card to redeem before Dec. 31. Every non-veteran customer was given a free haircut card which they will give to veterans in their lives to redeem. We wanted to highlight our AACS Select Industry Partner Great Clips for this great promotion and service to our veterans!

November is Family Caregiver's Month
November is National Family Caregiver’s Month. Chances are good that your school serves salon customers and students who are also caregivers for a member of their family. Why not offer these selfless individuals a complimentary service throughout the month? Market your school’s special offer or your web site, via social media or in a news release. Click here for more information.

Make Employee Performance Appraisals Useful
An annual employee performance appraisal can often be a dreaded time of the year for both employees and bosses. Get the most out of these reviews with four steps to making appraisals useful and positive:

1. Managers and employees must agree to give and receive balanced, candid feedback. Don’t assume the agreement to speak honestly is implicit, make it explicit.

2. Managers, be honest and courageous. Don’t rate an employee a five who is really a three. You don’t do anyone any favors. Employees want to know how they’re really doing, no matter how much the feedback may sting.

3. Managers, focus on three things the employee did well and three things to do more of next year. Any more input is overwhelming.

4. Managers, schedule a second conversation a week after the employee performance appraisal, so employees can think about and process what you’ve said and discuss further, if necessary.

To read more from this topic, visit Shari Harley’s Candid Culture article here.

Financial Aid Education Online for AACS Members
This year’s AACS Spring Conference will include a 2-day Financial Aid Workshop, but that’s still five months away. Stay current with financial aid training by taking advantage of the AACS Online Training Center courses. Your membership with AACS allows you to enter in the code aa7588 for a VIP discount. Take advantage of online training to get your staff educated.

Plan Your Year with AACS
Reach your audience throughout 2015 with our full complement of AACS media! When you advertise with us you are reaching more than half of all beauty schools in the United States and members that spend more than $100 million a year on products and services. In 2015, reach an audience with buying power and make 2015 your best year! Click here to find out how.