In partnership with
Beadle Across America Speaking Calendar.
Next week, Dr. Joy Coates and I will be presenting on September 16 at the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors’ annual conference in Lake George, New York.
In two weeks, Dr. Joy and I will also be presenting at Shift Work Forward’s SHIFT Conference 2026 on September 24 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can sign up for the conference here.
Somehow without Dr. Joy, I’ll be keynoting the Michigan Health Council’s annual conference at the Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Mich., on October 27. Buy your tickets here.
Now announced: I’ll be talking about closing the gap on training and employment at CECU’s Executive Summit in Palm Springs on November 5. Sign up here.
This week behind the paywall:
285 Free Prompts to Save Time
Your inbox isn't the problem. Neither are your meetings. It's the hours you spend on work AI could do in minutes.
285 copy-paste prompts: built for email, meetings, admin, and delegation. Each one has a clear role, a specific task, and a defined output.
No setup. No prompt engineering. Just copy, paste, and get your time back. Free when you subscribe to Mindstream.
Is anything big going to happen for workforce in the next Congress?
I've heard some muted excitement—including from Republicans—that a Democratic House or even a Democratic Congress could mean good things for improving the public side of workforce in the United States.
I understand why. The Trump White House and Democrats are more aligned on workforce issues than the Trump White House and some of the current members of Congress. That seems especially true in the House, where GOP members have lingering suspicions about Registered Apprenticeship due to its heavy use by unions.
Below, I talk about the chances of a couple of big-ticket items I’ve heard bandied about.
Ad from beehiiv network.
Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads
Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:
After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.
The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.
“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”
Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.
Sign up for a paid subscription to read the rest.
Become a paying subscriber to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content.
Upgrade