ABOUT
At Tagoras (pronounced tah-GOR-us), we advise the learning businesses, service providers, and investment firms that serve the global market for adult lifelong learning, continuing education, and professional development – what we call the third sector of education. Through market assessment, market amplification, and advisory services, we help clients maximize their reach, revenue, and impact.
Created in 2007 by veteran edupreneurs Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele, we leverage a unique blend of experience and expertise in marketing, technology, and education to help clients create, revitalize, and grow products and services.
Our name, Tagoras (pronounced tah-GOR-us), is a neologism that draws meaning from three sources.
- Tag
Tags (< >) add descriptive metadata to online text, images, video, and other resources and are essential to the syntax and structure of the Web. Tags are about making sense of things. We are too, and our sense-making goal is reflected visually in the two connected tags that form the basis of our logo. - Agora
In ancient Greece, the agora was the public marketplace and the center of civic interaction. It was where citizens connected, transacted business, and learned. Today’s lifelong learning market is just as vital as the agora was. - Protagoras
Plato credits this ancient Greek philosopher with founding the Sophist movement. Unjustly maligned in subsequent centuries (especially by Plato himself), the Sophists were the first professional teachers, seeking truth through dialogue. We want to reclaim the tradition of teaching excellence that Protagoras started.
When we needed to know the feasibility of launching a new credential for our audience, we turned to Jeff Cobb and Tagoras for guidance. Jeff provided expert analysis of our market along with strategic recommendations for how we should proceed. I recommend him as a trusted advisor for any organization looking to capitalize on new opportunities in the market for lifelong education.
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) sought the expert guidance of Jeff Cobb with Tagoras at a time when industry changes demanded a new approach to the educational needs of its members. Jeff skillfully engaged the members of our Educational Strategy Task Force to help arrive at a balanced and strategic approach. A new “Guiding Policy” and recommended “Key Actions” were the result of successful collaboration and expert guidance. AHDI highly recommends Jeff and Tagoras to any organization that needs to reconsider its approach to education/lifelong learning and strategy for the future.
We engaged Jeff Cobb and Tagoras to help us develop a plan for strategic collaboration with a very different organization we are aligned with in the marketplace. Jeff worked closely with the staff and leadership of both organizations to surface critical issues, clarify potential opportunities, and bring structure to our vision. The result was a roadmap that the boards of both organizations enthusiastically approved to build the foundation for a successful business partnership and valuable new educational initiative for the industry.
We engaged Tagoras to assess our current membership model at CAI holistically and help us answer critical questions about the strategic roles of each of our three core activities: Membership, Learning & Development, and HR Products/Services. Jeff Cobb led the effort and did a skillful job of facilitating executive team discussions, bringing in member and employee perspectives, and identifying the most critical issues and opportunities. Jeff’s recommendations were insightful and actionable. We’re now putting them to work as part of the strategy that will drive CAI’s future growth and success.
We had heard of Tagoras from their thought-leadership, presentations at conferences, reports, and recommendations from other organization. Celisa Steele led our project, and she helped us to scope our needs and select a partner to take our e-learning efforts forward. Celisa’s expertise and guidance provided enormous support to us and allowed us to tap into expertise we did not have in house, ask the right questions, and qualify our actual needs. Engaging Tagoras and particularly Celisa has been one of the smartest investments we could have made.
Tagoras provided all the facts we needed when preparing to advance e-learning within our organization. His recommendations were research based, concise and clear. He facilitated a discussion with our 15 member Board of Directors who was able to clearly understand and act upon the strategic vision he proposed to them with confidence. His experience, passion for the subject and willingness to collaborate for our success made all the difference. He listened to our needs, assessed the situation and made us a part of the solution. It will be our pleasure to continue to work with him in the future.