I read an article today about a small town in Montana putting a mural on the side of an empty building. I commented that it was a great idea and I was happy to see it. Tori Wyman responded with: We clung to your advice from the Idea Friendly Method! The Idea Friendly Method works,…
Read MoreHow does Human Behavior affect how we use the Idea Friendly Method? The Idea Friendly Method is simply stated as You find your Big Idea and Gather Your Crowd around accomplishing that idea, You turn that crowd into a powerful network and Build Connections and then You and the crowd take Small Steps to accomplish…
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Idea Friendly Solutions to the old way of thinking You’ve been answering the Survey of Rural Challenges for ten years now. One of the common themes is the persistence of old way thinking. In rural communities, old-way thinkers are often the folks who say things like: Let’s not change anything; we like it this way. …
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Phew! What a year it’s been. From small towns to big ideas, 2024 has shown me once again that the heart of community development lies in the passion and creativity of people like you. Chatsworth, Georgia: Where Empty Buildings Come to Life We kicked off the year in Chatsworth, Georgia, where the Chamber of Commerce…
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One of the chapters in my upcoming workbook is about using crafters as your next set of entrepreneurs. Stephanie from Canada shared her crafter entrepreneurial story with us! You don’t have to go it alone. Fourteen years ago Stephanie and her sister moved to a small town that had lots of summer tourists but no…
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The Survey of Rural Challenges had a place to add comments. We were pleasantly surprised to see how many people shared something related to “we tried an idea.” Here’s a few: New idea for a restaurant: Adding a lunch counter and doing things totally different than anyone else in town. People either love it or…
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Most of us who actively volunteer and work in a small town will more than likely be a board member of some organization eventually. The first role of any board is the fiscal wellness of the organization. Knowing the mission statement and being familiar with the bylaws, will help guide your decisions. Your job from…
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The owners of Bell Street Tattoo in Shawnee, OK, had this idea for an event – Bikes on Bell. They wanted to close the street in front of their shop downtown and invite bikers and anyone else to come and meet each other, eat from the food trucks, listen to live music, and have some…
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It sure seems like many grocery stores in small towns are leaving. When that happens, it creates strife for local townspeople. They need to travel further to buy their groceries. Or they have to order online from big companies they don’t trust. Retailers have lost another store in their midst. Folks would stop by their…
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