Building Possibility
Jennifer Drinkwater Came to Town
Her goal was to develop new community partnerships around a cultural community vision incorporating art and natural resources for economic development over a multi-year plan. Simpler put: bring artists, naturalists and businesses together to showcase the Webster City area and improve our economy into the future. Creative Placemaking is an evolving field of practice that…
Read MoreHanging Out with the Pork Queen
Last night I got to hang out with the Pork Queen and the kids from the FFA. It’s just one of the many reasons I love living in a small town. For the cost of $5 here’s what I received: A pork burger with bacon, chips and a drink great conversation with local FFA boys…
Read MoreIt’s Never About You
Building Relationships vs. Networking Networking is important, we all know that. We need to meet people to advance whatever agenda we are working on. Networking is the buzzword of this century. You hear it everywhere. It means to interact with each other to exchange information and develop contacts. You’ve been to networking events. Usually there’s…
Read MoreStart Ups
Maybe We Could Do That In A Small Town Tuesday six of us traveled to Kansas City and met with several businesses and leaders to see what their start up community was doing. The picture below is John Hawkins-mayor, me, Nate Olson, Zach Chizek-attorney, Brian Miller-city council, Maureen Seamonds-artist, Logan Welch-city council and Adam Arredondo. Nate…
Read MoreThe Past is Done
The Past is Done The days of working at one job for 35 years are gone. We no longer punch in, work 8 hours, and punch out. Some of us work for ourselves, and work long days and often 6 days a week. Some of us work two or three part time jobs. Young people don’t…
Read MoreRural X Summit
Rural X A Summit for Small Towns #ruralX stands for Rural Experience; a “come as you are” convergence of thinkers and doers with a desire to share creative energy, positive motivation and compelling new ways to “ruralize their potential” in the places they call home. The lively, inspirational summit will inspire critical conversations, connect people…
Read More5 Stories Session 8
This was a fun week! Becky McCray and I share 5 stories relevant to small towns and discuss them on blab. Here are the links along with my short commentaries. You can also watch the blab video below. The state of South Carolina is using official road signs to help rural businesses thrive: http://buff.ly/1qIOZF5 TODS Tourism Oriented Directional…
Read MoreBlab with Becky: Session Six, Five Stories
Just about every Sunday Becky McCray and I discuss five stories about small towns on the platform Blab. Here are the stories with comments and the blab video is below. Oh boy – this is just a fun idea that worked in Canada, What a hoot! I love the little paper and his persistence. http://calgaryherald.com/life/swerve/the-nanton-experiment-starting-a-mini-newspaper-in-a-small-town-is-a-big-idea…
Read MoreBlab 5 Stories – Session 5
Blab Session 5 of SaveYour.Town of our Weekly 5 Stories happened tonight – we snuck it in early this week! Next week might be early too – so keep your eyes posted on our Facebook page, we will announce it there. I’m traveling next weekend and it looks like we will be blabbing on Saturday.…
Read More8 Innovative Rural Business Models – Happening Tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 16 at 6 pm Becky McCray and I will host a webinar discussing 8 innovative rural business models. Entrepreneurs are using these smaller scale experiments and tests to learn what works before making a huge investment. That’s tomorrow night, and you can tune in from the comfort of your home while eating…
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