Build Your Community

Here’s a fun thing to do — start building the kind of community you want to live in. But do it online.  by creating a Pinterest board and name it The Kind of Town I Want to Live In. Then invite some of your friends around the world to add links to it. See what…

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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…

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Hanging 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…

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It’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…

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Start 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…

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The 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…

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Rural 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…

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Iowa Blogger Conference – March 19, 2016

Iowa Blogger Conference is 10 days away.  It’s not too late to register and attend!  http://www.iowabloggerconference.com/   It will be held at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Reasons to attend: 1. It’s a one day educational conference for beginners and intermediate bloggers.  You will learn about bloggers and take home a digital tool…

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Nine Marketing Trends

According to CMO.com (an Adobe site) there are 9 marketing trends for small businesses to pay attention to.  They are: Binge TV watching – not only can you watch on tv, but the streaming services are providing new value.  Netflix, HBO Now, Showtime, Amazon – you can watch tv online now too. Building Media Plans…

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Prepping for 2014: Three Words

 It’s that time again – the time of choosing three words that direct where you want to go in the following year.  Last year I chose Explore, Become, Serve.   In 2013 I took a new job and moved to a new town.  Lots of exploration there.  I filed for divorce in order to let go…

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