When I visited Caldwell, Kansas, the manager of the co-working site said they had filled their private offices, but struggled to attract day users. People who work from home like working from home. They don’t want a full time office, so they said they don’t want to use the coworking space. How can the coworking…
— How many times have you heard it? Someone lamenting, “There’s nothing to do here!” Worse yet, hearing someone tell visitors that. “What is there to do around here?” “Nothing, really. I don’t know.” Enough with that. Let’s give people an easy way to answer, and let’s do it the Idea Friendly way. Make a…
by Caroline Tremblay, The Daily Yonder August 5, 2024 Kansas: Elevate the work of younger people In rural Kansas, if you’re between the ages of 21 and 39ish, you might be considered a PowerUp — but not just because of your age or location. A PowerUp is someone who is rural by choice. “The name…
Who do we envision ourselves becoming? The big framing question, “Who do we envision ourselves becoming?” was written in wide black marker on a large flip chart and placed at the front of the room for easy viewing. I introduced the question and gave some context. The ten local leaders stared blankly at it. The…
Building community in your small town sounds like a daunting task. It’s easy to get bogged down, thinking there’s too much to do, that you’d need too many permissions or it would take too much money. The reality of building community is it’s a change of mindset to Take Small Steps. 99% of the best…
Get better at connecting with people. Charles Duhigg’s new book Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection offers practical ways to hold deeper, more meaningful, less conflict-driven conversations. Given the divisiveness in small towns and rural communities today, these are essential community-building skills. It’s also relevant for rural small business owners who face a…
Communities are the foundation of our society, and their strength and success lie in the unity of its members. Yet, often at the heart of so many communities is disunity. As a community coach, I collaborate with rural leaders to build local capacity and engage community members in working on local priorities so their community…
Guest post by Deb Brown What attendees learned from attending the Idea Friendly Session by SaveYour.Town at the International Economic Development Council Conference — Big Ideas you can copy in your town Becky McCray and I were excited to lead an interactive Idea Friendly workshop at the International Economic Development Council Conference in Dallas in…
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