— 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 […]
Surviving the Peaks and Valleys of Seasonal Small Business in a Rural Ski Town
Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Guest post by Mike Humphrey, Japan Skiing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why my parents decided skiing would be our family sport. They were not avid skiers, and we didn’t live in a ski […]
Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank
Our latest Survey of Rural Challenges said natural resources are rural communities’ best rural assets, but most places don’t have enough outfitters to take advantage of them as tourism development. Here’s how rural people like you can take small steps to grow into outdoor outfitters. Gather Your Crowd to attract groups and organizations that want to help […]
Folklife in the South Conference – The Stories Matter
I attended the Folklife in the South Conference in Lake Guntersville, Alabama in June 2023. It was a gathering of community leaders, folklorists, traditional artists, educators, documentarians, and other cultural workers. We came together to hear the stories of work in the field, explore different avenues of folklife in the South and to meet and […]
