Rural- and small-town-focused conferences help us build connections.
Because I’ve never found a list of conferences focused on rural areas and small towns,* I decided to start one. Consider this a work in progress, and feel free to contribute any you know of. Not just every conference that happens in a small town, but conferences and events specifically intended to address the needs of rural and small town people statewide or across regional boundaries.
*The Daily Yonder Calendar is awesome, but has too much more, too many local events. That’s why my list concentrates on rural conferences.United States events:
January
- American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting. Nashville. January 13, 2013
http://annualmeeting.fb.org/
February
March
- OTA Sessions, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, March 15, 2013
http://otasessions.com/ - Northwest Regional Rural Health Conference, Washington state, Mar 20-21, 2013
http://extension.wsu.edu/ahec/conferences/2013/rhc/Pages/default.aspx - Appalachian Studies Conference, Boone, North Carolina, March 22-24, 2013
http://www.appalachianstudies.org/content/conference/index.html
April
- National Conference on Rural Education Research, Nebraska, April 3-4, 2013
http://r2ed.unl.edu/2013/ - Texas Association of Rural and Community Hospitals Annual Conference, Dallas, April 17-19, 2013
http://www.torchnet.org/events_calendar.php - Small Town and Rural Development Conference, Michigan, Apr 22-24, 2013
http://michiganruralcouncil.org - Kansas Rural Opportunities Conference, Dodge City, April 9-10, 2014
May
- Rural Health Conference, National Rural Health Association, Kentucky, May 7-10, 2013
http://www.ruralhealthweb.org/annual - National Value-Added Agriculture Annual Conference, May 19 – 21, 2013 in Rogers, Arkansas.
http://www.agmrc.org/national-value-added-agriculture-conference/
June
- National Rural Assembly, D.C. metro area, June 23-26, 2013
http://www.ruralstrategies.org/national-rural-assembly
July
August
- Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, New York City, Aug 6-9, 2013
http://www.ruralsociology.us/?page_id=100
September
- American Farm Bureau Federation Rural Development Conference, September 10 – 12, 2013
http://ruralcommunitybuilding.fb.org/2012/11/02/fall-issue-of-afbf-rural-affairs-news/ - Rural and Small Libraries Association Conference
arsl.info - National Rural ITS Conference (Intelligent Transportation Society)
http://www.itsa.org/awards-media/industry-and-member-news/1480-nrits
October
October 15 – International Day of Rural Women
October 15 – International Day of Rural Women
- Conference on the Rural West
http://www.stanford.edu/group/ruralwest/cgi-bin/drupal/blog - Rural Women in America, North Dakota
http://www.ruralwomeninamerica.com/ - Passion Into Action Rural Women’s Conference, California
http://passionintoaction.tv/ - Rural Partners Forum, North Carolina
http://ncruralcenter.org/ - National Rural Independent Living Conferencehttp://www.april-rural.org/
- Global Mountain Regions Conference
http://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/global-mountain-regions-conference - Coalition of State Rural Policy Centers Conferencehttp://www.rupri.org/coreprogramviewer.php?id=41
- New England Rural Health Symposium
http://www.newenglandruralhealth.org/
November
- Rural Futures Conference, Nebraska, Nov 3-5, 2013
http://ruralfutures.nebraska.edu/conference/ - Executive Women in Agriculture Conference,
http://www.agweb.com/topproducer/executive_women_in_agriculture.aspx - Midwest Rural Agricultural Safety & Health Conference
http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/ICASH/events/MRASH/2012/index.html - Southeast Wisconsin Rural Landowner Conference
http://kenosha.uwex.edu/2012/01/12/2012-rural-landowner-conference/ - Summit 2012 Small Towns/Global Impact, Southwest Michigan
http://www.lakemichigancollege.edu/Default.aspx?DN=fe8c8d6b-da7e-49ad-8de5-f6d60633891d - AG-ceptional Women’s Conference, Northeast Nebraska
http://www.northeast.edu/Agceptional/ - American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers Convention and Trade Show, Reno, Nevada. Nov 11-15, 2013
http://www.asfmra.org/meetings/national-conference-page/ - Small Town State of NOW
http://smalltown.stateofnow.com
November 15 – National Rural Health Day (U.S.)
Many rural health conferences during November:
- Mississippi Rural Health Association Annual Conferencehttp://www.msrha.org/
- California Rural Health Association Annual Conference
http://www.csrha.org/conference.html - Health Association of New York State Rural Conference
http://www.hanys.org/news/?date=2012-11-14 - West Virginia Rural Health Conference
http://wvruralhealthconference.org/Home/
December
- National Rural Housing Conference, Washington DC, Dec 5, 6-7, 2012
http://oregonon.org/blog/2012/2012-national-rural-housing-conference-dec-6-7/ - New York Rural Women’s Conference, Binghampton, NY, Nov 30-Dec 2
http://www.ruralmigrantministry.org/docs/RWC%20flyer%202012%20final.pdf
Outside the U.S.
- Australia National Rural Health Conference Apr 7-10, 2013
http://nrha.org.au/12nrhc/ - European Society for Rural Sociology Congress, July 29-Aug 1, 2013, Florence, Italy
http://www.florenceesrs2013.com/ - International Scientific Conference:
- Social & Economic Transformations Affecting Rural People and Communities in Central & Eastern Europe Since
- 1990, Nitra – Slovakia, September 2-3, 2013
- http://www.fesrr.uniag.sk/EEC/
- The Georgetown Conference, Rural Atlantic Canada, October 3-5, 2013: http://www.thegeorgetownconfernce.ca/
- World Congress of Rural Sociology, Toronto, Aug 2016
http://irsa-world.org/
Past International events (as a guide to catching their future events):
- National Rural and Employment Skills Summit, Oban, Scotland, November 2012
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/11/rural-skills05112012 - Conference of the Russian Union of Rural Youth, Moscow, November 28-29, 2012
http://www.riadagestan.com/news/2012/11/19/146361/ - Rural Medicine Australia Conference, October 2012
http://www.acrrm.com.au/ - China’s Central Rural Work Conference, December 21, 2012
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20121221000098&cid=1101&MainCatID=11
