Archive for the ‘Training and Events’ Category

What’s going on in Hoffman, MN?

August 23rd, 2010

Thanks to a comment left on a blog post by Sheri Booms Holms, from the West Central Initiative Foundation, I learned about the community development efforts of Hoffman MN. Sheri lifted up Hoffman as a community that has “harnessed their can do spirit” in the face of decades of decline.  A couple years ago, most of Hoffman’s main street stood empty.  Enter Muriel Krusemark, who returned to town after years of managing a deli elsewhere.  She accepted the part-time job as  part-time coordinator for the Hoffman Economic Development Administration (HEDA), and that’s when all the fun seems to have started. 

Since Sheri left her comment, I’ve been scouring the Internet for information about what’s going on in Hoffman.  For a small town of 672, there’s a lot out there.  Perhaps the most informative sources are two short YouTube videos that capture Muriel’s presentation at this year’s Symposium on Small Towns at the University of Minnesota - Morris.  I’ve embedded both videos below.  (Note: unfortunately, the first part of Muriel’s presentation is missing.) 

(source:  “Muriel’s Hoffman presentation at the Symposium on Small Towns - part 2,” hoffeditor, YouTube, June 10, 2010)

 

(source: “Muriel’s Hoffman presentation at the Symposium on Small Towns - Part 2,” hoffeditor, YouTube, June 10, 2010)

 

In addition to the videos above and the links at the end of this post, I’ve also been talking to people about Hoffman, including Muriel, who I met at the Midwest Rural Assembly.  I’d like to lift out a bit of what I see happening in Hoffman.

 

8  ”bright spots” from Hoffman, MN

1) Asking “what can I do to help?” When Muriel first accepted her part-time job as economic development coordinator, she went around to businesses and asked “What can we do to make your business better?” In one situation, the business owner replied that he needed more space. Although she couldn’t finance a new building, Muriel helped connect him with a resource provider who verified that an expansion made financial sense. As a result, he moved into a larger space. Today his business is thriving.

2) Supporting entrepreneurs. Retail is tough in any small town. To address this issue, Hoffman created what might be termed a “business incubator.” Called The Galleria, the community purchased two vacant buildings on Main Street, and created attractive retail space from which multiple retail businesses could sell their products. Not only is the space affordable, but it addresses the issue of staffing; products from businesses are always for sale, even if the business owner is not always present. The Galleria is now privately owned and does not offer any formal businesses assistance training. But from the people I talked to, it sounds like Muriel is filling that void with advice she’s picked up over the years. Currently, there are twenty-two businesses operating out of this space.

3) Listening to the public. With assistance from a college intern, Muriel created a survey, asking the residents what issues needed to be addressed. High on the lists were increased healthcare offerings and a hardware store.

4) Improving health care.  When the community survey shows residents wanted more health care services in Hoffman, Muriel helped secure a grant to develop the Healthcare Mall. It replaced two more empty buildings on Main Street and has helped bring four medical professionals to Hoffman.  Now the elderly don’t have to drive elsewhere to receive medical care.

5) Building local economy.  Both the Galleria and the Healthcare Mall were public projects that help keep dollars in the community.  But an equally impressive effort has been the establishment of the Hoffman Farmer’s Market.  The market resulted from a rumor that went around town two year ago.  Since everyone was so excited about the rumor, Muriel decided she’d better create the market.  Listening to Muriel talk, I think it’s become more than a farmers market; it’s become a third place where residents come together to build relationships.

6) Creating amenities that attract people.  Hoffman is not located in a region noted for its outdoor amenities.  But in order to make the community more attractive to young families, they have taken steps to improve their recreational facilities.  For instance, they created an ice skating rink so that kids had something to do in the winter.  But when they noticed it was going unused, the community didn’t give up and call the project a waste.  Instead they discovered that children weren’t using it because they didn’t have skates. They addressed the issue by seeking a donation that helped purchase skates for children in need. 

7) Improving the housing stock.  It’s often easy to think that developing new housing should be a private sector project.  In Hoffman, the city took responsibility and helped create a new housing development, selling the lots for one dollar.  Even though the new houses that fill the development today are mostly from people within the community, I’m sure the development played a significant role in attracting the fourteen new families that have moved to Hoffman in recent months by opening up some of the older (and more affordable) housing stock.

8) Being transparent.  “Transparency” is a big word in the world of social media marketing.  Because word travels fast with social media, businesses have to be more open and honest with their customers than ever before.  (Just ask BP what happens when you don’t.)  I was very impressed to find many video clips of HEDA’s meeting being shared on Youtube.  Muriel tells me that most residents don’t access the videos online, but posting them as a part of the public record helps instill confidence and reduce false rumors. 

There’s a lot of good stuff going on in Hoffman.  What impresses me most is that there appears to be an understanding that there’s no quick fix to their problems.  The future will be tied to consistently developing lots of little projects that make sense in their community.  And with Muriel leading the charge, I’m sure Hoffman will have a bright future.

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Another learning opportunity from Minnesota

June 28th, 2010

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across the Southwest Initiative Foundation’s Blog.  I was familiar with the SWIF’s good work via their website as well as other sources.  But this was the first time I’d connected with their blog.  I was excited to see it because it gives me a reason to check back on their efforts more often.

Of particular note, I discovered one blog post titled “Social Marketing for Business 101“ featuring Neil Linscheid, Minnesota Extension Educator extraordinaire (you may also remember Neil from my blog post referencing “the stare”).  Neil had partnered with the SWIF to deliver “Social Media 101″ training to thiry-three Luverne, MN business owners.    

We’ve been advocating for quite some time that rural community development leaders figure out how to help local businesses engage in more effective social media strategies, so it’s great to hear about these efforts in rural Minnesota. 

After reading the post, I fired off an e-mail to Neil, asking for further details.  He responded with great information, including an invitation to a second round of training in Ortonville, MN.  There’s a long shot that I will buzz over to the sessions tonight.  If I do, I will report back on the details.  

In case I don’t, however, I’d like to pass along a few thoughts for anyone looking to develop similar training in rural communities. 

1. Make sure you extend a personal invitation to businesses owners. Neil offices out of Marshall, MN. I’m sure he’s got a great network across the region, but nothing can replace the power of a personal invitation from a friend. In the case of the Luverne training, Neil credits “Tammy” the owner of the Coffey Haus, for the great turnout. (I think thirty-seven attendees in a community of 4500 is outstanding.)

2. Develop a system for ongoing support. One of the pit falls of many training programs is that they often involve a one-night session. These sessions are great at building excitement. But excitement wears away quickly when people don’t have any place to go for ongoing support. Neil is currently developing some “coaches” who will fulfill that role.

3. Highlight examples of how local businesses are effectively using social media. Before jumping into anything new like social media, people have to see themselves being able to use the technology. That’s difficult if the only examples of businesses using social media effectively are the size of the Ford Motor company. Neil explained that Tammy, from the Coffey Haus, served that role as well. Leading up to the training, they worked together to develop the Coffey Huas’ plan. (check out the Coffey Haus’ Facebook page.) I’m sure many of the attendees thought, “If Tammy can do it, so can I.”  When I shared this with Neil he responded, “It’s the truth. Before we can make lasting changes we need to believe it’s something we can accomplish.”

Neil hinted at further training opportunities, but I’m not sure if any have been officially planned yet.  If you are interested in training like this coming to your community, I’d encourage you to contact Neil.

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Lessons Learned: Using Social Media to help Rural Entrepreneurs

May 12th, 2010

Lindsey and I have had a lot of fun this year helping businesses in Miner County, SD establish social media strategies.  On Thursday of this week, we have an opportunity to present what we’ve been doing and what we’ve learned doing it at the Grassroots & Groundwork Conference in Portland, OR. 

The title of our presentation reads “Using Social Media to Support Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities.”  But what does that mean?  What are we talking about?

Regular readers know that we’ve used a three-part process in working with local entrepreneurs:  (1) Skill building training sessions on how to use tools like Facebook and Twitter;  (2) One-on-one technical assistance with interested business owners on developing their strategies;  and (3)  “Social media networking” events where people talk about the problems they are facing and learn from each other. 

We’re not going to give away our presentation — at least not yet. But we want to share a few lessons we have learned from our efforts. 

Lessons learned…

1) Start small. It is tempting to jump into the social media pool with both feet, but we’ve learned that dipping your toes in the water is a more manageable way to get started. Pick one tool, and master it before you try to take on others. Starting small also allows you to better manage the time you’re investing in social media.

2) Social media is not about advertising. It’s about building relationships, building trust, engaging your customer base, and being a resource. This is a paradigm shift that some businesses have struggled to embrace. New ways of doing things take time.

3) The Curse of Knowledge can be a barrier to teaching. Dan & Chip Heath write about this in their book Made to Stick. The more we know about a subject, the more difficult it is for us to communicate the subject effectively with our audience. It’s important to communicate with people at their comfort level.

4) Branding work should come first. Social media is a great tool for building stronger brands, but if your business or organization doesn’t understand it’s brand, social media isn’t going to help,

5) Push through the discomfort. It’s tempting to stop (or never start) using social media when you realize that you are opening yourself up to the world in a new way-”you mean people can write whatever they want on our wall?” But, often rewards await those who push through the discomfort of the unknown. You can always change your settings if you encounter a problem, but in the mean time you may be surprised at the trust that is built with your customer base if you are open and willing to talk about the good and bad sides of your businesses. Where else are you able to hear what people are really thinking? Use it to your advantage to build better products and better service.

Helping businesses in our community with social media strategies has been fun, but it’s been challenging. We’re not social media experts, so we feel like we’ve extended beyond our skill level.   Whenever these inadequacies get me down, I just remind myself; “At least we’re trying!  If we don’t help, who will?”

That’s why sharing opportunities like Grassroots & Groundwork are important.  We’re willing to stick our necks out and share what we know with the hope that others will share with us.  That’s what we mean when we say “building a deeper conversation about rural.”  Whether you attending the conference or not; whether you are a social media expert or novice; whether you work in rural or urban community;  you have valuable information to contribute.  And we hope you’ll take this opportunity to share a bit of what you’ve learned by leaving a comment.

 

Note:  I’ll (@Michael_Knutson) be tweeting from the conference using the hastag #G&G2010.

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Rural Grocery Store Conference Announced

April 22nd, 2010

Kansas State University’s Center for Engagement and Community Development has been a leader in promoting the importance of grocery stores in small rural communities.  For the past several years, they’ve been conducting research on the subject and have developed a valuable website to share what they’ve learned. 

On June 14-15, 2010, they will share what they’ve learned at a conference titled the “Rural Grocery Summit II: Saving Rural America’s Critical Infrastructure.”

Specifically, the Center has identified three goals for the conference:

In the past, we’ve sought to inspire rural residents with stories of communities who have taken initiative to open community owned grocery stores.  (see here, here, and here). 

If you’ve recognized that your community needs help in opening a grocery store (or preventing one from closing), I’d highly encourage you to check out the conference.  You can learn more about it on the conference website.

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Different…not better

April 3rd, 2010

(Note:  This is the first of our “I feel Friday” features.  In short, each Friday we’ll share a story about something that generated an emotional response in the previous week.  We’re also encouraging others to share stories about something that happened to them in the last week as well.  To learn more about “I Feel Fridays,” check out this post - and then tell us what you’re feeling.)

 

I feel insulted every time I meet someone new who feels that living in a larger community is always better than living in a small community.  Usually, I interpret these feelings through the facial expressions and body language of a conversation.  But last Friday, a person told me this straight to my face.

The subject came up in a conversation with a Sioux Falls resident (SD’s largest community) I had just met at OTA Sessions.  After mentioning that I had moved from Howard (pop. 1000) to Watertown (pop. 20,000), the individual commented, “So, you’re moving up in the world. How do you like it?”  Moving up? 

After a pause, I responded that I hadn’t realized that I had moved up:  I had simply moved to another great place to live.  I went on to tell her that living in Howard had a lot of advantages.  For instance, I was within an hour’s drive of four of South Dakota’s largest communities, and I could enjoy the best of ALL of these communities, while still living in a community where people cared for me.  I certainly wasn’t putting down Watertown; I like it a lot - or else I wouldn’t live there.  But to tell me that I was living in a better place irked me; living in a larger community is different, not better.

What troubles me most about attitudes like this is that they have an impact on young people’s attitudes towards small towns.  Tell a person something enough and they are bound to believe it.

So what do you think? Am I off base?  Would you have the same emotional response?  We’d love to hear what you feel about this experience or any other experience you’ve had this last week…It’s what “I feel Fridays” is all about. 

 

Photo Credit:  Titled “Different Perspectives: by HikingArtist.com - Flickr 

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I feel Fridays

April 2nd, 2010

For the next two months, we’re going to pilot a new feature on ReImagine Rural that we’re calling “I Feel Fridays.“  It’s inspired by the work of Jonathan Harris, who created “We Feel Fine,” a project which gather’s impressions of emotions that are expressed on the Internet. (Check out the “We Feel Fine” website and this video interview  from the OTA Sessions for more info.)

 

(Thanks to Ryan Phillips at TIE for producing my interview of Jonathan)

The goal for “I Feel Fridays” is to encourage people to share stories about experiences that have generated an emotional response for them during the past week.   We’re initiating this effort because we’d like to hear the stories that are impacting people who are passionate about rural places.   We hope the stories will help communicate how we feel about rural places to people who may not share our passion. 

Here’s how it works.  I (or someone at the Rural Learning Center) will post a story each Friday about an event that occurred in our daily lives during the last week.  We’d like the story to have a rural context, but anything’s game as long as it generates a feeling. And to highlight the emotion, we’ll try to start the post with “I feel…” or “I felt….” 

But we don’t want the stories to be just about us.  We want to hear what you’re experiencing as well.  For that reason, we’ll invite readers to share a story from their lives.  Long or short, just share your story as a comment. 

Later today, I’ll start the process by sharing an experience from last Friday.  Unfortunately, it’s a negative one.  But I’m sure it’s an experience most small town residents can relate to.

We’re not sure how this will go. Currently, we’re not placing any specific rules on the stories people share, other than we don’t want this to become an opportunity to put anyone down.  Complaining just to complain doesn’t do anybody any good.  We know our regular readers are smart people, so we’re confident everyone will use good judgment.

Let’s have fun with this feature, and tell the rest of the world how we feel about Rural America.

 

Note:  Check out Jonathan’s website.  I love that he’s about “reimaging how we relate to our machines and each other.

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Trust Agent Authors from OTA Sessions

April 1st, 2010

In addition to Mitch Joel’s interview (which I previewed on Tuesday), Lindsey and I were able to interview Julien Smith and Chris Brogan, co-authors of Trust Agents.  Along with Mitch, both Julien and Chris are spreading their ideas about the future of social media. We were fortunate that all three, as a part of the “Building Trust in a Connected World,” kicked off the OTA Sessions.

Here’s a bit of what Julien had to say in an interview with Lindsey. 

Julien Smith on “breaking habits”

 

Without mentioning it specifically, Julien described the basic concept of ReImagining Rural.  He recommends people step out and try new things.  As they do, people will discover new ideas and ways of doing things. Isn’t that what we are calling on rural communities to do? 

Most of us recognize that what we’ve been doing in small towns for the last 50-80 years hasn’t been working.  So why shouldn’t we try stepping out into new experiences?  That, in part, is what motivated me to do these interviews.   I’m never going to become Tom Brokaw, but hopefully, by stepping out into new experiences, I will continue to grow and develop new ideas.  Hopefully, along the way, my new experiences will lead to successes and failures that all rural communities can learn from.

 

Chris Brogan on saying “I See You”

 Of the three “Building Trust in a Connected World” presenters, I was the most familiar with Chris Brogan.  I discovered his wisdom when I first began the process for developing ReImagine Rural, and I really started paying attention to him based the connection he had with Small Biz Survival blogger, Becky McCray.   (And thanks for the introduction Becky. Chris is incredibly gracious and down-to-earth, as were Mitch and Julien.)


 

Chris nails his description of why “I see you” is so important today.  We’re all tired of people not recognizing us for who we are.  Rural leaders seeking to promote their communities can’t just rely solely on traditional marketing because it’s a one-way conversation.  We need to build relationships that recognize people for being unique and make each person feel special. 

And this brings us back to how we treat each other in our day-to-day, face-to-face lives.  Chris suggests an opportunity is present for rural communities to tap into people’s increasing desire for human interaction; it’s supposedly something we’re good at. But is it?

We often like to talk about how friendly our small towns are.  I’m not sure I buy it.  Does the ceremonial small town wave mean that we’re really friendly?  Or does it mean that we’re good at saying “Hi”?  In today’s world, casual greetings won’t cut it.  We’ve got to become better at seeing each other for who we are.

Mitch, Julien, and Chris:  Thanks for the great presentations and for being so generous with your time.

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Youth Engagement: A path to reinventing rural education

March 4th, 2010

We talk a lot about the importance of youth engagement in rural communities. It’s a great way to connect with young people, and make sure they realize how valuable they are to the community.

I recently discovered this great example of youth engagement in rural Perth County, Ontario. 

Under an initiative developed by the Perth County Econoimc Development Offices, MS2 Productions, a local production company, has been offering Social Media Boot Camp training classes to local businesses.  The training involves a 3-hour overview session on social media marketing and hands-on training focused on specific social media tools, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. 

To promote the training, the company produced a video which I’ve embedded below. (It’s so good, I wish Perth County, Ontario was closer so that I could have attended.)

 

Perth County Social Media Boot Camp from MS2 Productions - Your Complete on Vimeo.

But it is what’s happening behind the scenes that sets the training apart. In addition to encouraging businesses within each rural community to work together, they are engaging students as social media consultants.  As Melissa Schenk, Executive Producer of MS2 Productions explained to me via e-mail:

Local Businesses will hire CO-OP students to be their Social Media Marketers… The Baby Boomers learn from students how to use the Social Media Sites, but the students in turn - learn more about local businesses, how to better put these social media sites to good use, and are providing a valuable resource of information in their communities. Not to mention students are engaging more with businesses, that they might never have had the opportunity or an interest in otherwise.”

In short, young people and business owners are learning from each other.  And in the long run, these young people will better appreciate life in their rural communities and be better prepared to recognize business opportunities after completing their education.

Additionally, I think projects like this will lead to the educational reform that Richard Florida has been talking about lately: creativity, technology, and social.  All are 21st Century skills that young people need to be successful.  Come to think of it, those are the same skills rural communities leaders need as well.

Note:  Melissa Schenk  sent me a message correcting my initial post, which did not credit the Perth County Economic Development Office for the project.  My apologies to Bernia Wheaton, Perth County Economic Development Coordinator.  I love this story even more knowing that economic development professionals are leading the charge!

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Still wondering “what if…?”

February 25th, 2010

How do entrepreneurs find the inspiration to start their ventures?  And where do entrepreneurs turn to find the resources necessary to grow their businesses.  Those are poignant questions for rural community leaders. Obviously there are no simple answers, but I’m hoping to better understand the opportunities surrounding them at the Launch10 Conference at Dakota Wesleyan University today.  It’s a conference that brings entrepreneurs, college students, educators, and community members together to talk about their futures. 

While talking to Jim Beddow about the Launch10 Conference a couple weeks ago, I learned that fellow Wesleyan alumnus, Eric Pulse is part of new business venture in Kimball, SD (pop. 745). Thinking that he might have an interesting perspective on these questions, I gave Eric a call, and we chatted about his venture, The Original Kimball Popcorn Ball. It turns out he had a lot to share.

I’d really hoped to share the story about the startup of this rural business in greater detail today, but time just hasn’t cooperated.  I do, however, want to share one piece of advice Eric had to offer. 

Before ending our call, I asked Eric what advice he had for entrepreneurs.  He responded, “Don’t be the person who sits back and wonders in ten years, what if…?”

Sage advice.  I think it speaks to rural communities as well, which brings us back to why I’m attending the Launch10 conference.

There are lots of models for supporting entrepreneurs.  Littleton, CO’s Economic Gardening process and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship’s E2 model come to mind.  But communities leaders, like business leaders, can’t sit back and wait for entrepreneurs to appear and then expect them to be successful on their own.  Instead we’ve got to be intention and be prepared to support them.  Or else in ten years, we’re going to be the one’s wondering “what if…?”

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OTA Sessions: Let’s make it a rural thing

February 4th, 2010

“Chris” received a gold star for his comment on my last post.  While referencing the social media presentation Lindsey and I gave to Miner County residents, Chris highlighted the OTA Sessions conference being held in Sioux Falls, SD on March 25th and 26th.

The conference looks so enticing that Lindsey and I rushed to sign up. It looks so valuable that I’m calling on other passionate supporters of rural communities to attend. 

What is OTA?

What “OTA” stands for is a mystery.  I think its secrecy is part of the organizer’s creative marketing strategy.

But the list of speakers leaves little doubt concerning the quality of the event.  Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel, Julien Smith, Spike Jones, Jonathan Harris, and Scott Monty may not be well-known in the stuffy board rooms of corporate America, but they are rock stars in the social media and creativity worlds.  Their participation alone is enough reason for me to highly recommend the conference.

But as the OTA Sessions website describes, a larger purpose serves as the conference’s backdrop:

 ”The OTA Sessions are a chance for all of us Midwesterners to shatter the perception that creativity and thought leadership live solely on the east and west coasts.”

In other words, conference organizers are calling on us to “deny the lie” that all the smart, creative people have left the Midwest.

Ah, yes.  Brain Drain. 

We’ve been talking a lot about that term lately.  I’ve questioned the idea of banishing the term from our vocabulary because it negatively portrays the reality of rural population movements.  We’ve also been talking about how we can transform small, rural communities so that fewer talented young people leave. (See this post titled “Can South Dakota’s small towns be cool“)

What about a rural Focus?

Although OTA is intended for all creative types in the Upper Midwest, I’d like to issue a special challenge that creative people in small, rural communities attend.  It will be a great opportunity for us to learn from some of our nation’s thought leaders, as well as a chance for us to network and learn from each other. 

As I stated earlier, Lindsey and I will be in attendance, both at the conference and at the networking event the evening before.  If you chose to attend, I hope you will drop us a line and help us connect at the event. 

This may be the most influential group to grace the stage of a conference in South Dakota.  Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

Oh, heh.  I almost forgot.  Early registrants receive a discount AND 3 free books from the authors.

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