Posts Tagged ‘midwest rural assembly’

Youth: Renewing the Countryside

August 18th, 2009

My roots as a high school teacher draw me towards seeing young people as a big part of the answer for the future for rural communities.  All too often, however, we celebrate young people who succeed in urban areas, while neglecting those who thrive in our own rural communities.  That’s why books such as Youth: Renewing the Countryside are so important. 

Produced in a partnership between Renewing the Countryside and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), the book highlights stories of entrepreneurial young people (under age 35) from all fifty states who are doing something special in their rural communities. 

Jan Joannides of Renewing the Countryside offers a more complete description of the book in the video below.

I picked up a copy of the book at the Midwest Rural Assembly, and quickly fell in love with it.  It’s the type of book that could inspire other young people to see a future for themselves in rural places.

That thought caused me to reflect on work in Howard High School (SD) in the mid-1990s.  Recognizing that young people know more about life in urban areas than in their own communities, we attempted to embed the study of place in our classes.  For instance, one exceptional teacher, Mary Stangohr, used the book Broken Heartland to help students understand how the changing face of agriculture was affecting their lives.  Powerful learning.

After reading Youth:  Renewing the Countryside, I’d recommend it to any innovative high school educator, seeking to inspire their students.  Just reading and discussing it in the classroom would be awesome.  But I could see teachers using it to inspire their students to produce a book of their own with stories from their community or region.  After all, as Jan highlights in the video, Youth was produced by young people.

But barriers, perceived and real, will make this unlikely.  The biggest barrier may very well be cost: where does a teacher find the money to buy books like this in times of ever tightening school budgets?

If you are a high school teacher and would like to engage your students in this type of project, I’d recommend that you make your desires known and then work to make it a reality.  My guess is that if you let enough people know about your desire to inspire young people, someone or some organization will eventually hear and agree with you that this is an important project.  It won’t be easy.  But being a part of the solution for your community will be well worth it.

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5 Things I learned at the Midwest Rural Assembly

August 17th, 2009

Attending a conference such as the Midwest Rural Assembly is always a great experience.  You get to meet new people, learn what other organizations are doing, and become inspired.  And then one returns to the daily grind of work, where the learning and inspiration are often placed on the backburner.

In an attempt to not lose that inspiration and learning, I’ve written down five things I learned at the assembly. 

First, I was reminded of how important it is to welcome and invite people - especially young people — into a community.  Even though it shouldn’t have been funny, I broke out laughing when Neil Linscheid of Marshall, MN described how he responds to “the stare” that follows visitors whenever they enter small town cafes.   We know that in most situations “the stare” is not meant to be rude, but rural residents need to remember that the stare makes visitors and new residents feel out-of-place and unwelcomed.  (I wrote more about that issue here.  And as for Neil’s response; he stares right back — see the above picture. )

Second, social media can be an important marketing strategy for rural communities. I have to come clean in admitting that I entered the conference with strong convictions on the subject.  But it was refreshing to hear from Kelly Fuller of Plains Justice who told a story of how she chose Vermillion, SD as the home for her non-profit work in part because she connected with people of similar interests and values in Vermillion who she found through a blog.  Through these connections, she and other staff members felt they had received a more authentic view of the community than if they had relied solely on community-based websites for their decision making.

Third, there are a lot of organizations doing great work for Rural America.  Approximately 170 individuals attended the conference representing thirteen states and one Canadian province.  The list of everyone doing great work is too long to name everyone, but I’d invite readers to check out a few of the following notable non-South Dakota organizations doing good work:  Renewing the Countryside, the Heartland Center, and Northern Great Plains, Inc.

Forth, Twitter should be incorporated into more conference activities.  I was very impressed when Marcie McLaughlin of Rural Policy Research Institute requested that that the audience use Twitter to ask questions of the “The Future of Rural America:  Next Generation” panelists.  I’m sure it felt like a barrier to conference stalwarts who feel more comfortable standing up and asking questions.  But I think it opened up a new audience for question asking.  Let’s face it, some people will never feel comfortable standing up in front of a crowd, and tools like Twitter can help these people be a part of the process. 

Fifth, I was impressed to see people willing to take the work of the assembly home with them.  During the waning moments of the assembly, attendees broke into the five areas of emphasis identified by the National Rural Assembly.  I joined the Investing in our Communities group, and watched the group share their thoughts about issues that need further attention.  We probably needed a little more time to fully explore the topics, but we left with areas of emphasis, issues, and an action plan identified.  Even more impressive is that the group has already produced draft minutes (thanks Kirsten Gorham and Yolanda Cotteral), and is looking to continue the dialog.

That presents us with a challenge.  How does the dialogue continue?  How do we engage others who could not attend? 

If you have thoughts on this subject I would encourage you to post them here.

           

Photo Credits: All photos by Shawn Poynter of the Center for Rural Strategies.

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But what tools do I use?

August 14th, 2009

During our “Building a e-network using social media” presentation at the Midwest Rural Assembly, one of the participants asked a great question.  It went something like this, “I like the idea of all this social media stuff, but how do you know what tools to use?” It was such a great question that I’d like to expand on our answers and share it with others.

Lindsey and I responded with several short answers:

First, start by identifying your goals, and then make sure your goals match to the appropriate technology.

Second, figure out what tools your intended audience is already using. No sense in using a tool that doesn’t connect with them.

Third, invest some time in learning the strengths and weaknesses of each type of social media tool.

I then recommended Marketing in the Groundswell, as a good resource for learning about the strengths and weaknesses of social media tools.  For instance, from the book I learned that:

Viral Videos are a great tool when you have an awareness problem. (Tip:  Creating videos is pretty easy today.  Creating quality videos that can go viral is much, much more difficult.)

Social networks (like Facebook) work well when trying to create word of mouth campaigns.

Blogs are the best tools for dealing with complex issues.

Community building tools (like Ning) should be used when you are focused on listening to each other rather than listening to you.   (p. 80-81)

Leaving the session, however, I felt our answers were incomplete. So I hopped online and researched the subject further.  Here’s what I found.

Initially, I liked the classifications used on slide 8 of this presentation titled “How to Market your Event using Social Media.”  It identified the following 4 categories.  

Community Builders:  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Content Creators: Blogs, Video, Twitter

Distribution Channels: Webinars,  Twitter

Linking: Digg, Stumbleupon, Reddit, Twitter

Although I think they over-emphasized the value of Twitter by placing it in all four categories, I like the categories because they point out the usefulness of each tool.  Community Builders help create communities; Content Creators enable individuals to develop content; Distribution channels help share content; and Linking tools make it easier to pass along web links. 

The further I dug into the subject, however, the more it became apparent that there is no real agreement on the classifications of the tools.   One expert says Facebook is only good for networking with friends, while another says that it best at creating communities.   I sort of knew that these disagreements existed before I started my search.  But my desire to find an easy answer caused me to forget it. 

So, what does this mean for rural leaders seeking to use social media tools?  My response is to go back to the answers Lindsey and I provided during our session, and then dig in. There really are no easy answers. 

Each individual seeking to use social media needs to take the advice of the experts, and adapt it to the specifics of their situation.  This means there will probably be some trial and error.  But in the end, it will make your efforts more successful. 

 

Other resources to consider:

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Midwest Rural Assembly Video recap

August 13th, 2009

Over the last day and a half, I’ve been catching up on some work, but my mind has been continually drawn back to the Midwest Rural Assembly.  Whenever that has happened, I’ve stopped and jotted down some thought, which I intend to share in the near future. 

Until then, I’ll leave you with these two videos that Randy Parry and Elsie Meeks presented during their opening remarks. 

In the first, you will hear words of wisdom being passed along from two individuals that I have come to respect over the years:  Dr. Daryl Hobbs and Dr. Tom Kilian.  Both have academic backgrounds, but both “get rural”.

 

In the second, you will hear thought from people who are out there in the field working today towards a stronger Rural America.

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Architects of Change - Midwest Rural Assembly preview

August 10th, 2009

On Monday Aug. 10th, rural leaders from across the Midwest will converge on Sioux Falls for the Midwest Rural Assembly.  The focus of the conference is a discussion about the future of Midwestern rural communities.  It will build on the policy work established by the National Rural Assembly, held June16-18, 2008.

I’ve been very impressed with the efforts to date.  All the organizing groups hold disparate interests, but have worked to not let those differences divide and splinter the effort.  It leads me to believe it will be a productive conference.

As we enter the meetings, I’d like to give everyone a sneak peak at a pictorial presentation Randy Parry, President of the Rural Learning Center, will debut during his opening remarks.  Whether you are attending the conference or not, I would encourage you to listen closely to the lyrics of the song by Monte Selby.  Although written about educational leadership, I believe they hold great meaning for rural leaders. 

 

(  presentation created by Morgan Andenas, RLC Intern)

 I hope you agree with me about the relevancy of those words.  Within our hands, we have the power to create a vision and a plan for the future of rural places.  And yes, we can become the architects of change.

 

Note:  Monte Selby is an exceptionally talented musician and presenter.  Check out his work at his website. 

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Midwest Rural Assembly: Real people talking about real issues

July 29th, 2009

Anyone who is passionate about the rural Midwest should plan on attending the Midwest Rural Assembly.  The event is being hosted in Sioux Falls on August 10-11, 2009. 

The goal of the event is to build a network of regional rural leaders committed to identifying the policy changes needed to help rural places prosper.

From the Assembly’s website we learn attendees will have an opportunity to:

I’m attending because it is an opportunity for me to be a part of the conversation about the future of rural places.  As regular readers know, we believe conversation - both in person and on-line - is key to developing a vision for the future of rural.  We don’t enter the policy debate very often because our focus is on community development practices.

If you want to learn more about the goings on of the assembly, I would invite you to check out the Midwest Rural Assembly website.  You can register on the site as well.

A schedule of events and speakers can be found here. 

And you can check out what people are saying about the Assembly on this Facebook page. 

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What is the Rural Compact?

October 8th, 2008

On Friday, Oct. 10, I’m traveling down to Sioux City, Iowa with some colleagues from the Rural Learning Center to learn more about the Rural Compact. Originally presented at the 2008 National Rural Assembly, the compact’s goal is to bring attention and focus to the development of a national rural policy.

At the meeting we expect to build out the four main ideas of the Compact which are:

So why do we need greater focus on rural issues? I think the writers of the Compact hit it right on the head when they wrote; “When rural communities succeed, the nation does better, and cities and suburbs have more resources on which to build.”

If you want to learn more about the Rural Compact, I’d encourage you to check out the following links:

PS — I also want to mention I think it’s pretty cool that everything we eat at the event will be locally produced food! That’s enough reason to go to the meeting by itself.

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