At a recent conference, a community leader approached me with a familiar frustration. His town has four downtown buildings with active businesses. “Only four,” he said with disappointment. “At least you have four,” I said. That’s actually something to build on. He went on, “We have four other buildings downtown sitting empty. The owners won’t…
Meet them where they are At the workshop after my recent keynote at the Arkansas Municipal League, a guy shared his frustration. He wanted to get people from his town of about 400 people together to hear their ideas. What would they like to see the city become? What kind of improvements could they work…
Networks grow at the speed of trust. Josiah Hannah from Coalfield Development shared a good idea from their monthly staff meetings. They included meals, which made the whole thing more personal and relaxed. But then they realized they could expand this approach. They started inviting community partners to join some of their gatherings. The shared…
Building stronger community ties starts with showing up where people already gather to create meaningful connections and foster community.
Store owners in downtown Russellville, Arkansas, opened up on Friday to find their intersection had been painted with retro flowers and “I heart Russellville.” “Who painted that intersection overnight??!” It was the Sketchy Ninjas. OK, that may not even be their name, because they’re still deciding what to call themselves. It’s just a few folks…
I just sat down to eat my sandwich at The Old Creamery Cooperative in Cummington, Massachusetts, when I spotted it: a few shelves right across from the tables, offering pottery, local books, handmade jewelry, and art prints for sale. A simple sign read “the little gallery.” I’m always looking for these tiny businesses inside another…
Today, you get a sneak preview of my upcoming book on the Idea Friendly Method. I’ve heard a lot from people all over struggling to create collaborations, and this story provides some practical insights in making collaboration last. In the late 1990s, Curtis Wynn stepped into the role of CEO at Roanoke Electric Cooperative in…
I was reading Jon Swanson’s 300 Words a Day newsletter, and he shared this really old truth about building community from a Bible story: “Jesus was traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem. And it went right along the border of two bad parts of town. Or two great parts of town. I mean, everyone has part…
Linda is a economic development board member from a town of 5,000 people. Inspired by our stories, she and the board members want to create a Tiny Business Village, like the one above. They’ve been sharing their vision for the village project with the city council because they need permission to spend over a certain…
Kathryn Witherington says the Idea Friendly Method has rewritten her perfectionist brain! She’s working on an affordable housing project in Walla Walla, Washington. Lately, she’s been trying to rethink the way people can contribute to their organization without being expected to join a committee or become a formal member. Kathryn said she recently met a…
Kathryn Witherington recently confessed that she’s been using Idea Friendly for 6 years! Truly cannot say enough about the Idea Friendly method for this – I’ve used it in the last 6 years to create two downtown public spaces, including millions in investment from the city, and am now using it to grow affordable housing…
In our 10 Years of Rural Insights webinar last week, Jaime Shanks said in the chat: We recently formed a group after ReImagine Rural sessions – very loose group that is more about action vs. meetings. We call ourselves the “Vigiplantes” (based on vigilantes but we are planting new ideas, beautification, actual trees and plants)….
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