A happy, smiling light-skinned woman with light brown hair is wearing a bathing suit with a lei and has a flower tucked behind her ear. She's seated at a shady poolside table with a laptop open in front of her, along with a dish of fruit and a few beverages.

You don’t need committees if you work with talent pools instead

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…

Do you have an Idea Friendly story to share? I want it for the next book

Do you have an Idea Friendly story to share? I want it for the next book

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…

A small metal water tank has been converted to a planter and painted with bright flowers

“VigiPlantes” – Steal this idea immediately!

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)….

10 Years of Rural Insights. What small town people see as their biggest challenges and what topics they most want help with. Survey of Rural Challenges, report written by Becky McCray and Deb Brown. Challenges, assets, actions

Surprises in the just-released Survey of Rural Challenges 10 Year report

In 2015, I decided to ask readers of SmallBizSurvival.com to share what topics they most wanted to learn more about. That grew into the Survey of Rural Challenges, collecting input from rural people all over about their challenges and assets. Looking through all 2200 responses, there are some surprises and some “yeah, we knew that”…

Plain wooden picnic tables have been painted in child-like pastel designs

First 10 steps in Idea Friendly: change your town

Sometimes officials ask, “What should we do first?” or “What are the 10 things we should do?”  It’s not just officials, either. All kinds of people and groups want to know, ‘what should we do first?’ You can find 10 things you can choose from, or do them all, right here. We’ve also provided links…

1993 Becky McCray presents Alva Library Larry Thorne a copy of the OK BPW history book

Dig out those town history books, new ways to use them

I bet your town has a history book somewhere. When was the last time young people got to see it? At the recent Rural Renewal Symposium, two speakers brought up stories of resilience from the past. Dr. Taylor shared three things that helped the people of Niobrara to be resilient: Those history books are mostly…

A plain brick building in a small downtown has a window decal that says “Caldwell Workspace: create, connect, work your way” Next door is an ornate brick building from the late 1800s.

Boost your co-working space with social hours

When I visited Caldwell, Kansas, the manager of the co-working site said they had filled their private offices, but struggled to attract day users. People who work from home like working from home. They don’t want a full time office, so they don’t think they want the coworking space. How can the coworking space attract…

a brick wall downtown displays four colorful murals on boards.

Strengthen local community bonds by painting something together

The best antidote to the forces pulling us apart as communities is local action that brings us together.  Local action that brings us together can be as simple as painting something together. When I visited Rosthern, Saskatchewan, I was struck by these colorful murals filled with circles. I saw several mounted to different downtown buildings….

A house is shown in the framing stage, with the stud walls up. A stack of lumber sits in front of it.

Ideas to get past opposition to new housing

At the IEDC International Economic Development Council’s Annual Conference, my topic was Overcoming Divisiveness. In the group discussion, we took on one attendee’s challenge related to housing. You might be facing opposition to housing, too, so I wanted to share our group insights. Her community has an old auto racetrack that they’d like to revitalize….

A dozen ideas for filling empty buildings in small towns

A dozen ideas for filling empty buildings in small towns

People ask Deb Brown and me, “What would business would work in a small town?” or “What business does every small town need?” or “How can we fill all these empty buildings?” The questions are all related. 1. Try a pop-up. Set up a temporary store, restaurant, cafe, interactive experience, etc., just for the busy…

A senior man with white hair is seated on a folding chair on the curb in a small downtown. He's applauding for a marching flag group with diverse kids in a parade.

Turn complainers into the Pillars of the Community

What do you do about the people who just complain about everything but don’t ever take any action? That was one of the questions when I visited Caldwell, Kansas, recently. Here’s my advice: Recruit them to join the Pillars of the Community: to show up and encourage people. They can show up with their lawn…