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The old definition of interactive experience

By Becky McCray

While we talk about interactive web 2.0 type tools, there’s an older definition of an interactive experience.

Michael McMillan told this story on the Harvey House listserv group, shared by Sandie Olson to Angie Koehn to me.

My wife and I were crusing the Mother Road [Route 66] up in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle 2 weekends ago and happened to stumble into the “Sand Hills Curiosity Shop” in Erick, not knowing what we were getting into. That stop was quite a unique adventure — Harley and Annabelle know how to put the “Kicks” in Route 66 way more than anything else we saw!
…
When thinking over the Harley and Annabelle, “Mediocre Music Makers” experience, the word “interactive” kept coming to mind. People go to museums with so-called “interactive” exhibits, which are nothing but canned computer programs that respond when you push a button. But Harley and Annabelle give an *old/traditional* meaning to the word, glad to entertain a single person who wanders in. I’ve never run into anything like it. It wasn’t exactly the antique store we were expecting when we walked in, just so you’ll be prepared, in case you’re ever in Erick, Okla.
[emphasis added]


How are you making your business truly interactive?


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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
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  • New business sign design? Don’t use cursive script - February 14, 2022
  • Way more people prefer rural than urban, new Pew Research study finds - February 1, 2022
  • Top 5 Rural and small town trends 2022 - January 3, 2022
  • How to start a real small small business - December 17, 2021
  • Tip for better pop-ups and shed businesses - December 5, 2021
  • Small town business idea: cat grooming - November 15, 2021

March 20, 2008 Filed Under: customer service, rural

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