• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Check this list? Did I get your topic on there?

By Becky McCray

Deb Brown and I were in the same place last week, and she twisted my arm until we planned out our SaveYour.Town webinar topics for all the way through 2019. Here’s the list along with tentative dates for the recorded lessons:

  • April 6: Rural Jobs Creation Strategies (open for registration now through April 25 only)
  • May 16: Embedded Community Experience (reporting from on the scene in Forest County, Pennsylvania)
  • June 12: Filling Empty Buildings 
  • July 17: How do we retain young people? (This is a new topic for us, and we’d love to hear your stories!)
  • August 7: Makers trends in rural 
  • September 4: Downtown After 5
  • October 15: Kill Your Committees: The Secret to Finding More Volunteers
  • November 9: Innovative Rural Business Models (One of my favorites, and we keep updating it)
  • December 7: Building Possibility (Deb’s signature principles)
  • January 11: Rural Trends for 2019 (I do love to talk trends)
  • February: Including EVERYONE: Getting past conflicts between groups (including class and income differences, racial and ethic communities, and any other conflicts. Another new one for us, and we’d love to hear your stories here as well)

Where the heck did we get these topics? We listened to you. We listened with the Survey of Rural Challenges in 2015 and 2017. (Watch for our next one in 2019.) We listen every time we visit with you in your rural communities. We listen when you email us and talk to us online.

In fact, I’m listening to you now. Hit reply or comment and let me know which topics you’re dying to hear.

We also wanted to bring back your most-requested topics from our older webinar format. You have told us you love the new 2-part format with 30 minutes for the lesson, then separate time for Q&A and building community. It’s easier to fit into your lunch-and-learn type events since the lesson is shorter. So some of these are classic topics we’re updating for you.

That schedule is still tentative. Things may change when something important comes up that we really need to cover. Or our schedules blow up, and we have to figure out an alternative.

Now for a little behind the scenes, here are the topics we considered, but that didn’t make the schedule:

  • No one shops in town (I’ve been writing about shop local campaigns for small towns since 2007)
  • Small Town Tourism
  • Recruiting new residents
  • What you can do with roofless buildings (a fun classic)
  • Marketing in a small town (One of Deb’s main topics)
  • Dealing with the Committee of Negativity (it never really goes away, does it?)
  • Idea Friendly (I’m always updating it with your feedback)

Your turn now. Tell me what you think. Do you have some thoughts about how we keep our young people rural or about how to deal with conflicts between groups in our communities? Did we leave out a critical topic you wish we would talk about? What do you think? Should one of those get promoted to our regular schedule? Tell me about it. Comment or hit reply. I’m listening.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

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.
  • Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
  • Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
  • 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022
  • Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value - December 17, 2022
  • Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp - December 12, 2022
  • Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome - December 2, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story - December 1, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Tell your customers’ stories - November 30, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Introduce your people - November 29, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Share your holiday traditions - November 28, 2022

April 9, 2018 Filed Under: announcement, rural Tagged With: Survey of Rural Challenges

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in