RIPPLE Blog Posts

Rural Tourism: A Viable Rural Industry and a Vital Business Attraction Tool

Joanne Steele — 2011-12-21 15:33:57 -0800

Andy Hayes has a good article at Travel Online Partners about some small towns that are building their tourism industries with effective use of internet marketing. Thanks Andy for bringing these to everyone’s attention.

What was clear, although not directly stated in the interviews, was that each community knows exactly who their Perfect Customer is. They all work very hard on social media to serve up what that customer is looking for.

But this article sparked some thinking in a whole different direction…

Are rural tourism jobs GOOD jobs?

Now, I’m sure that some small town economic development people are saying, good for those 14 communities, but we don’t want a bunch of low paying tourism related jobs. We want something BIG that will allow our kids to stay home and get a job that will support their families.. yada, yada yada.

Here’s my answer to those people

MOST rural tourism jobs unlike SOME urban tourism jobs support families. They’re entrepreneurial pursuits operated by people who are passionate about what they do and support their families while doing it.

They also provide a few additional jobs for other rural residents.

It makes me see red to constantly hear rural tourism denigrated this way. Tourism is the third largest industry in the world! Rural tourism businesses are locally owned and locally run everywhere all over the world!
Rural tourism is the best economic development tool a small town has. Rural tourism is an attraction tool. Walk downtown in any small town and ask owners how they landed in your town. You’ll hear three things –

I was born here.
My family is here and I moved back.
I came as a visitor and worked hard ever since to get back as a business owner.

Andy’s article shows how successful some rural areas are in getting their message out via the internet.

If thousands of fans are having a satisfying online relationship with a rural destination, it’s likely that it is also in the top of their vacation list.

Get it? Rural tourism is good. Internet marketing works.

Done.

Here are several past posts on the subject:

Rural Area Tourism: A Great Business Attraction Strategy For Small Towns

Why Rural Tourism Needs and Deserves Governmental Help

3 Ways Visitors Create Strong Emotional Bonds With Small Tourism Towns. Principle #4.

Are Rural Tourism and the Internet Small Towns’ Last Best Hope?

You can read and comment on all of Joanne Steele’s posts on Rural Tourism Marketing on her Rural Tourism Marketing Blog.

To Predict Unemployment Rates, Look at Civic Engagement Levels

Kathi Jaworski — 2011-12-09 17:20:59 -0800

Reprinted from the Nonprofit Quarterly Newswire

What accounts for wide disparities in unemployment rates throughout the United States during the recession? You might think that economic factors such as the industry mix, occupational mix, demographic mix, or tax rates would be the best predictors of unemployment rate. But according to a new study sponsored by six organizations that work on civic engagement, it appears that civic engagement measures prove more useful as predictors of future unemployment. Specifically, those states and metropolitan areas that had significant civic engagement in 2006 (as measured through the U.S. Census Current Population Survey) experienced smaller increases in unemployment rates between 2006 and 2010 than those that not did not.

An earlier study by Goldman Sachs was the catalyst for this research. Goldman Sachs’ analysts found three economic factors correlated with state unemployment rates since 2007 at a statistically significant level: size of the state’s oil and gas industry; housing market inflation (the “housing bubble”); and the percentage of employment in high-end service jobs. Neither tax rates nor government spending were statistically significant factors.

Sponsors of the new study investigated whether other factors also correlated with unemployment rates, and in particular, whether any of five civic engagement measures had statistically significant correlations. The five factors tested were: volunteering, attending public meetings, working with neighbors to address community problems, registering to vote, and voting. Researchers also analyzed eight economic indicators for the same time period (2006–2010) that had been cited in other research as potentially linked to unemployment rates, including residential mobility, high school graduation rates, and state gross product per capita. They found that civic engagement measures together and individually were far more predictive of unemployment rates than economic factors together or individually.

The research report emphasizes that correlation between civic engagement indicators and unemployment rates doesn’t mean that high levels of civic engagement cause lower unemployment. In fact, it could be that high unemployment causes lower civic engagement. Or that the two factors just happen to be correlated with yet some other, more powerful variable that wasn’t measured in the study. Researchers do, however, note other studies suggesting that strong civic engagement does help states weather recessions better, and they recommend more research.

Since most nonprofits strive to increase civic engagement as a fundamental part of their work, the research suggests another important, unrecognized benefit of our sector. Do you see a cause and effect relationship between civic engagement and unemployment rates in your community? What causes what from your perspective?

Kathi Jaworski, past Executive Director of Rural Development Initiatives, is founder of Write to Know Consulting.

Community Website for Lake County: A Survey

David Wade — 2011-12-01 15:56:34 -0800

Lake County, Oregon is exploring the exciting possibility of creating a community website. To gauge the potential success of the website, we've created a short survey. As the website would serve residents and tourists alike, we want respondents from outside the county as much as we want residents to answer the survey.

Please take a moment to complete the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LCcommunitywebsite

The concept of the community website came out of the work of the Ford Family Foundation (TFFF) and Rural Development Initiatives (RDI). As a part of a Ford Vitality Forum, RDI and TFFF harnessed the positive energy and good reputation of Lake County's Ford Leadership graduates to survey community-minded residents about the strengths and weaknesses of the county.

Out of the survey they found our residents viewed themselves as being very good at working together to accomplish tasks, however, the residents also understood themselves to be poor at agreeing on what tasks to do. A major point of weakness seen by the residents was communication.

Following the survey, RDI and TFFF hosted a number of delicious dinners to foster community discussion about how Lake County could improve its conditions. Out of these discussions we came to see the benefits of a community website.

We saw that by creating a centralized location for information about everything happening in the county, we could not only make significant strides in improving communication, but also do a much better job sharing the county's recreational and cultural opportunities with the world, meaning more tourism dollars for our economy.

Some features of the website would be:

Announcements
Sales announcements
Blogs
Outdoor guide
Volunteer listings
Comprehensive calendar
Facebook-like directory

Again, please fill out our survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LCcommunitywebsite

Thank you and please don't hesitate to ask questions and give advice!

Public Recycling in the Methow Valley

Joseph Weaver — 2011-11-29 21:22:38 -0800

It's been quite an amazing year for Methow Recycling Roundup. We approached two separate town councils, myriad local business owners, and local artists and asked them to come together to help provide 'public recycling' by placing recycling bins in high traffic public spaces in the towns of Winthrop and Twisp, WA. The goal is to reduce waste while establishing a highly visible symbol of Winthrop and Twisp’s commitment to recycling and public art.

On April 2011, Earth Day, local business owners, and the town of Winthrop launched and celebrated the Winthrop Barrel Project. It is the first time that public recycling has been offered to Winthrop's main business corridor - Riverside Avenue.

Re-purposed wine barrels were provided by our local winery and artist and sign painter, Brad Pinkerton, hand painted all of the business logos on each barrel in a unique western theme. The joke afterwards was to ask Brad how many times he painted the word 'Recycle.' Capital sponsors are the town of Winthrop, Recycling Roundup, and Methow Recycles.

On Wednesday, November 30, 2011 the town of Twisp will follow suit and launch public recycling on Glover Street. This time, six local artists have partnered with 12 valley businesses to create original public art pieces from each re-purposed metal drum through various mediums. The project is a collaborative effort between capital sponsors, who chipped in money to get the project started, business sponsors, who will sustain the recycling service going forward and local artists, who made public art from the old metal drums. Capitol sponsors are the Town of Twisp, Recycling Roundup, Methow Arts Alliance, Methow Recycles and Methow Resource Recovery.

Rural America Needs Broadband Now—Not Later

Chris Bergstrom — 2011-11-23 17:16:39 -0800

High-speed Internet access is a powerful tool for driving innovation and promoting economic growth. While there are individuals who aren’t lucky enough to have access to high-speed wireless broadband, the technology is so pervasive that we are all aware of its advantages, further proving the significance of broadband to our lives.

For those of us in rural areas of Oregon, and across the country, not having access to the latest broadband technology puts us at a disadvantage to our counterparts in more urban areas. With reliable access to high-speed wireless, broadband businesses can grow by accessing new markets around the world, communities can benefit from job creation and economic growth, and individuals can access information in the blink of an eye.

In Bend, Oregon, where my company is located, consistent access to enhanced, next-generation broadband can be difficult to find. I am the founder and CEO of Black Eyed Productions, a live audio and creative multimedia design company and this reality limits the success of businesses like mine that rely on the latest communications technologies to interact with clients and customers. We provide live audio and custom iPhone apps for bands, businesses, events, and non-profit organizations and we rely heavily on broadband both for delivering our product to our clients and for the use of our product. However, many of our clients do not have access to high-speed Internet service and are not able to harness the power of apps or other innovative technologies to effectively promote their goods and services.

Unfortunately, many residents of rural areas are used to this kind of disadvantage against more urban residents. The newest technologies, from electricity to telephones, have always been deployed in densely-populated areas first, where there is greater return on investment. But today’s global market is moving faster than ever, and rural businesses and residents can’t afford to be left behind. According to the new study “Achieving Rural Universal Service in a Broadband Era: Emergent Evidence from the Evolution of Telephone Demand,” by Georgetown University economics professors Jeffrey Macher and John Mayo, the economic challenges facing rural America are not insurmountable and can be helped by increased broadband deployment. The authors characterize broadband access as a “critical link in the chain of economic development in rural America.” Broadband can be a great equalizer because it can eliminate the economic challenges that are specific to rural America, and although it can be expensive to deploy broadband, Mayo and Macher point out that wireless broadband is a more efficient and more economical solution than wireline broadband.

The study also shows that rural Americans have higher demands for wireless service than urban residents, and that rural economies stand to gain the most from the deployment of wireless broadband. The authors argue in favor of public-private partnerships that would increase the availability of wireless broadband in rural areas, like the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger. The merger promises expanded access to enhanced, ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless broadband to more than 97 percent of Americans, and has the potential to encourage unprecedented economic growth. For Oregon, rural residents have waited long enough to receive the benefits of expanding this critical technology to our businesses and communities.

Leadership Roles in a Leaderless Movement: Insights from Rural and Urban “Occupy” Experiences

Kathi Jaworski — 2011-11-23 11:35:10 -0800

Reprinted from the Nonprofit Quarterly Newswire

Through the national media lens, the Occupy movement looks like a directionless, combustible assemblage of young idealists and jaded anarchists, with a smattering of criminals and homeless people seeking shelter and food—all taking place primarily in urban areas. A few rural examples, such as the “Occupy the Tundra” one-woman crusade in Alaska, the “Occupy the Pasture” campaign in the Great Plains and the tiny Oregon town of Mosier’s one week encampment have received national media coverage, primarily as human interest stories.

Local, generally supportive media has covered many other rural Occupy efforts in such diverse places as Ashtabula, Ohio; West Plains, Missouri; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Tahlequah, Oklahoma; Fort Bragg, California; and Rutland, Vermont; the movement is even “playing in (iconic but not very rural) Peoria,” Illinois. But there’s more to the contrasting images of urban and rural Occupy movements than uneven media coverage. There are different tactics at work that are in part related to the different natures of large and small communities, and these differences offer relevant lessons for any social movement.

While both rural and urban demonstrators have tied income inequality, unemployment, corporate influence on politics, and banking practices together in their emerging messages, they’ve taken on some differences in approach. The urban messages have often included a strong “anti-capitalism” and sometimes even anarchic bent, whereas the rural messages have been more explicitly populist, with an emphasis on fairness. Many rural efforts have included a “buy local” component to bring small businesses into their fold. The role of “occupation” vs. time-limited demonstration has been different between urban and rural areas: with limited population, most rural areas have not emphasized ongoing encampment but rather community outreach and conversations at specific events. Perhaps as a result of this strategy, rural demonstrations have drawn a wider range of ages, and, in particular, older participants who would not otherwise feel able to engage. Finally, social media is not the major driver of rural organizing efforts: according to “This ain’t Twitter country,” organizers in Kalispell, Montana, for example, relied primarily on fliers and word of mouth to bring people together.

Why the difference in overall tactics, and is one approach more likely to succeed than another? These are not easy questions to answer. However, one’s understanding of grass-roots organizing, even of “leaderless” movements, as Occupy organizers describe their work, can be informed by the field of leadership development and in particular by the dynamics of collective leadership roles aimed at system change. Fifteen years ago, the late Jeff Luke of the University of Oregon developed a framework for analyzing and building effective shared leadership that he called catalytic leadership, which has since been used to train public, private, and nonprofit leaders throughout the Pacific Northwest. Luke described four different and essential roles for leaders seeking to act in the public good around complex issues, and noted that different people are better equipped for some roles than others. In the case of the Occupy movement, it appears that urban and rural efforts are focused on different aspects of the collective/shared leadership spectrum as framed by the author. These differences at least in part reflect the differences between large and small community dynamics, and they can be complementary in terms of building momentum for change.

The four essential catalytic leadership roles are:

Advocating: Raising an issue and getting it on the broader public agenda. The first, largely urban voices of Occupy Wall Street were a collective outcry of frustration with “the system,” not a specific cohesive message or action agenda. These voices have sometimes pushed the envelope of politeness and made others uncomfortable and anxious, but that’s part of an advocate’s role—to raise an alarm that something needs to be addressed. This “forcing the conversation” may be easier for people in large communities to do first, particularly when the message is complex, because there’s less pressure to conform and get along with everyone.

Convening: Bringing people and their diverse voices together to build a sense of common purpose. The rural Occupy demonstrations seem to focus more on this outreach role than on physical occupation of a site, perhaps because “getting along” is an essential survival skill in small communities. For example, in Ashtabula, Ohio, a participant described his purpose as being to “raise awareness and discuss why everyone around here is so broke.” In Mosier, Oregon, organizers went door-to-door to have conversations with their neighbors, and limited their overnight camp to one week because “people are a lot more receptive to what we’re staying when they don’t think we’re going to move in.”

Negotiating: Building agreement about goals and action steps, and addressing stakeholder interests as thoroughly as possible. The Occupy movement has been most sharply criticized for lacking this “catalytic leadership” capacity and focus, at least to date.

Taking Action: Moving beyond talk to specific actions that inspire many people beyond the demonstrators to act differently. This can happen even before all goals are clear. For example, the consumer revolt against increased fees at large national banks serendipitously fed into the “anti-corporate” message of the Occupy demonstrations, and created momentum for a wave of bank account transfers to community based financial institutions.

At different points in time, different people, organizations, and communities are better equipped to take a lead role than others. Knowing this matters, because, as winter sets in, the act of occupation becomes more physically challenging for even the most committed participants. Furthermore, there are signs of media fatigue with regard to anything about the Occupy Movement but sensational headlines. If the Occupy Movement is to effectively articulate and inspire action to reduce income inequality, reduce corporate influence on government, increase economic opportunities, and strengthen community connections, its organizers may want to revisit their ideal of having a “leaderless” movement and frame their challenge instead as one of how to build effective, collective “catalytic leadership” that can evolve over time. This “collective leadership” frame clarifies how different types of people and communities can contribute, and it suggests a future course of action for sustaining leadership that truly engages with all its communities.

Kathi Jaworski, past Executive Director of Rural Development Initiatives, is founder of Write to Know Consulting.

Start a Small Town Revolution With Local Business Gift Certificates This Christmas

Joanne Steele — 2011-11-18 11:38:32 -0800

2011 is the year of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street.

Let’s bring that revolutionary spirit to small towns and local business, and give our friends and neighbors, our local customers, a chance to REALLY shop local this year.

Here’s the Craigslist Rant that got me started:

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods — merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It’s time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone — yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Read the full Craigslist post here.

This is a revolutionary shop local idea that is going viral on Facebook and probably showing up in a zillion email boxes.

But only YOU, the small local business owner, have to inspire your customers to revolt and take action!

Remember that marketing phrase you’ve heard since you went into business: “Call to Action.”

Now is the time for a shop local Call to Action.

Do you offer gift certificates? If you’re an auto mechanic or local musician or cleaning lady, probably not. This year, do it.

Craftspeople and artists? You need those certificates too! They let the receiver pick their own art.

Then, don’t make that certificate the best kept secret in town. This is a Revolution!

Make signs. Make placards. Tweet it. Put it on your Facebook page. Email everyone you know, and copy the craigslist rant directly into that email – don’t make your customers click through to read it.

We must take saving small towns and rural communities into our own hands.

In the United States nearly a quarter of retail sales occur in the next two months. And most of that money unfortunately is not spent in local business in rural communities and small towns!

UNTIL NOW!!

Small town folks tend to be pretty conservative, so starting a revolution is totally out of character.

But it’s about time, don’t you think!!

Put your heads together with other local business people in your town, and get this done.

Give discounts for those gift certificates. Give a gift certificate package with your neighboring store for those big spenders in town.

Talk to your Chamber of Commerce right now and get a town-wide local business certificate created, and shouted about on the streets.

Local business gift certificates and rural tourism are a match made in heaven!

If you’re a rural tourism business, you have a client list that you can offer your certificate to.

Visitors who spend their time in rural areas are a special breed. They love the idea that their visit helps to support something they value. YOU!

Become the rural tourism version of the Heifer Project! You are the heifer! Offer yourself! Today!

Just in case you didn’t click through and read the whole article, here’s the inspiring end of that craigslist rant:

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

I’m going to stop now and let you talk. Please share what your town is doing to keep shopping local this year.

Again, here is the link to the full post.

You can read and comment on all of Joanne Steele’s posts on Rural Tourism Marketing on her Rural Tourism Marketing Blog.