Disqus - Latest Comments for beckymccray

Re: Rural Communities Are Upbeat About the Future Despite Persisting Issues

Becky McCray — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 20:28:33 -0000

The top small business challenges went beyond buildings. The lack of workers, difficulties with marketing and lack of support from government or agencies were also in the top five.
Thanks for sharing the survey.

Re: What Analytics Should Brands Ask For From Influencers?

Becky McCray — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:32:46 -0000

And thanks for the shout out! Glad to have y'all keeping up on the influencer field so I know where to go for the best info.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 13:24:15 -0000

Especially since 2016, more tech-related businesses have recognized that this divide exists. We'd love to bring some data to help everyone understand rural people and small town communities. Thanks, Jacqueline!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 11:02:01 -0000

Great to see the intersection of social influence for educators. I know C.C. Chapman will have excellent insights on this topic. He has a practical and grounded perspective that cuts away distractions.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 18:05:44 -0000

Thank you, Paul!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 15:27:17 -0000

Wonderful to see a session that leads by example: an experience that teaches, instead of another boring lecture on interactive teaching styles! Kevin understands learning on such a bone-deep level from his time in the classroom, to tapping his challenging childhood, to connecting with thousands and thousands of educators on the ground. His unbound creativity make him the perfect person and this the perfect session to practice immersive learning.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 15:19:56 -0000

That's terrific feedback from a long-time rural entrepreneur like you, Aliza! Proud to have your support!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 11:18:22 -0000

Fresh data! We've just started collating results from our 2019 survey, with 680 responses. Some new challenges are taking top spots, and lots of heartfelt comments by real rural people. We are excited to share their voices with you!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:49:30 -0000

Aliza is exactly the right person to present this: business and tech savvy, and a master at humanizing complex topics.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:47:37 -0000

As an ethically-minded cattle rancher and food consumer, I'm interested in more conversations like this.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:44:03 -0000

Cutting through the clutter to make meaningful connections is always a challenge at SXSW. This sounds like a good opportunity.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:26:35 -0000

Excellent topic and a great diverse panel! In a period of great change, agriculture will need a lot of new viewpoints to adapt and explore alternatives.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:23:06 -0000

Government can be a catalyst for placemaking or a roadblock to it. Great to hear from a catalyst community.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:21:40 -0000

One of the best ways to improve your community is to start your own successful small business. This panel has some great stories. It would be even better with a variety beyond just agency owners.

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:18:27 -0000

From major urban areas to smaller cities to small towns to truly rural areas, we have a lot in common, but some striking differences. We're looking forward to sharing what we've learned! Thanks a bunch, Janice!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:16:33 -0000

In addition to the survey data, we have personally visited dozens of communities to gather even more firsthand stories. Thank you so much, Laura!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 10:04:24 -0000

Love the focus on local business solutions in partnership with government. Lots of examples out there!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 10:02:48 -0000

Amen to takeaway #2: Cities and rural areas are allies – they can form symbiotic partnerships of mutual benefit

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 16:23:33 -0000

Thrilled to have Native voices addressing Native issues!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 16:16:04 -0000

Education is a tough market to serve, where the end users don't have the money. I think a lot of attendees will find this three-way market discussion applicable!

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

Becky McCray — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 19:11:55 -0000

Excited to see a rural meetup! Not so excited that it's tied to one particular group's branding.

Re: Snowstorms in the 70s vs. Today

Becky McCray — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 13:10:57 -0000

A friend pointed me here because I had a similar problem on my blog (WordPress) where only viewers with certain browsers would see "if" instead of "fi" such as "ifsh instead of "fish." Another very helpful person pointed me to a solution that worked for me: it was the font I was using, which is one of Google's webfonts. The ligature or glyph for the combined "fi" character is causing trouble with Mozilla Firefox and Safari on iPad and iPhone, and maybe other browsers. You can try changing your font, or wait to see if Google is going to fix their recent update which may have started this problem. Cheers.

Re: You Can’t Achieve Your Goals Until You Do This

Becky McCray — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 14:18:24 -0000

I agree that knowing your direction makes everything else work much more smoothly. I keep a list I call my well-rounded life. I couldn't have a well-rounded life until I wrote out what that looked like for me. So now I know to say yes to more face time with family and friends because it's on my list. I know to say no to most opportunities related to general small business, rather than rural business, because that's just not my area.

So what do I do? I deliver practical steps people can put into action right away to shape the future of their small town. I do it through writing, speaking and online courses.

Re: What Marketers Can Learn from Rural Businesses – @beckymccray

Becky McCray — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 09:22:37 -0000

Rich, thank you so much for inviting me. I'm honored to get to share a little with your Agents of Change community. Maine definitely understands rural!

Re: Why Small Town Coworking is a Great Idea and How to Get Started

Becky McCray — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 13:41:58 -0000

Bill, that's a pretty common view of small towns, if you read or watch much media or if you happen to have experience with one of the small towns that's like that. But it's far, far, far from universal. In fact, today's small towns tend to be pretty high tech places with a lot of energy and excitement for the internet and the online world. While you can still find small towns stuck in the past, you can also find innovative small towns changing and growing as they move into the future.

In fact, rural coworking is part of a larger trend of nontraditional business forms and spaces in small towns. We're seeing more businesses launch inside of other businesses, more pop-up temporary businesses and more cooperative business structures. It's an exciting time for rural small business!

One last point. The odds of coworking succeeding in a small town are far from zero. I made a quick survey of rural coworking examples to show exactly how successful they can be.

1. Veel Hoeden in Pella, Iowa, successful for over 5 years now.
2. The Garage in Rapid City, South Dakota.
3. The WaterCooler in Boise, Idaho
4. inTandem coworking in Webster City, Iowa
5. Innovation Lab in Sonora, California (with bonus maker space)

Three from Germany:
Freiraum87, Frederik Littschwager, Kempten (GER)
Wexelwirken Härten, Christopher Schmidhofer, Kusterdingen (GER)
Unternehmerwerk, Ralf Jacubowsky v. Einem, Altenmedingen (GER)

Plus a bunch more from the coworking wiki:
The Candy Factory - Lancaster, PA USA - Central PA
TMC Coworkspace - Plymouth, IN USA
JumpStart Community - Blacksburg, VA USA
AltamontCowork - Tracy, CA USA
La Venture Station - La Grange, KY USA
Spark Plaza - Johnson City, TN USA
The Tink Tank - Asheville, NC USA
Mojo Coworking - Asheville, NC USA
Business Success Unlimited - Three Rivers, MI, USA
Thomas Technology Group - Camp Hill, PA USA
Kamer52 - Oosterhout, North Brabant, Netherlands
Coworking Königstein, 61462 Königstein, Germany
Cowork Penticton, Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
The Shop - Helena, MT USA
Devon Work Hubs - Devon, UK
CREARIUM - Monzón, Huesca, SPAIN
First Floor - Brescia/Lago di Garda, ITALY