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conferences and events

Gathering Has More Payoffs Than Solo

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Aren’t birds fascinating this time of year? Every August, barn swallows gather on our electric wires and chatter, chatter, chatter. People in the know call this staging, but I like to think of it as networking for the migration ahead. We’ll soon start to see turkey vultures, sandhill cranes and Canada geese staging by the thousands in nearby woods and wetlands.

Birds don’t fly solo. They fly farther and more efficiently when they gather.

Adobe Stock

Entrepreneurs Need to Gather As Well

This past weekend a board on which I serve gathered for its annual retreat. We had the option of attending in person or via Zoom. I chose Zoom. I claimed it was because of my schedule, but if I’m honest it’s also because more and more I find myself reclusing.  

In bird talk, COVID, technology and working from home have enabled us to fly solo. But is this always the best? Are we missing opportunities to fly farther and more efficiently? Zoom worked well enough for my board retreat, but it didn’t pick up the in-person discussions. It didn’t cover gathering for dinner and social hours. It didn’t allow me to fully get to know my peers and interact with them. 

Opportunities for Gathering

As summer comes to an end, we find ourselves hunkering down for winter. Hunkering is fine, reclusing is not. Here are three easy ways to gather:

  1. Conferences, perfect for networking
    Depending on your industry, August-October and January-March are considered conference seasons. Now is a good time to get online and find one that relates to you. 
  2. On-site meetings, how quaint and old-fashioned
    I’m wrapping up a web design project and will soon tutor my customer for managing the site. We could do this via Zoom but meeting in person will be more efficient and productive. 
  3. Coffee, nothing more personal
    When is the last time you’ve simply gone out for a chat with a business peer or customer? What’s new with them? How have the past two years affected their life? 
LET’s WORK TOGETHER
Cover by Tracy Harris, Cricket Design

What I’m Working On This Month

August was a big wrap-up of the Farm/Art DTour event guide by Wormfarm Institute. Want a preview? Check it out page by page!

A big kudos to Tracy Harris of Cricket Design Works for the stunningly gorgeous front and back covers. If this doesn’t bring you to your senses, gee, I don’t know what will. I love collaborating with talented professionals!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Please, not our TP. Sadly yes, PFAS have even been detected in our toilet paper.
  2. Selling in festivals or markets is an art and a science. Here, here and here is a 3-part series of good advice.
  3. Intimate portraits through 60 years of marriage, photography and artistic devotion. 
  4. Should you do a newsletter? Yes, newsletters and social media marketing have long-range returns, but here’s why they pay. P.S. I can help you with both!
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Collaborate With Your Competitors? You Bet!

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My husband and I just returned from our annual Octoberfest Brewery Tour. This year we took our sipping and scenery to Charleston, SC, and it was glorious! 

Businesses Working Together

In one of Charleston’s lesser known but rising neighborhoods is the Charleston Brewery District. It’s a community of ten breweries “sharing their love of beer with the Lowcountry,” as they like to boast. It’s also an example of savvy entrepreneurs working together to create a tourist hotspot, benefitting both their businesses and their community.

Used with permission from the Charleston Brewery District

Creative Collaboration

Tarah Gee, president of the Charleston Brewery District, says there are many advantages to working together. Two innovative ideas rocking it for both the breweries and the community: 

  • Free Shuttle
    The ten breweries have chipped in to provide a free shuttle every Saturday. Beer enthusiasts ride from brewery to brewery, sampling and enjoying.
     
  • Keep Charleston Beautiful
    Once a month, the breweries take turns hosting a neighborhood clean-up. The breweries provide the bags and volunteers provide the umph. Afterward, everyone gathers for a beer. 

What about you? How can you and your competitors work together? 

LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Join me November 4 as I present an inspiring workshop for the Women Food & Ag Network. Here’s the scoop!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. It takes a team, even in the craft beer industry.
  2. October was National Women’s Small Business Month: Two women forge their way and help others to do the same.
  3. What makes Wisconsin special: One brewery’s pandemic business model.
  4. Are predicted shortages stressing your gift plans? Give an Ice Age Trail poster.
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Pickles, Pumpkins, and the Pandemic Pivot

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This year, for whatever reason (let’s just blame COVID), we had a horrible cucumber crop. But we had green beans galore, so we pickled dillies instead. We lost all our pumpkins to beetles. But we had a glorious peach crop, so I’ll buy a pie pumpkin for Thanksgiving and serve cobblers the following months.

Our summer gardening mimics the change in direction many businesses have recently taken. Call it the Pandemic Pivot, if you will, it’s the dance businesses large and small have done in order to survive these past seven months. It’s the steps they may have to continue for the next seven months. 

How’s business been for you? What might you need to do differently next year? Now’s a good time to take a reality check.

What I’m Working On This Month

Ever wonder why some businesses get all the media attention? I’m putting together a workshop that answers just that. Check out the Women’s Farm & Ag Network Annual Conference and sign up for “Create a Media Kit that Brings Publicity to Your Farm.”

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. The Land Remembers, by Ben Logan.This month would have been his centennial birthday. A great memoir of growing up on the farm in the 1920-30s in Driftless Wisconsin.
  2. Young Blood Beer Co. Their business plan was to open a taproom, then COVID hit. In their words, they “revised,” “adjusted,” and accepted “it is what it is.”
  3. Octoberfest Brewery Tour. Every year we take an annual “celebration of sipping and scenery.” This year we’re social distancing on the North Shores.
  4. Revisiting Carole Cadwalladr’s still-relevant TED Talk. “It’s not about left or right…it’s about whether it’s actually possible to have a free and fair election ever again.”