The Cedar Valley had it’s first Bar Camp this weekend.  I stumbled across it on facebook.  $5 got you a tshirt, 1/2 day of presentations/discussions and lunch.

There were 80 people registered, and there were about 50 people there.  They had a good sponsor base too.  Most of the time slots were filled up and divided between, Creative-Technology and Entrepreneur.  I spent most of my time in the Creative room.  I did attend one Tech preso – and found it quite interesting to be in a room full of people who spoke another language than I did (programming and more).  I also led a conversation about the 140 Character Conference, now known as The State of Now, along with the talented creative Megan Pralle.

Scott Kubie talked about how he used storify to create his resume, and how it got a lot of traction.  http://storify.com/scottrocketship/hire-scott-rocketship

A group of Cedar Valley creatives talked about how they join together at http://cvcreatives.us/ and make things happen.  They were also open to suggestions.  I spoke up and said what about those of us close to you?  They said I was welcome to join them.  I’m checking the site out — we will see.  I know they are a creative group of young people.  

One session was What is your favorite book?  I wondered what that would be about – and it turned out to be pretty interesting.  I got some new titles I want to check out.  They had not heard of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith (imagine?) so I suggested Trust Agents and Flinch.

10% Solution, The War of Art, The Book of Tea, The Little Book, ReWork, Don’t Make Me Think (this one will be first), The Glass Castle, Deep Survival, The Rise of the Creative Class, Self Deception in Leaderships and UnMarketing.

One gentleman suggested we try MarkDown, which is simple text to html program.  I kinda let my brain wander in this preso – and checked my email, facebook and twitter.  Ahh — it happens.

Somewhere during the day I heard PechaKucha — and find that quite fascinating.  http://www.pecha-kucha.org/  I think I’m going to need to visit http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/des-moines/ and check it out further.

I give the day a thumbs up.  It was also great preparation for the State of Now — I met some new connections!

It had Larry Sailer, Michael Libbie, Claire Celsi and I on the front cover because we were interviewed by CNN.

I posted on Facebook that I made the paper and they called me an avid blogger, which I rather like.

Jennifer Healey from the Farm Bureau sent me the pdf to post (here it is) and we didn’t know how to load a pdf onto Facebook (you can’t).

So being the avid blogger that I am, I decided to share it with you!

(It was extremely cool to be on CNN, and also in the Spokesman!)

 Find the Iowa Farm Bureau online here and this is NOT a paid blog post, ad or spot. The picture above, in the red shirt is Jennifer Healey.  This picture was taken on the Roy Arends farm last fall, on our Blogger Harvest Tour.  It’s how CNN found us in the first place – Claire Celsi had written a blog and CNN asked that some of those farmers join us in Des Moines for an interview.  

We are currently looking for speakers – and tickets will go on sale next week.  Early bird pricing is $40 until March 1.  It rises to $70 after the 1st of March.  Student tickets will always be $14.

Interested in being a speaker?  Find more info at http://desmoines2012.140conf.com/call-for-speakers 

What does the day look like at a 140 Character Conference?

We start at 9 a.m. The Stoner Studio Theatre will be set up for attendees to be comfortable while listening to and interacting with the speakers. Wifi will be brought in to allow cell phones, laptops, and notebooks to transmit messages to the outside world.

As with any conference, there’s got to be some flexibility.  At a conference on the Now of Technology it stands to reason that things may change right in the now of it all.  And every good planner has a great outline – and here’s how it’s looking as of today.

Jeff and Deb will welcome and convene the event.  Each segment will be hosted by a local Iowan — Shannon Latham will host the Agriculture segment, other segments are Small Business, Education, Politics, Tourism, Life, Media, Community. We are still looking for co-hosts for those segments as well.

Then the fun begins.  The speakers will begin. Each individual has 10 or 15 minutes and panels have 15 to 20 minutes.  The idea for presenting in such a short time frame is to eliminate the lecturers, get to the point and share their information in a tweetable format.  Get to the point (which is the point).

There will be a break for lunch and networking – it is catered in.  You will want to come and go and collect in the lobby, stand outside, have conversations with others.  It’s often been said that the real value at a conference is found in the hallways.  Consider the idea of cross pollination.  Imagine the local seed company in Alexander Iowa conversing with the banker in Des Moines and the Rhode Island organic farmer.  What are the possibilities for expanding your knowledge base and connections in the real world?

The Conference ends around 6 and of course we’ll feed you lunch!

I had the great honor to attend and speak at the 140 Character Conference in New York in June.  If you’ve never been — go!

Jody Halsted and the Amana Colonies are hosting the Social Technology Conference at the Amana Colonies – and you won’t want to miss this one.  Geared towards small businesses, there will be a lot to learn to help promote your business and move it forward.

The 140 Character Conference is back again in Des Moines on April 23.  Mark your calendars, we are in the planning stages now – and will have more updates soon.  It will be a one day event and focusing on the Technology of Now.   You can see what we did last year at http://desmoines2011.140conf.com/

Those are just two — do you know of anymore?

Thanks to http://thishomebelongsto.com for this lovely shot!

I live in a county of 10,000 people.  Our Chamber has renamed themselves to the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce – so we can reach out to all the parents and students in our community.  That bumps up our count to almost 15,000 people.

Our county seat, Hampton, grew by 4% in the last census.  That’s unusual.  Rural communities are losing inhabitants, from young people moving out to old people dying.  We’re working on creating a census growth in 2020 – because you have to plan for it.  If you just ignore growth of a community, it doesn’t happen.

Last night the Chamber rolled out a new promotion.  Well, they sneak peeked it.  The roll out happens in January.  It involves shopping local and toilet paper.

That’s right, toilet paper.  105 rolls of toilet paper.  That’s the number that a person uses every year (105 is an average number, women use more than men).

What if everyone in the county were to buy their toilet paper at a store in the county?  The numbers are amazing.  The tax generated from sales we are losing to other counties is $114,000 (give or take a few) — and that’s tax only.  Then you figure in the fact that every dollar spent locally gets re-spent 7 times – and you come up with almost $800,000 in tax generated.  That would be taxes we are currently losing to the big box stores in another county.

$800,000.  What could we do with that tax revenue?

That’s just one product.   Pretty powerful.

It was the Making History weekend here in Franklin County.  We had a fundraiser for the Leander Reeve Home: Old Stone House.  Two days out in the country experiencing life like they may have lived it in the 1800′s.  Singing, church service, tours of historic sites, kids playing, horses plowing, glass blowing, black smithing, rug hooking, pie contest — and so much more.

We raised money to help repair the House.  I saw so many people come through that house this weekend who were amazed at the way it was built, how it has stood up over time and the ideas we have to make it part of our current history.  We’re thinking artist in residence, seminars, knitting classes, kids activities — and taking all kinds of suggestions!

Thank you to everyone who made it possible, who came and stayed and played with us and to God for giving us perfect weather.

Here’s a few pictures – just click on them and they will get bigger.  You can also visit www.facebook.com/StoneHouseGeneva and see many more!

Except of course, I’m the one that invited them.

We are having a bloggers tour in Franklin County Iowa this weekend.  8 Midwest bloggers and families will be here to experience the joy, beauty and fun we have in Franklin County.

Stay tuned …..

thanks to http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Paul_revere_ride.gif for the image

It’s not the tangible things I learned last week that made such a big impression.

I loved hearing the stories from the 140 Character Conference Speakers – and you can listen to them here  or here .

I also enjoyed the conversations with the other speakers – Kevin Honeycutt has an idea I want to pursue with him about speaking. Greg Falcon and I exchanged ideas for pursuing local 140′s next year.  Sheila Scarborough made me laugh.  Everyone was simply great.

It was the intangible things that mattered so much more.   The camaraderie that occurred between the speakers made us all feel special.  The love in the room was thick.  My mom got to hear me speak.  Jeff gives really great hugs and makes me feel like a rock star.  Becky and Cody sharing what works for them – and why it can work for me.  These are things you can’t put ROI measurements on.

Did you miss Greg Falken and I?  No worries – here we are.