Hey Brainstormers,

We have a fun format percolating for the 2025 Big Rural Brainstorm. How can it not be great with a room full of reframing Kansans practicing how to transform ideas from Blah to Bold in regards to community and downtowns?!

Brainstorming is about participating, about helping others think. If you register, we will need your input to put meat on the bones for our plan.

Those who register will be asked this question: “What would it look like if our downtown (or community) was known for ________________.”

Examples of answers:

Being kid friendly, being elder friendly, your welcoming spirit, being connected, using shapes, sizes, flowers, etc. as part of the community look, using music or color, having the most seasonal fun, having the best directional signage, being the best at supporting local everything, having the most places to get coffee, promoting restoration, helping each other, providing lifelong learning opportunities or the most unique events. And on and on!

Let your imagination soar. Think about living in a delightful Kansas with endless possibilities. We will choose a dozen of the most stimulating ideas to use in the master plan for the day and we will be in touch with those who have that idea to confirm and answer questions.

We will do a variety of brainstorming "things" throughout the day but all will be designed to move Kansas forward.

P.S. See the Do-alogue pre-event below.

LODGING -- book it soon!

It turns out there is another big event in town and lodging properties are fully booked except Fairfield Inn & Suites, 2270 E. Kansas. We have a block of rooms for Big Rural Brainstorm at Fairfield. Call 620.504.5353. Recommendation is to reserve lodging sooner than later.

Link to McPherson lodging.

Pre-BRB event

April 2, 3-5:30p $25

DO-ALOGUE:

Tiny Houses as

community

Not only will this show-and-tell format give you seeds of ideas for housing situations in your own community but it will also help you brain-storm about how to help people feel like they belong.

We will take a tour of two Tiny House communities developed by the McPherson Housing Coalition. The ten-house Oak Harbor Cottages are used as 90-day emergency shelters. The Sutherland Estates are nearby and serve as long-term, stable housing for those in need. It's a new model for the shelter-needing population and there are endless things to learn about the manner in which this all came to be.

After the tour, we will go to a meeting place and Chris Goodson, executive director, will share whatever you want to know and answer all of your questions. You will be in tears, you will cheer, you will be proud that this is happening in Kansas.

A do-alogue is a show-and-tell event of a successful idea. The format is designed to help you go home and "do".

Who should attend the BRB? Anyone who cares deeply about rural communities and is willing to be participatory and a Good Thinker. A Good Thinker is someone who listens intently, asks relevant questions, helps expand a perspective, and is willing to share their knowledge bank.

Sponsorships: A sponsorship is one way for your organization to help us with this event. Sponsorships help keep the costs down for our participants, allow us to provide a better event, and support our work generally in supporting rural Kansas. Sponsorship opportunities are in the registration form. They range from $25 to $5,000. We are grateful how Kansans, communities, entrepreneurs, agencies, organizations, foundations and government support great projects and efforts across the state.

The Reframe Rule will be in effect. Comments that bring the group down, sap energy in the room, or say that something can't be done because its been tried before or that it would never work will be yellow carded and reframed. If you are someone who talks too much or too long, or always brings the comments back to your self, we'd like to help you work on that.

The Kansas Sampler Foundation, a 501(c) non-profit organization based near Inman, develops programs and opportunities to support rural Kansas. Our mission is to preserve and sustain rural culture -- and we can do that with the help of our best asset, our network!

Questions? Contact marci@kansassampler.org; 620.960.0552 or simone.elder@kansassampler.org; 785.626.0666

We can't wait to brainstorm with you!