I know I’ve already written about how excited I am to be going to Hutchinson, Kansas for 140 Conference Small Town, but it’s upon me and the excitement is overflowing so I have to write again. 🙂 While I remember being in other towns in south central Kansas, I don’t think I ever went to Hutchinson but I’ve been to a lot of small towns in that area and across the U.S. and I’m willing to bet that I’ll feel right at home upon my arrival for several reasons. And all are part of what you find in small towns.
Incredible people are coming!
I’ve talked with some for years without having met them. And some I’ve known, hung out with, etc but always look to learn more from. Some of the folks I’m very interested in chatting with include:
- organizers Becky McCray @BeckyMcCray, Jeff Pulver @JeffPulver and Cody Heitschmidt @CodyKS;
- friends from #blogchat friends Todd Jordan @tojosan, Sheila Scarborough @SheilaS, and Joe Cheray @wildheart4vr
- my farm & #agchat friends Val Wagner @wagfarms, Katie Pinke @katpinke, Mark Vierthaler (@AgHipster), Michele Tucker @kst8er76, Debbie Lyons-Blythe @DebbieLB, Andy Hutchison @chainranchlady, Kim Ray Baldwin @kimray02 and 13 of her students!
- lots of the #140conf speakers (that link is to the twitter list I made) including Deb Brown @debworks, who I talked to by phone last week 🙂
- I’m still hoping that some of my college friends will make it — whether they know anything about Twitter or not, I’m sure they could add to the discussion and learn too! That’s really what 140conf is all about!
A unique diversity of topics that truly matter!
You really should look at the full schedule of topics that will be presented at 140 Small Town, because there are so many presentations that will give 10-15 minutes focus on subjects that impact the daily lives of those of us in small towns across the US.
- Hybrid vigor is something I have seen in corn fields across the US and cotton fields in India! But applying it to this Twitter conference because we have a great chance to learn from each other and innovate to outperform what any of the speakers have talked about individually.
- Have you heard about all the mommy bloggers on Twitter? Well, they aren’t just a monolithic group. Hear a farmmy blogger talk about some of the other things her blog includes, mommy moments and farm topics all come together!
- If you think the big corporate job running around the metropolis is not the thing for you, have you considered living in a small town? Or even in the middle of nowhere without a town? There are benefits to both options but if you are in the city, you may not really know some of the reasons the country is the way to go.
- Social media provides incredible networking opportunities. Learn more about some of those but also how pairing them with face-to-face interactions can really take things to the next level!
- Social media has a variety of powers and the way you tap them can help you meet challenges you can’t imagine. Two speakers are talking about those kinds of uses of social media — both about the community in Joplin, Missouri who faced the massive tornado this spring and a much more personal topic of incest. I have to bet these will be incredibly moving!
Join Us In Person or Online
There is still time to register — you could even just hop in the car and just start driving. I’m sure they will have people who can get you registered on-site! If you can’t be there in person, there will be a live feed you can access from the Small Town 140 home page. You could have the live feed up all day! You could watch in support, to build your own knowledge base or simply to make notes to help us improve efforts like this in the future. If you need to pick and choose to focus on just one hour, from 10 to 11 a.m. my friends Val, Mark, Katie and I will all be presenting.
I’d also suggest you look at the list of upcoming 140 events and see where you may get involved!
Related articles
- Small towns talk high tech at 140 Conference (smallbizsurvival.com)
- Lessons From a Tech Savvy Education Conference 140edu Day 1 (connectwithyourteens.net)
- Your Community Is Out There, Where Are You? (socialmediaexplorer.com)
Thanks JP! You give such a great overview. I need some sleep and then time to organize my thoughts before tomorrow. See you soon.
JP. Can you believe this?????? Anyway, I’m just trying to find a place to contact you. I hope this is ok. I am so glad you are in. Isn’t this a crazy world. The least likely person… anyway. We have the 18th or the 24th of Oct, are you in for either of those days? Either email me at [email protected] or message me from the FB page with your reply. I am so excited you are on board. Can’t wait to hear your story!
Kind Regards,
Kasse D.