Idea Friendly Officials and Boards video

How small town officials and boards can be more open to new ideas: Idea Friendly

31 minute video
Available to watch immediately

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It's not easy serving on boards in small towns

Elected or appointed, you end up saying no a lot.

Once you take on an official role, you are separated from your community. You can’t say yes to everything people want.

Your hands are tied – you have to say no to almost everything. There’s only so much you can do with limited time and money.

Promising ideas get watered down as you try to make them acceptable to a majority, And a certain few of your fellow officials seem to be dedicated to ruining every great idea.

You’re doing the best you can within limits, but public comment sessions quickly turn to griping and complaining.

It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be.

The Idea Friendly Way

There is a new Idea Friendly way for officials and board members.

You can tap the community. You don’t have to do it all alone.

Officials and board members all over are putting Idea Friendly principles into action. You’re going to learn from real-world examples and what the underlying principles are even when the officials involved didn’t realize why what they were doing was Idea Friendly.

How the City of Alva, Oklahoma, cooperated with a group of motivated moms to upgrade playground equipment in the parks

How the City of Pullman, Washington, built on the enthusiasm of local merchants to crowdsource cleaner streets and sidewalks without extra work for the city

How the City of Akron, Iowa, put on a public ideas session that didn’t descend into gripes and complaints and how it lead to real action by citizens

How the City of Bolivar, Missouri, stumbled over the one idea out of 10 that sparked the community and took off, run entirely by volunteers

You’re going to learn practical steps you can put into action right away to change the way you approach your role as an official.

Look at a new way to see your role as an official, one that puts you in the center of the network
Discover your superpower as an official and put your connections to work for you
Turn public gripe sessions into crowdsourcing events that mobilize people into action
Learn the one question that turns even bad ideas into something positive

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If you’re tired of saying no to too many good ideas, you’re going to want to join us for this video.

What would you have done differently?

You'll hear how things went wrong the old way, and how the Idea Friendly Way can help avoid failures.

How a city could have turned around a public investment disaster

Everyone in town is still talking about that electric car company that took city money then went bankrupt. How could council members have used Idea Friendly principles and kept “electric car company” from being the local synonym for bad decisions?

How could a city have made a better streetscape decision by acting faster?

Facing a decision that would shape the downtown for decades, the city council spent years debating and delaying their choices. What one Idea Friendly action could have accelerated the complex process and brought the whole community together?

What about hard public infrastructure projects like landfills and bridge plans?

How could you turn your hardest questions into energizing cooperative activities? How do you make an Idea Friendly bridge plan? Or an Idea Friendly landfill expansion? Or an Idea Friendly pool project? We’re going to tell you exactly how to do it in practical steps.

Reach across cultural boundaries in your community

Throughout 2022, we're focused on helping you build a fairer, more unified community. With all the forces that feel like they're pulling us apart, we want to help local communities like yours join together better.

Officials and boards can take the lead and reach across cultural boundaries in your community.

You can trust SaveYour.Town's Becky McCray and Deb Brown to share practical advice for rural communities.

We've both served on our fair share of boards and committees. We've been trained in traditional economic, workforce and organization development.
Deb holds an Institute for Organizational Management certification, and Becky completed the Governing Officials Institute from the Oklahoma Municipal League. And a lot more training! So we understand that old way thinking. But we didn't stop there.

We joined forces in May 2015 to help small towns and rural communities thrive. We developed the Idea Friendly Method out of our own personal experiences in business, agriculture, entrepreneurship, nonprofits and government.

You can watch on your own and share with others in your community.

This video is perfect for:

People who serve as elected or appointed officials for a town, city, county, tribe or any other government
People who serve on boards, committees or other formal organization leadership roles, whether public or nonprofit
Officials and leaders who are pretty open to new ideas, but need to know how to make that work in their formal roles
Economic developers
Libraries
Community foundations
Downtown groups, Main Street, merchants associations, retail groups
Anyone who wants their town to be more prosperous

Not another tiresome webinar

Short, to the point video
Watch instantly on your schedule: anytime, on demand, starting now
Recorded so you can pause, stop, rewind or watch again immediately

You won't waste time waiting for everyone to sign in or sitting through long introductions. You don't have to put up with technical glitches or annoying background noise from inconsiderate participants. No one will fumble around with how to control their video or say "Can you see my screen?"

You get personal access to Becky and Deb via message, email and comment. We do answer your questions personally!

You told us that serving boards, committees and official positions makes it hard to build a unified community.

Based on your feedback, we dug into our archives. We found this video from 2019, still relevant to your key needs: building community, involving everyone and bridging divides.

You'll get this newly-refreshed 31 minute video to help you build community today.

Idea Friendly Officials and Boards - video with Deb Brown and Becky McCray

31 minute video

Available immediately - no waiting

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Is this video recorded so I can watch later?

Yes, the video is recorded, and you'll be able to watch it immediately as soon as you complete your purchase. You are welcome to watch the video more than once, start and stop, or go back and watch again. You're not limited to watching from a single computer or with just one group.

Can I get a copy of the slides?

You get a transcript plus an audio-only version for listening on the go.

What if I have questions?

You can ask questions two ways: in the comment box or via email. We always answer you personally. You can also share stories or examples you've seen. That helps everyone!

Will the video play on my computer? Or on my phone?

Either one! If you can watch a YouTube video, you can watch this video. That means you can use any device, any screen that can load a web page for you to login. Any PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android phone or tablet, smart TV or TV with a streaming box or stick should work.
You don't need blazing fast internet.

Can I share the video with other people?

Yes! Once you’re registered, you can schedule more than one viewing so you reach as many people as possible. We encourage you to watch on your own or set up a virtual watch party.

How long should I make a watch party?

For a watch party, schedule 45 -50 minutes. You'll want that extra time to discuss what you watched and to network and talk with each other.

Who should I invite?

Your friends who love to do things with you
Visionaries like yourself
Downtown associations, Main Streets, chambers and economic developers
Positive thinkers and doers
Leaders and regular people
Community foundations and leadership groups
Elected officials from your local municipalities, counties or tribes
Business with a community focus, like banks and utilities
People who care about your town

What people say about SaveYour.Town videos

This video stimulated lots of note-taking and conversation between the business owners gathered at my house. Deb and Becky gave us some new ideas and several excellent examples of known models. I think some of us are thinking of pivoting our summer’s plans after participating in Wednesday’s event. Thanks for a well-thought out presentation!

Jonya Pacey, Minnesota

What a TERRIFIC marketing Video. I had 20 businesses show up to watch and they all left with new ideas and an excitement to get back and start implementing! I’ve already had 5 businesses reach out in less than 2 hours after it ended, that are already putting your ideas into action.

Mandy Walsh, City of Lampasas, Texas

There are always great take-aways from the videos that can be put into place immediately. One of my favorites is changing your store's evening vibe (different music, lighting, etc.) because evening shoppers are not the same as day time shoppers.

Diane Moore, Wheaton, Illinois

Videos by SaveYour.Town are fun way to learn some no-nonsense alternatives to community inertia.

Clark Hoskin, Ontario

Idea Friendly Officials and Boards - video with Deb Brown and Becky McCray

31 minute video
Immediate access

Add to Cart