Brilliant marketing - To Sell Is Human

 Shortly before the holidays, I learned that there was a new book by Daniel Pink that was soon to be released.  The book, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, was available for pre-order and the author was offering some really cool incentives.

Get this...and, it is brilliant!

If you e-mailed proof of pre-ordering the book, you were promised access to online resources, a New Years Day webinar, and a packet in the mail.  It was a booked I planned to buy anyway, but we all know how it goes.  You save a list of books to buy and may or may not get around to ordering them.

What a brilliant marketing strategy to move people to action!

The online resources and webinar were cool.  The webinar even left me with more books on my list of books I want to read.  And then, the packet arrived.

Cool brown envelope with great branding...author signed bookplate...and my new favorite thing - Field Notes!

Reasons why I love Field Notes:

1.  Writing on graph paper makes me feel smart.  I really like to take notes on graph paper and I picked this up from a friend who often records her notes on this medium.

2.  The text and graphics on the cover - cool and funny!  On the inside, bottom left page:  "In the event of misplacement:  If found, please contact (and a place for your e-mail).  Hence, There [] is [] isn't a handsome reward waiting.

3.  On the back cover, the story hits me right in the heart!  "Inspired by the vanishing subgenre of agricultural memo books, ornate pocket ledgers, and the simple, unassuming beauty of a well-crafted grocery list, the Draplin Design Co., Portland Ore. - in conjunction with Coudal Partners, Chicago, Ill. - brings you 'Field Notes' in hopes of offering 'An honest memo book worth fillin' up with 'Good Information'."  My grandparents always had the free memo books from the coop and seed companies in their pockets and purses and on their dashboards.  These memo books kept everything from tag numbers of cows who had calved to grocery lists and a lot of reminders.  The memo books even kept restless grandkids entertained during church and in waiting rooms.  I remember these books fondly.

4.  The list of practical applications makes me laugh out loud.  Some of my favorites.  03. Inspired Ramblings, 05. Shoddy Sketches, 06. Half-Ass Calculations, 15. Hate Mail, 17. Escape Routes, 24. Treasure Maps, 29. Tall Orders

You can order them, three for $9.95.

Dirt, Denim & Diamonds - Day two

Saturday was the second day of the very successful Dirt, Denim & Diamonds conference.

There were so many things that I loved about this conference.  At the top of the list was the location.  Living Water Ranch is located northwest of Manhattan, KS and is nestled in the Flint Hills.  It is a gorgeous site with beautiful vistas in every direction.

The drive to Living Water Ranch is one of my top five in Kansas.  It is amazing that you are close to town and yet, you feel like you are really getting away. 

 If anyone ever tells you that Kansas is flat, you only have to take them on this drive.  Love these rolling hills.

When you turn south to travel to Living Water Ranch, you cross a cattle guard. If you are new to this, you might think that it is for drainage or some other purpose.  It actually keeps cattle (or other livestock) in a fenced area - in this case, the pasture.  There is a fence around the pasture, but to allow cars and other vehicles to come and go without opening and closing a gate, the cattle guard can stand in the place of a gate. The animals are not able to walk over it, yet people and cars can move across it easily.

I always feel this great sense of "getting away" when I drive across the cattle guard.

It also puts me on alert in the event a cow or calf are hanging out on the road.

I loved the views of the grasslands and the lake beyond.

 The cows along the drive and in the pasture just completed the whole setting.

Once at the conference, I found myself surrounded by awesome women across many generations, representing may different connections to agriculture, and from locations all around the region.

The sessions were educational and interesting.  The conversations between sessions and over meals were very, very special.

I spent some time today sorting through my stack of business cards and session handouts.  I have plans to reach out to several of the women who attended.

Congratulations to my friend for an excellent conference full of sisterhood, learning, and fun!

Dirt, Denim & Diamonds - Day One

Congratulations to my blogger friend for an excellent start to her conference Dirt, Denim & Diamonds!

Tonight was the beginning of what will be a great opportunity to network and learn with women from the region.  We connected over our love of agriculture and everyone was so warm and friendly.

The agenda for the first day included shopping from a great set of exhibitors, hearing an inspiring presentation about gratitude, and making our own gratitude journal.  (Oh, and did I mention the food was great, too!)  It was fun to see talented women share an inspiring message and to help us make something meaningful.  Nothing can bring a group together like working on a project - sharing supplies, offering advice, and providing compliments on each other's work.

When we arrived at Living Water Ranch, we were greeted by the conference organizer with cute and creative table decorations, a bag of goodies, and a 'wow factor' folder.

 I loved, loved, loved the folders.  Each had a denim pocket that included a pen and information on ways to connect with the conference.

 Our project tonight was making a gratitude journal.  A local Stampin' Up! demonstrator helped us with the design, materials, and instruction.  She did a great job keeping us focused and helping us share tools between tables.

This was the perfect project to follow an inspirational presentation by an ag ed leader from Nebraska.  Her message was perfect to set the tone for our conference and to provide perspective.  We really are so blessed.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow!

Obsessive learning

Most of my friends know that I am an obsessive learner. My resume includes yoga, knitting, raising alpacas, trying new recipes, installing new plants in the garden, learning about The Depression, and much more. Some of my learning experiments work out well and others just turn out to be great experiences.

I figured out this learning thing was something that defined me when I told my boss what I was making for a big family Thanksgiving dinner and he asked if the recipes were all of my tried and true favorites. In fact, many were new, never tested recipes gathered in my hours and hours of reading magazines devoted to Thanksgiving holiday meals and recipe books. He looked at me like I was insane. I was in heaven - a challenge to feed a whole crowd and the chance to learn some new recipes in the process. My final exam was actually pulling it off with everyone fed and happy.

Some of these learning obsessions come to me slowly - building one thing on top of another. A magazine article mentions a person that leads to a book. I read about Dorthea Lange, a famous Depression-era photographer and have been reading about her and devouring her work ever since. Her biography inspired me to read The Grapes of Wrath. I have another book on the Depression in my pile to read.

A recent favorite subject has been the prairie. We visited the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve and I bought Flint Hills Cowboys: Tales from the Tallgrass Prairie by Jim Hoy. It was a delightful read full of great storytelling and rich Kansas prairie tradition. Some of the cowboys were real characters and the stories were laugh out loud funny. Other stories told about the heartbreaking, dangerous work of making your life from the land told by a scholar and native of the Tall Grass Prairie. Lots of learning and pleasant reading.

My second read was recommended by a professor at K-State. Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch was very well written. The author's experience in transitioning from a cattle ranch to raising buffalo was full of learning, joy, heartbreak, and history. I loved reading about the prairie from someone who obviously loves the land and has a passion for preservation. It played out the real-life struggle to make a living in production agriculture and impressed the need to think about conservation and to relearn what our lands can support.

If your current learning adventures have you anywhere near the prairie or agriculture or the Great Plains, I highly recommend these two books. Happy reading!