For Immediate Release

Contact:

Molly Priesmeyer
Good Work Group
molly@goodworkgroup.com
612.239.6358

A Public Thing’s “Financial Engagement” event on November 5th at Peavey Plaza brings together artists, cultural producers, thinkers, doers, experts, neighbors, and more for an exchange of ideas that can change the way we think, work, and live

“We hope to provide a collectively-authored resource for those interested in engaging these ideas and experiences in new ways.”–A Public Thing collaborators

November 1, 2011 (Minneapolis)—Spurred by new conversations and movements concerning economic stability and independence, A Public Thing is hosting a “Financial Engagement” at Peavey Plaza in Minneapolis on Saturday, November 5th, from 1pm till 4pm.

The public engagement event will give attendees an opportunity to ask questions of experts and each other in an effort to gain a greater understanding of what an economically sustainable community might look like.

The event is free and open to everyone. The process is simple. Once assembled, small groups will self-organize to discuss questions generated by attendees through a facilitated process. Participation will be open, public, and non-hierarchical. Each person is an active participant, either convening a conversation around a question, sharing their thoughts, or actively listening and recording what is shared as a documentarian.

Questions that might be addressed include: How does our economy work? What are some strategies for creating more economically sustainable families and communities? What is the difference between a credit union and a bank? How can sharing my personal economic experiences empower others in my community? Should student loans be forgiven? What are my rights when responding to bill collectors? What is income vs. wealth? What financial education resources are available? What does financial independence mean to you? What is possible? What is needed? What is to be done?

Artists and other documentarians will be embedded in the small-group conversations to help record and tell the story about ideas discussed and generated.

These stories and documents will be used to create a publicly-generated newspaper that will be designed, printed, and distributed widely on “Black Friday”– the largest shopping day of the year. For many this time of year is a time of anxiety, worry about money, and also, a time of gathering. The “Financial Engagement” organizers hope to provide a collectively-authored resource for those interested in engaging these ideas and experiences in new ways.

Writers, artists, illustrators, and more are encouraged to sign up to volunteer to record the conversations.

Through this participatory event and the subsequent collectively created newspaper, a “Financial Engagement” seeks to seed, grow, and sustain a public conversation that can change the way we live.

About A Public Thing

An experiment in two parts.

A Public Thing gatherings are facilitated using principles of Open Space Technology. Open Space works best when the work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse, the passion for resolution (and potential for conflict) are high, and the time to get it done was yesterday.

Here’s what will happen: All of the issues that are MOST important to the participants will be raised. All of the issues raised will be addressed by those participants most qualified and capable.

A Public Thing publications are co-created by participants at A Public Thing gatherings. Creative documentarians will be embedded in the gathering’s small group conversations to help record and tell the story of what was discussed and generated. A Public Thing collects these stories and documents, and uses them as the basis for a publication to be be designed, printed, and distributed within weeks of the initial gathering.

We hope to provide a collectively-authored resource for those interested in engaging these ideas and experiences in new ways.

Collaborators

Shanai Matteson & Colin Kloecker (Works Progress), Sarah Peters, Molly Priesmeyer (Good Work Group), Sam Gould (Red76), Molly Balcom Raleigh, and a growing group of artists, designers, & writers. Let us know if you’d like to be involved by emailing hello [at] worksprogress [dot] org.

Learn more about the event via Facebook.

MSP Tours and a unique public-transit system let layover passengers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport explore the best of the Twin Cities!

September 22, 2011 (Minneapolis)—A new project promises to showcase the Twin Cities to world travelers and help increase visibility, tourism, and business. MSP Tours, located at the Minneapolis St. Paul airport, is now offering self-directed audio-guided tours of the Twin Cities to travelers with layovers at the airport.

In 2010, MSP served 32 million passengers, making it the 15th busiest airport in the United States. According to the Metropolitan Airport Commission, 14.7 million of those passengers were layover travelers.

MSP Tours will target those travelers, offering them exclusive, customized tours that take off every 10 minutes and utilize the Hiawatha Light Rail Line. Each tour brings them to the light rail’s 19 destination stops, among others, and back to the airport on time for their departure flight.

Every tour offers unique audio tips and testimonials, all provided by the Twin Cities’ biggest experts, artists, and aficionados.

MSP aircraft operations are increasing every day, with traffic expected to grow by 40 percent by 2030. MSP Tours is working with the Airport Foundation MSP to enhance the airport experience and provide tourism opportunities for its passengers.

MPS Tours is the first touring operation of its kind to offer both customer-service alternatives for an increasing number of layover passengers and a unique opportunity to showcase the Twin Cities to world travelers who are likely to return for business opportunities and repeat visits.

“I want to offer customized tours of Minneapolis because I love this city,” says MSP Tours owner Chieko Karlsen, a lifelong resident of the Twin Cities who has worked as a personal tour guide for more than 10 years. “It’s an opportunity to really reach people who otherwise wouldn’t see our cities, and showcase our world-renowned arts, culture, architecture, and more.”

With a layover of three hours or more, travelers can explore the Mall of America; Target Field; the downtown dining and shopping district; Nicollet Mall; Minnehaha Falls; the Mill City Museum; the Guthrie Theater; and more.

Audio guides written in collaboration with Twin Cities experts and Shutterbird Media make every tour as equally educational as it is entertaining.

Local musician Jeremy Messersmith even provides some tips, and travelers get to listen to his critically acclaimed tune “Light Rail” as the Hiawatha line takes them to their next destination.

“It’s really about showcasing the cities,” says Karlsen. “And we have the brightest minds and experts doing it.”

Mayor R.T. Rybak provides the intro, ensuring every traveler gets to explore the city like a local.

Each tour costs $27.50 and includes: cost of Metro Transit Light Rail tickets; MOA tickets to attractions like Nickelodeon Universe and Sea Life; Nice Ride 24-hour subscriptions; Cardinal Bar promos; and a Macy’s Visitor Savings Pass.

The first tour takes off on October 1st!

Want to tour the Twin Cities in a whole new way? You’re invited! Check out one of the complimentary tours reserved just for press.

Friday, September 30^th: 10am and 2pm

Saturday, October 1^st: 10am and 2pm

Contact: Chieko Karlsen at 612.232.7814 or chieko@msptours.com to reserve your customized audio guide!

Meet at information booth on the lower level (tram level) by short-term parking. Park in short-term parking and enter lower level. The information booth will be immediately visible. Parking will be validated courtesy of Airport Foundation MSP, so take a ticket and bring it with you.

Plan for three hours, but you can do it in less if you’re in a hurry.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see the Twin Cities in a whole new way!

Check out the web site: www.msptours.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @MSPTours

Peirce, who plans on bringing other writers and social-good minds into the fold as the site grows, has written a series of posts about a diverse range of subjects and innovations, including new arts business models, such as Mixed Blood’s new “Freemium” program, and what it says about creative new ways of doing business and increasing community outreach.

According to Peirce:

Porpoise was started to share stories and ideas related to using business for social good in Minnesota. We are interested in social innovation and new ideas that improve our world. That means we’ll cover everything from mission-based for-profits, earned income non-profits, hybrids, corporate social responsibility, and philanthropic innovations. We are fascinated with brand new business models, as well as applying old models to entirely new problems. Areas like renewable energy, microfinance, and youth employment keep us interested, and over-arching topics like cause marketing, business ethics, and technology allow us to explore ideas across sectors.

We’re looking forward to reading more from Peirce, and learning more about all of the great Minnesota businesses inspiring social change and business innovation.

Want a mini-farm of your own? Contact Harvest Moon. They’ll do the work for you and help you learn all about the value of permaculture and growing healthy  food.

Contact:

Krista Leraas: krista@harvestmoonfarmers.com

Dina Kountoupes: dina@harvestmoonfarmers.com

For Immediate Release

Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers are turning urban landscapes into mini-farms all over the Twin Cities

Gardens by Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers are helping to bring the freshest and healthiest food to the Twin Cities

April 11, 2011 (Minneapolis)-Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers are giving new meaning to the local-food movement in the Twin Cities. Led by Krista Leraas and Dina Kountoupes, Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers are a group of expert gardeners, permaculturists, and sustainable farmers who are transforming city landscapes into sustainable mini-farms all over the Twin Cities. The gardens are providing healthy food while also helping to educate homeowners, renters, and business owners about the food-growing process.

“Our goal is to build mini-farms that can educate people about how to grow food and the value that has,” says Leraas, who grew up on a farm and later studied cultural ecology and sustainable communities, along with co-founding the Living Green Expo.

Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers are designing organic mini-farms in backyards, front yards, side yards, community plots, business campuses, and, most recently, Habitat for Humanity homes. The farmers are working with three Habitat families to create mini-farms that can help feed them all growing-season long.

Along with creating gardens for homeowners who don’t have the time, Harvest Moon is also working to raise awareness about sustainability and provide access to healthy foods for people who don’t ordinarily have it.

“What’s makes us unique is that we’re teaching people who have a garden, giving them a sense of place, or the workings of nature, of the seasons,” says Kountoupes, who studied environmental education and worked with Leraas at the Permaculture Research Institute before founding Harvest Moon.

“Our gardens aren’t just a grocery store in your back yard, says Kountoupes. “It’s actually about teaching and sharing. I am a teacher at heart. Sharing is a part of me.”

Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers provide full-service gardens, which include more than 35 different vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. The package also provides weekly maintenance, compost, and watering. Harvest Moon also offers garden coaching, consulting, and design, helping to teach up-and-coming mini-farmers about maintenance, soil fertility, pest control, and more.

“Harvest Moon is very people-centered,” says Leraas. “It’s all about how the people we interact with are getting fed, how they value what they put into their bodies, that they’re staring to understand something about their place; they always learn something and their perception changes…and that’s our ultimate goal.”

Of course, we respectfully disagree. Annoying phrase? Maybe. But our vote goes to “natural-cut fries.” (Seriously. What are those anyway?) And by no means has it peaked. In fact, we’re just starting to see its real potential. The power that social media has for social entrepreneurs, small companies, and grassroots campaigns is exponential, and at the same time, like marketing, its end results hard measure. But unlike static advertising and marketing, we can see it amplify in real-time, as conversations about ideas, grassroots efforts, and campaigns begin to manifest themselves in real-world conversations, serving as catalysts for change.

An article in the Guardian last week did a nice job of summarizing how social enterprises are using social media to their advantage. It’s fairly basic, as it should be, since so many businesses and organizations find social media confounding. The author outlines easy ways to engage your audience, such as:

So, on your Twitter profile, for example, you could introduce yourself and explain what you do for your organisation, to create an open and personal feel. Then, a good first content post should consist of something that will interest your target audience. For example, some recent news from your industry with a comment from you giving your opinion. Try asking: “What do you think?”. Showing your interest in what others have to say is vital to engagement, even though it is OK to disagree in a polite and constructive way. Aim to create a sense of community rather than to simply build your contacts.

This is great advice, since engagement and listening are key. But it also leaves businesses and orgs new to social-media wide open for the drumbeat of “You’re doing it wrong!”

I’m not going to list examples, but I will outline three of the ways folks do it wrong so that you can avoid pitfalls, best represent your brand, and affect change. Don’t take it personally. You’re not alone. But you’re “you are “doing it wrong” if you’re:

1. Not providing a service: Social-media is an extension of your campaign and brand. You should be using it to provide a service to people. Are you simply marketing to them? Or are you providing them with news and information that is educational and interesting and can help further your identity? For example: Let’s say your company is a small, sustainable architecture firm. Can you use Twitter to talk about sustainable services in your area beyond just architecture? Can you become a valuable and trusted resource for your mission and local sustainability? Can you help amplify your brand and your mission by extending it into conversations that educate, inform, and inspire?

2. Spammy McSpammy: We all know this person or organization. It doesn’t matter if they’re connected to a good cause or not; retweeting everything or auto-tweeting/filtering 100 posts a day simply because they include relevant hashtags just feels spammy. No one wants to be spammed, even if it is a Minnesota “meat.” Just because something has #fairtrade #eco #green #sustainable doesn’t mean it’s valuable to your readers/audience. All too often a Twitter feed loaded with hashtags can feel more like marketing than real engagement. Respect your readers first. Make it about them, not just you. Be aware of the conversation first, and don’t let auto filters do the work for you. It’s the conversations that are relevant, not the hashtags.

3. Thinking about followers instead of valuable engagement: See above–the hashtag over-user is also guilty of this. But others are as well, such as the folks who follow everyone under the chirping Twitter moon just so they can get a follow-back. Think wisely about the community you are creating. It shouldn’t be simply based on followers, but engagement. It’s the same rule that we at GWG have for media ads: Why would you place a banner ad on a site that has page views from all over the world instead of on one that has maybe way fewer page views but speaks directly to and with your core audience?

Remember: Your goal is to provide something of value. And that’s impossible to do when you have only page views/followers (e.g. the “Fools Gold of the Internet”) in mind. Think about engagement and true community instead. Think about your story: How do your conversations connect to your story and mission? Think about what you are creating instead of what you are immediately getting in return.

In other words, dear friends of the internet and social good, remember this mantra: Provide a service. Provide value. Provide respect. Provide community engagement, outreach, and education. If you’re doing this, you’re doing it right. This is how you stand out as a leader in social good and social change.

–Molly P.

And the inherent problem is, their mission and story is all over the place. As an editor will say: They totally bury the lede. Deep, deep, deep, where no one could find it even with all of the key search words written in front of them.

These are organizations that, especially in a new economy, are  grasping at new business ideas with windmill arms; they’re tossing a ball into a spinning wheel and hoping it lands somewhere not scary; or they’re in a business for all the wrong reasons (mostly profit over passion and people),  and have an environment of uninspired and burn-out workers to prove it.

Yet there is hope, ye withering ones. More and more businesses are focusing on and finding success in a purpose-driven mission.  Author/creative thinker Dan Pink says there are three necessary elements for happy businesses–and happy people: autonomy; mastery; and purpose. Personal and professional satisfaction (and the most creative, inspiring ideas), he says, come about when people feel that they are self-directed; that they are challenged, learning, and making a contribution; and that they have a transcendent purpose. All businesses should, in fact, have a purpose motive that goes well beyond profit, Pink says, in order to be truly successful.

As Pink says in this fantastic, inspiring video (it’s 10 mins. long, but I encourage you to watch it all!): “When profit gets unmoored from purpose, bad things happen…Bad things like lame services, crappy products, and uninspiring places to work.” However, even in this economy, companies that are flourishing are animated by a larger sense of purpose.

Quote of possibly the Century: “If we start treating people like people,” Pink says, “and not assuming that they’re simply horses, if we get past the ideology of ‘carrots and sticks’ and look at the science…we can build organizations and work lives that make us better off, but also the promise to make our world just a little bit better.”

How’s that for Good Ideas?

I watch this video every now and then for a little bit of inspiration: It reminds me why I do what I do every day, and makes my sense of purpose even stronger. Plus, the animation is really fun, making Pink’s ideas come to life even more.

–Molly P.

On one hand? You could wind up with wayward pen marks from a Bic you used to draw with local artists like Andy DuCett and Jennifer Davis in the Drawing Club at Mears Park. On the other? It could be covered in steamy juices from a brat from the Modern Cafe. So let’s make it simple: Check out both! All you need is a bike, a bus, a car, a magic carpet, or that one tree-trunk-looking flying-dog thing from Neverending Story.

The MN Original party starts in Mears Park at 5pm, promising interactive and arty events like the Drawing Club. Along with making art with local artists, you can enjoy live performances by Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps, Nachito Herrera, and the Mad Ripple Hootenanny, and food for purchase, courtesy of Barrio Tequila Bar. The Fair Food Fight gathering begins at 6pm but promises to go late, with DJ Danny Sigelman behind the turntables spinning plenty of classics and local favorites for the local-foods smackdown.

Eat! Draw! And be merry!

For more info, check out Fair Food Fight and MN Original’s Party in the Park Facebook page.

–Molly P.

Here at Good Work Group headquarters, we loves us some local farms, CSAs, and fresh veggies. Even more–we love the folks who are helping deliver these goodies to people all over the Twin Cities. And it’s with equal amounts of giant, wrap-our-arms-around-it-love that we’re excited about entrepreneurs who are answering the call for sustainable food and sustainable methods of delivery. Enter VeloVeggies, a new Twin Cities bike-delivery venture that promises special-event catering and home delivery of farm-fresh farmer’s market foods, CSA shares, and groceries.

It’s true: VeloVeggies let’s you skip the stores, the CSA pick-ups, and the weekend trips to the farmers’ markets and instead brings the food right to your door.

And along with offering zero-emissions pick-up and delivery of sustainable foods, the pedal pushers also will pick up your weekly compostables and return the worm castings to you for use in the garden.

All of those #GoodIdeas are just a few of the reasons we  were so excited to work with VeloVeggies founder Randall Dietel last week on site redesign, content strategy, and storytelling.

Learn more about this week’s #GoodIdea at VeloVeggies.com.

Have a #GoodIdea you’d like to share? Email me at molly[at]goodwork.com!