My Simple Community

It's two hours before game time and all over America people are starting to gather in front of a TV with family, friends & neighbors.

Did you know that 2/3 of the time that watching NFL games on TV is really social gathering?  It is. Sixty-six percent of those who watch say they watch with others and do it as a planned activity.  They are making the same kind of arrangements they would need to do if they were going to a party or out to dinner with friends.

And the Super Bowl is the single time every year that the most Americans are doing the very same social gathering experience at the same time.

So... SOMEONE out there HAS to have a great community story to share come Monday.  Please do.

...and enjoy the game!

February 6, 2010

Time we spend with family, friends & neighbors can be very unconscious. Let’ do something about that.

Think back over the last week. How many times did you get together with someone primarily for the enjoyment of their company – not to accomplish a task?

Maybe you are asking yourself what kinds of activities count. That’s up to you, but here are some things to consider:

• A meal with someone (other than a meal at home with your family)
• Getting together for a drink (coffee, beer, whatever)
• Just stopping over at a neighbor’s house
• Going to a social gathering (party, etc.)
• Going to a social event (concert, play, movie, etc.)

But please do not count these:

• Phone calls
• Emails
• Facebook or other social media exchanges
• Just saying “Hi.” in passing… not quite enough, is it?

Face-to-face is key, and doing even the smallest thing to make it happen matters – there needs to be some investment.

So how did you do last week? When you thought about it, did you do more or less than you predicted?

When you think about it, I hope it seems easier to do than you imagined.

Having thought about it, I hope you now have it in your mind to do even one more thing this week than you did last week.

That’s simple community.

February 5, 2010

Stories are the proof that life has taken place.

Let’s say your friends or co-workers knew you were going to some kind of gathering last night.  Someone will ask you today how it went.  You will most likely give one of two kinds of response.

If it was nothing special, you will probably answer with no more than five words. “Okay.”  “Ehh.” “No big deal.” “Alright.”

However, if it was good at all… you will tell a story. In fact, I want to challenge you to think of a time you were involved in a great social gathering you later described in any other way but a story.

Stories are proof that life has taken place.  The more stories we have, the more life we are experiencing.  If someone asks you what’s new and you respond: “Okay.”  “Ehh.” “No big deal.” “Alright,” you need to get a life. In fact, I hope for you that when asked what’s new you have so many stories to choose from you don’t know where to begin.

Do you have a story from yesterday?  How old is your most recent story?

Here’s the thing… the purpose of this blog is YOUR stories, not mine.  I am going to do everything I can to get us there.  You telling your stories of what your community does to bring life to your family, friends and neighborhood will do far more to encourage others to live more fully and revitalize community than whatever I write in this space.

Have a story to share? Make a comment.  

February 4, 2010

Starting today, this blog is being hosted on two different sites, www.mysimplecommunity.com and the NCAA website www.diicommunity.org.  This could end up being a very important change for both websites. For mysimplecommunity it adds a potential monthly readership of about 13,000 people currently.  For diicommunity, the blog is currently the only content that will be “fresh” – maybe even daily, and which provides the opportunity for people to provide content themselves.

STORIES rule. As long is this is just me writing things daily, it’s just another blog. As soon as you start responding with stories in the comments field, this will take on a life of its own.  The stories of vibrant community do more to encourage us to be more involved than anything else.

It seems that any time I meet someone who has read the book, I know it because they don’t say “Hi Rich!” when they see me, they say “Hey Rich, do I have a story for you…” And I get those stories every day.  Some of them are absolutely fantastic.

Now… if I can just get you to start responding in the comments box with your stories, I will convert those comments to story posts and I really truly believe we will see this thing really take off.

Do you have a story to tell? Do tell… add it in the comments field.

February 4, 2010

Starting today, this blog is being hosted on two different sites, www.mysimplecommunity.com and the NCAA website www.diicommunity.org.  This could end up being a very important change for both websites. For mysimplecommunity it adds a potential monthly readership of about 13,000 people currently.  For diicommunity, the blog is currently the only content that will be “fresh” – maybe even daily, and which provides the opportunity for people to provide content themselves.

STORIES rule. As long is this is just me writing things daily, it’s just another blog. As soon as you start responding with stories in the comments field, this will take on a life of its own.  The stories of vibrant community do more to encourage us to be more involved than anything else.

It seems that any time I meet someone who has read the book, I know it because they don’t say “Hi Rich!” when they see me, they say “Hey Rich, do I have a story for you…” And I get those stories every day.  Some of them are absolutely fantastic.

Now… if I can just get you to start responding to posts with comments, I will convert those comments to story posts and I really truly believe we will see this thing really take off.

Do you have a story to tell? Do tell… add it in the comments field.