Takin' it to the streets

It's been presentation central around Shared Harvest lately. Remember that presentation Alex and I did to the partner agencies with Shared Harvest? Well we're doing the same type of thing with all of the non-partner agencies in each of our 7 counties--but on their turf. We have traveled through Butler and Warren Counties to do 2 presentations over the past two weeks, but they weren't anything to write home about; only 5% of all agencies invited showed up.

Thursday made presentation #3 for the non-member agencies in Preble County to attend to learn more about implementing the OBB in their organizations. We wanted to see a little higher attendance rates, so this time Alex and I sent out the invitation letters as usual, and then placed follow-up calls a few days ago to remind people of the presentation. We even called to invite Shared Harvest's partner agencies to the presentation if we hadn't yet been in contact with them. We had to leave voicemail messages with most of the agencies, but we hoped for the best, and yesterday morning, we packed up our presentation gear and made the 45 minute drive to Eaton. We set up our laptop and projector, a bowl of candy, and a pile of brochures, then sat back to watch the clock. And sure enough, at 10:00 A.M. our presentation space at the Preble County Public Library was....empty.

But we weren't about to go home empty-handed. While we were waiting for our guests to arrive, we scoured the library's information table and collected a handful of brochures from area non-profits. With addresses from these agencies plus those from the original list of agencies, we plotted out our route and packed up the car. These people were going to learn about the OBB one way or the other!

Armed with fliers, brochures, and business cards, we started knocking on doors. And to our surprise, people not only invited us in their offices, but they listened to us! We were able to leave information at 5 agencies, and we were able to sit down with the directors of two agencies. One director, whose agency we just happened to stumble across, even requested training dates after our chat with her. It was very encouraging to have agency directors excited about the program, and certainly made the trip worthwhile.

While in Eaton, we learned a few key points that will serve us in the future. The first is that communicating via snail mail may not be our best bet with our more rural counties. After walking around for a little, we discovered that some agencies' addresses led us to old, abandoned buildings. It might take a little personal exploration to find up-to-date contact information. Secondly, face-to-face contact tends to be preferable among the tiny, close-knit communities we're visiting. A cold letter from an unknown organization isn't the same as a warm handshake and a conversation. So to successfully recruit OBB sites in our rural areas, it is going to require a lot of time and a functioning GPS to get us out there and meet these agencies face to face.

As I write this, I have just completed presentations in Darke and Miami Counties, two very rural areas of my region. The above strategies I mentioned above certainly applied today--but more on that adventure later!