The Gas Station Was Never About the Coffee
When my husband and I were first married, we lived in a small Nebraska town of about 700 people. No stoplights, only a few stop signs, and the closest Walmart was a half hour drive away. Newman Grove was the kind of town where people knew each other's names, what field they were planting, and probably what they had for supper the night before.
Every morning, a group would gather at the gas station for coffee. Every afternoon, another group would meet at the bowling alley for coffee and lemonade. There was plenty of catching up and probably a little gossip.
Every once in a while, our sweet elderly neighbors would invite me to join them. Those gatherings were never really about the coffee or lemonade, the coffee and lemonade were just the excuses to get together. What people were really showing up for was each other. Sharing news, checking in on neighbors, celebrating good things, talking through hard things. Nobody called it networking or community building at that point... they just showed up.
Those kinds of gatherings seem harder to find than they used to be. Maybe that's why people are searching for connections in so many different ways today…run clubs, pickleball leagues, book clubs, the list goes on. I don’t think people aren't looking for another activity, they're looking for a reason to gather.
Building the Town Square
A few years ago, when I was helping plan Dairy Strong, an annual conference for the dairy organization I worked for, I came up with the concept of Dairy Square. Instead of another ballroom setup, the concept was we were going to build a small-town main street/town square setup. A coffee shop, a watering hole, an ice cream shop...all different gathering spaces that felt like the center of a small town.
I left that job before the full concept went into action, but I've always wanted to create something similar since. The concept worked because it felt familiar and attendees understood how to use the space without being told…they just gathered.
The best events are the ones that create spaces for people to connect. The keynote might get people in the room and the education might justify the registration fee, but the conversations over coffee or ice cream and the chance encounters in between are often what people remember most.
We're all looking for the same thing at events as those people at the gas station and bowling alley in Newman Grove were looking for. Somewhere to pull up a chair, stay awhile, and feel like we belong.
What Has My Attention
A Kansas-based Pizza Hut franchisee has spent the last six years and roughly $90,000 per location transforming restaurants into what they're calling Pizza Hut Classic.
Think vinyl booths, Tiffany lamps, checkered tablecloths, salad bars, red cups, and the iconic red roof. People drive hours to visit these locations. Not because of the pizza, but because the experience feels familiar.
In other words, they're not showing up for the pizza…they're showing up for the feeling.
The same is true for events.