Right Brain Aerobics Classes + DrewsList & Amazing Whidbey Island

8-9-12
Sandra H. Rodman
Right Brain Aerobics - @SHRodman

This blog origincally introduced Right Brain Aerobics 1 in new format in Freeland, WA -- the amazing Whidbey Island on Sunday, Aug. 19th, 9:30 am - 1 pm (the 8/19 brochure looked like this).

But more, it outlines the amazing community building of a local Whidbey institution called "DrewsList" by Drew Kampion.  And spotlights The South Whidbey Cornucopia University...See the whole page on RBA, Drews List and Whidbey Island.


Drewslist: Whidbey Human-touch Personal Email Community Innovation

What we want to blog about -- is how such things are marketed-in-community with a human-touch locally on South Whidbey: DrewsList... created every day personally by Drew Kampion.  DrewsList is a community storytelling event and forum -- not a "list."  It's just different... So see our sample ad below.

DrewsList: Where you send an email and get to know Drew

DrewsList is local creative email marketing made fresh daily on South Whidbey.  It's an event and most everybody reads it daily. You can only post by sending Drew Kampion a personal email, so this is a local adventure not automated from silicon valley. (South Whidbey is a kind of artists-authors-ecofarming-environmental-solar-spiritual-music-inventors community in a breathtaking Puget Sound island setting so what comes on that list -- wow...) So below is our sample ad--  then we'll talk about how this kind of simple creative initiative by one passionate artist -- Drew Kampion -- changed the way a community communicates and entertains... (Ad sample used previously, deleted)

What's Unique about DrewsList and the "Storytelling" Approach?

You get to tell your story.  In one sentence with pics or many sentences.  But Drew likes PICTURES so you gotta do that. And he does it his way.  A wonderful freeing model for mobilizing personal marketing in small communities around one daily "event" that's really "local storytelling." By not limiting your words or pics -- he lets you tell your story...and you know it's going to people who actually READ the stories.

"Asks" and "Offers"

Amazing "appeals" and "offerings" come out on this list that are worthy of a  novel. This is just not Facebook and it's not Craigslist.  You could use those but if you want people to come to something on Whidbey, you're going to have to email Drew... Not hard to do a small version of this perhaps a few days a week for your own small town, neighborhood, club, group. Somehow people get to know each other here differently because of the pictures, stories, and that one local citizen actually takes the personal time to send them to you every day (but Sunday).

 (Also entirely community donation supported, so if you're a Whidbey folk, donate to DrewsList on PayPal.com by sending to: drewslist@whidbey.com )

It's a Personal List of Drew's -- and Everybody Benefits

Drew Kampion does it all -- each ad designed/edited/posted -- and lots of pictures.  You send Drew an email with your best effort -- and he does the rest...and it may go out more than once to several thousand people.  It's always a surprise.

It's "Community Email Storytelling" -- as local Marketing...

Why do we all read this every day?  DrewsList is really a community's "story" -- because one man is paying personal attention to those stories and gets them out there (even if they're long and you want to put up lots of pics or you don't know how to write an ad at all -- he does it for you) -- in a way that doesn't look like classifieds, but personal community communication... Stories about musicians (not just a poster) come through, the stories of upcoming funerals or wakes-- or school recitals featuring some famous young local musicians -- forged with internationally known artist residents performing and best selling authors reading from new books...and the pictures somehow blend into the faces of one community. Creative pictorial email that is somehow moving, unique, intriguing -- you just never know what will happen!!  Perhaps daily newspapers were once this way...but somehow lost "touch."  Drew Kampion brings back that "touch..."

The South Whidbey Cornucopia University...

And what a story every day!

South Whidbey Island Washington is a veritable cornucoppia of arts, theater, classes, innovative ecology and environmentalist leaders, solar entrepreneurs, NY Times bestselling authors, Academy Award winners, continual unique spiritual training and intuitive arts  teachers, leading thinkers and artists, art studios, unique galleries (down the street from the upscale Museo Gallery is Nymbols Secret Garden...

...and the unique handmade collections from around globe at Music for the Eyes....near the firehouse transformed into Callahan's Firehouse glass blowing teaching studio...unique large photography fine arts printing at Fine Balance Imaging Studios...

...amazing farm stores/tours, art studio tours, arts festivals, music festivals, garden tours (like Meerkerk Gardens)  -- live theater performances it seems all the time (3+ live theater productions might be going on simultaneously in one small town) with troupes like Outcast Productions and the infamous Improv Troupe "Comedy Island" (featuring two mischievous best selling authors and the creator the award-winning Whidbey Children's Theater)...

...Transformational Dialogues features renowned healers and brain scientists (alternative healers abound here) and Llynya's features rare crystal/fairie/renowned teacher offerings like Mary Anne Radmacher....we have our own Marimba Center and our own NW Language Academy.  The size of one very small town, South Whidbey -- yet we have our own Earth Portal/GeoDome Project, our own Whidbey Institute, our own Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, our own Whidbey Art Source bringing it altogether-- a vast Earth Sanctuary with Dolman and Tibetan prayer wheel...one of the first and largest Transition Towns in the U.S....

The list is just endless...like a daily year-long university for mind, body, and spirit -- experiencing with many internationally known teachers and artists and innovators gathered in one small place learning from each other. There's a book in this! Wait, somebody wrote one called Whidbey Magic. A Right Brain Community model for the future?

Somehow DrewsList brings us together to know about that and where it's happening, with big pictures...

People Wait for DrewsList to Come Out Everyday!

People wait for these emails in the morning and they know there will be Discoveries!  They see people they've gotten to know through this missive offering.  Now, how many lists and classifieds does any community "wait for" every day?? And most of us read every category -- even if we're not looking for cars, "Wheels" is one of my favs!  What stories!

DrewsList is an Event as well as remarkable personal emarketing-gone-local.  You can Facebook and Twitter, but on South Whidbey knowing about events and amazing things "together" revolves around one man's passion for email community.  It's "personal" not business -- and you know it. You might consider doing something inventive like this for your community's stories-- it's just different than large scale social media platforms. Be inventive! People actually get to know each other and around heartfelt creative projects posted by a friend -- a grand way to be "sustainable" in unknown times. 

How does one subscribe to DrewsList?  Like everything else "Drew" -- you just send him a personal email:  drewslist@whidbey.com.  And a donation.  Right brain life, it turns out, is pretty personal...

Thank you, Drew!

And if we've enticed you...do join us for any Right Brain Aerobics Class on Whidbey Island.

Sandra H. Rodman
CEO, Right Brain Aerobics - @SHRodman -- 425-214-2926
or Email Sandra Rodman