If you ever read a “Choose Your Adventure” book as a child, we at Dakota Resources hope to harken back to that eXperience this summer at RuralX 2022! If you’re passionate about your rural community, RuralX is for you.

This year, we’re excited to welcome you as you are, wherever you are, to explore, connect, reflect and create your own RuralX eXperience, with plenty of fun on the side. It’s our intention that the event schedule sets out general expectations while allowing you the freedom and flexibility to connect with amazing people.

What does “Loving Where You Live” mean to you? We’re excited to explore this question on June 7 and 8 at this year’s RuralX, and we hope you’ll join us to share and learn together. Let’s take a peek at what adventures YOU get to choose from this June at RuralX!

Adventure #1: Choose (and Celebrate!) What You Love About Where You Live

The theme of this year’s RuralX is “Loving Where You Live,” and we’re eager to empower you to take notice of and to celebrate whatever you love about where you call home. We’re especially excited to welcome back author Melody Warnick to RuralX. If you attended RuralX last year, you may remember that Melody led a breakout session for us, based on her first book, This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving Where You Live, all about finding a feeling of home, wherever you are.

This year, she’s back, this time as our keynote speaker, to share even more inspirational stories of people falling in love with where they live and celebrating the towns that we choose to call home.

“I had such a good time last year at RuralX; I met with such an enthusiastic group, and I could instantly see that these are people who love their places and want others to love it, too,” Warnick said. “In many ways, RuralX is my dream audience because it’s full of people who get that idea of why places matter and are willing to do the work to make their places even more lovable and attractive.”

Melody Warnick is back and will serve as our Keynote speaker for both in-person and online RuralX.

Melody’s new book If You Could Live Anywhere will be released this summer.

We’re doubly excited for Melody to share space with us at RuralX this year because she’s releasing a new book, If You Could Live Anywhere: The Surprising Importance of Place in a Work-from-Anywhere World in July.

“While my first book was half memoir, half nonfiction or self-help, my second book was born out of the experience of publishing This is Where You Belong and then being asked by economic development organizations and the like to speak about it,” Warnick said. “This experience opened up a whole new world to me that talent attraction and retention strategies are playing a role in helping people, especially remote workers, determine where they want to call home. My second book, If You Could Live Anywhere, is really dedicated to helping people who are making decisions about where to live to think about what matters to them, what values they want to live out in their place, and how to be really thoughtful about which places will benefit and resonate with you the most to live there.”

In the months leading up to RuralX, we encourage you to engage with us on social media (follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter) and tell us why YOU love where you live. A few lucky winners will receive an advance copy of Melody’s second book around RuralX time!

Adventure #2: Choose Your Destination

RuralX 2022 has something to offer for both online and in-person audiences. Learn more about each eXperience below, and choose the destination that works best for you! Tickets will be available for online purchase starting on Monday, March 28.

“We are so excited about bringing RuralX 2022 in two ways this year,” said Ellie Naasz, Director of Community Impact for Dakota Resources. “In the past few years, we’ve been able to reach more people who are passionate about their rural communities through our online format. We are glad we can continue to connect those people while also gathering together people who want to be in-person for that unique experience. We know that whatever experience you choose to partake in, RuralX 2022 will be impactful and informative.”

Attend RuralX in-person on June 7-8, 2022, in Vermillion, SD

This year, we’re bringing together a limited number of rural shapers from across the nation to learn and celebrate together over two days in Vermillion, SD. We’re excited to bring RuralX to Vermillion and feel especially grateful to Nate Welch and Melissa Eberts of the Vermillion Area Chamber and Development Company for their assistance and support.

“We are extremely honored and excited to host RuralX because the communities throughout the state and throughout the country have begun to emerge from one of the most testing times in human history,” Welch said. “To be able to reconnect and celebrate what we have all done and energize each other and see what we can do for our communities is truly a perfect moment. What is special about conferences like RuralX is while Vermillion doesn’t face the exact same challenges or the exact same opportunities as other rural communities, we are all alike in the opportunities and responsibilities to grow our communities for the next generation. In that likeness, we are all in that together.”

On June 7, our day will begin at 2:00PM with a special workshop with Keynote Speaker Melody Warnick. Attendees will participate in an immersive eXperience with theatre artist Sandra Mollman, enjoy a social hour with networking opportunities and dinner with special guests, and an evening reception and opportunities to explore Vermillion.

Then, on June 8, attendees will enjoy a keynote address with Melody Warnick, take in Knowledge Camp Breakout sessions to learn and share ideas that you can use locally, appreciate an immersive art eXperience, and participate in our signature OpenX sessions.

Attend RuralX online on June 8, 2022

The RuralX event on June 8 will engage our online audience as well! They will get to experience Melody Warnick’s keynote, take in the Knowledge Camp Breakout sessions, and start conversations at OpenX, all from the comfort of wherever they choose! As an added perk, the first 100 online registrants will receive a RuralX Starter Kit with event goodies.

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TAKE ACTION: Ready to choose your RuralX eXperience? Click here to reserve your ticket today!