12 Jan 2022

6 flights canceled, 20 hours of driving, two special girls.

Agritourism, Family Business, Seasonal Business
Minutes after this picture, the Illinois wind blew my little rental car into the left hand lane, luckily no one else was there! "I have class tomorrow!" It was all planned out. I would take my daughter back to school, out for groceries, unload her into the apartment to which she now refers (marginally hurtfully as it may be) as "home." It was halfway to my speaking gig at the Illinois Specialty Growers conference, so with a few connecting flights - no big deal. ...until Tuesday morning. Thirty-five minutes before we departed for the airport, the first flight cancelation dinged through my phone. Rebooking, canceled, my…
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14 Dec 2021

“You might have already won.” Lessons from 2021 – Part 4 of 4

Agritourism, Seasonal Business
Our year end blog journey looked like this:Part 1: I was completely right, for once.Pricing ahead of inflation due to value creation realized by your audience. You simply must charge what the experience you create is worth! Those who did, and ignored the few, loud critics, profited well this season.Part 2: The un-timely (timely) death of novelty.The public is a desperately hungry, novelty-seeking beast that will stop at nothing to find something new and then brag about their finding thereof. Feed 'NEW' to them.Part 3: Intensify the experience.More might not be the answer if you can give more intense experiences…
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07 Dec 2021

“Intensify the experience.”

Agritourism, Family Business, Seasonal Business
One of the 'intense' and purposeful vistas created at Vala's Pumpkin Patch with trees and landscaping. In Part 1, we covered the incredible timeliness of Pricing Strategy Bootcamp that encouraged many of us to increase prices BEFORE inflation arrived. Price increases allow better profits with fewer guests to manage. In Part 2, we lamented the "Death of Novelty," about the continuous reinvestment and ingenuity required to feed the public's insatiable desire for a new product, food, or experience. In Part 3, we can make a big difference by dialing up the intensity. We're going to look at intensifying the experience. "Intensify the experience."…
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30 Nov 2021

“The un-timely (timely) death of novelty.”

Agritourism, Family Business, Seasonal Business
As humans, we have always been on an endless quest for novelty.The question is: How do we use that quest in our businesses? Thanks for letting me write this stuff. I I certainly could be wrong, but there seems to be nothing to do. In Ecclesiastes 1:9, King Solomon writes that "There is nothing new under the sun." It is a cry for novelty, and purpose, from a man who, throughout the book, indulged in every excess in his search to quench the unquenchable desire for novelty, meaning, and satisfaction. Is this why it seems like people keep demanding more no matter what we, as…
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23 Nov 2021

“I was completely right, for once.”

Agritourism, Family Business, Seasonal Business
It's been a few weeks since October, so, hopefully, you've been able to unplug your brain a bit as we start a three-part series reviewing lessons from 2021. Thanks for letting me write this stuff. I think we might agree that there are few things more gratifying than being 'heard,' and this blogging is a great way to share ideas. As a boy, I often ridiculed, then later marveled at, my mother's journaling. It seemed so pointless! Why would you write down what has already happened, when you were there when it happened?! Only much later, actually, in the month after she died…
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28 Oct 2021

Memories, like fruit, are perishable.

Agritourism, Family Business, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Seasonal Business
Zooming down the slide, eyes-wide, smile? Can't hide it.... LAST WEEKEND is Nov 4-6, 2021 -> Farm, Maze & Winery Open Hours Pick-Your-Own: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Farm Market: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Bakery: Fri-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Winery: Sat 12PM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Maize Quest: Friday & Saturday 10AM-10PM with Flashlight Nights, Sun 1PM-7PM I love the picture above. It captures exactly what we strive for in all our work—that moment of pure joy. Mom and child zooming down the slide faces alight with glee. Maybe that's Dad watching and savoring the joy of the family as he, too, must have just had a wild, fun ride. It…
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21 Oct 2021

Footprints in the sand or it’s not really about pumpkins.

Agritourism, Family Business, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Seasonal Business
Join a thoughtful, thankful Farmer Hugh for a walk in the labyrinth. We finally had a day without a preschool tour, which is a little sad, but somewhat refreshing after going 7-days straight for a month and a half. I was walking through the Fun Park, making my list when I was captivated again by the labyrinth. I know, it doesn't seem like the most exciting attraction, but I just love it. It's calming, beautiful, and relaxing, so I walked in. As I walked, I realized that my collegiate daughter was walking through her most demanding semester, just as we were on our…
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07 Oct 2021

Over 50,000 pumpkins and 1,000,000 apples ripe at Maple Lawn Farms

Agritourism, Family Business, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Seasonal Business
Do you like to get your money's worth?! This family when CRAZY with our flat-rate wagon deal, but that's OK, 'cause we have THOUSANDS more pumpkins in the patch! Farm, Maze & Winery Open Hours Pick-Your-Own: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM, Columbus Day Monday, too! Farm Market: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM, Columbus Day Monday, too! Bakery: Fri-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM, Columbus Day Monday, too! Winery: Sat 12PM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Maize Quest: Friday & Saturday 10AM-10PM with Flashlight Nights, Sun 1PM-7PM, Columbus Day Monday 10AM-4PM It's Fall Y'all! My family from Atlanta (hence the "y'all") is visiting this weekend for the 25th Fall Harvest at Maple Lawn Farms and Maize…
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30 Sep 2021

Fear vs. the sunflower.

Agritourism, Family Business, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Seasonal Business
Get the BEST Tickets for the 25th Season of Maize Quest - CLICK HERE-->> Farm, Maze & Winery Open Hours Pick-Your-Own: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Farm Market: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Bakery: Fri-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Winery: Sat 12PM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Maize Quest: Friday & Saturday 10AM-10PM with Flashlight Nights, Sun 1PM-7PM Fearnounan unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.verbbe afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening. It is easy to be filled with fear these days. News contains fearful information. Cars could crash. You could get ripped off.…
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24 Sep 2021

Read for the story of Sand Monster. How does an attraction become reality?

Agritourism, Family Business, Maize Quest Corn Maze & Fun Park, Seasonal Business
Get the BEST Tickets for the 25th Season of Maize Quest - CLICK HERE-->> Farm, Maze & Winery Open Hours Pick-Your-Own: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Farm Market: Mon-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Bakery: Fri-Sat 8AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Winery: Sat 12PM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM Maize Quest: Saturday 10AM-4PM, Sun 1PM-6PM One of the joys of being "The Mazemaster" is working with the team to bring vision into reality. For all you kids out there, that simply means that we are taking an idea from our head, and creating it in some fashion in real life. How Sand Monster was born. We tore out our Step-over Maze this summer…
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