Hank and I recently took a trip to San Antonio as the first official Marion's Ledge Work Retreat. Before the trip, I compiled a workbook with sessions that covered all of the things that we needed to work on, including identity statements, marketing, and initial advertising. We also discussed related activities and funding.

The whole trip was a really good success. We stayed in a hostel near Sam Houston Military Base in a house that used to be owned by a general that was built around the turn of the 20th century. I just loved the character of the place. There is just something to staying in a building that you know is incredibly solid. That house will be there for a long time save something like a fire or a tornado.

We spent our time at various coffeehouses near downtown. One in particular that we enjoyed was called Cafe Latino, where we met the owner. He offered us a good quote: "You can do anything. All you need is money." We understand that very well. :-) He also was very knowledgeable about coffee and may be a very good resource to tap.

We also stopped by and worked at Ruta Maya Riverwalk. The Austin Ruta Maya is one of the few coffeehouses that seem to share a spirit with Marion's Ledge, so stopping by the San Antonio version was a must. This made us think about how the same vision can be expressed in different locations. What actually created the atmosphere of Ruta Maya?

All in all, I learned the power of sitting in a coffeehouse for 3 hours with an agenda to go through. Each extended session led to many new ideas and inspirations.

Here are some ideas/highlights of our work:
• further identity statements, including values
• looking at a for-profit model for Marion's Ledge
• possible actions to take to further our mission for our building
• initial advertising efforts

We also added a new quote to join our two main quotes: "Some men see things as they are and say 'why?' I dream things that never were and say 'Why not?' " -- Robert Francis Kennedy