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CONFERENCE
TO FOCUS ON THE SOUTH'S FUTURE
WHAT
ThinkSouth 2010 is a major regional conference for state
and local thinkers and legislators who want to talk about big ideas
and inspire leadership for Southern states to move forward. Among
participants who will be at the invitation-only conference are political
leaders, policy experts, private-sector decision makers, journalists
and academics.
WHEN/WHERE
The
conference will be held Nov. 12-14, 2010, in Little Rock,
Ark., at the Capital Hotel. The conference will include a special
dinner inside the Great Hall of the William J. Clinton Presidential
Library.
There
is not a cost for participants, but invited participants are asked
to pay for their room and board. Some scholarship money will be
available. More information.
WHY
Public policy matters. It drives how we educate our children, provide
health care, protect the environment and grow jobs for Americans.
But most people across the South don't think that much about public
policy and how it can make a difference. Somebody else, they think,
will deal with big problems.
In
our increasingly partisan and media-saturated world of small soundbites
for big problems, it's often hard for elected and appointed officials,
and other leaders to make serious inquiries and give thoughtful
consideration to big problems facing the South. Instead, they often
have to put out the fires of immediate problems rather than finding
solutions for decades-old problems.
Former U.S.
Rep. Glen Browder of Alabama listens during the Center's 2009
conference. |
THIS
YEAR'S CONFERENCE
The conference, offered by the non-partisan Center
for a Better South, will bring together some of the best Southern
minds to explore pragmatic priorities for the American South involving
tax reform, environmental ideas and making communities safer.
In doing so, the Center is continuing its mission to help leaders
throughout the region better understand how and why cohesive, structured
public policy matters.
ThinkSouth
2010 is an extension of the Center's successful 2009 conference
at Davidson College in which more than 30 people gathered to develop
an "Agenda for a Better South" -- a short document that
outlines major challenges on which Southern leaders should focus.
Each policy priority is accompanied by a measurable indicator. Click
here to learn more of the Agenda.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Participants will receive a background briefing booklet prior to
the conference. If
there is information you want to provide us before the conference
to share with other participants, please
send it to us by email.
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