Many thanks to
our underwriters:

University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service

The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina

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.

MORE ON THE CONFERENCE

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.

Oppel to keynote ThinkSouth 2010

(NEW) NOV. 9, 2010 - More than two dozen Southern leaders and thinkers will meet this weekend in Little Rock for policy discussions that will include listening to a Friday keynote address by Tom Oppel, the federal coordinator of the Obama Administration's plan to restore the Gulf of Mexico. Read more.

Major new report on the Gulf

SEPT. 2010 -- Click here to see a major new report on the future of the Gulf by the Center for a Better South.

New headlines about the Gulf
(Courtesy GulfSpillClips.com | subscribe)

Why me?

We think you would enjoy participating with and meeting other thinkers who are working to develop and promote smart ideas for the South. We've invited people who see the "big picture" about the South and who want the region to move forward.

What's expected?

We'd like you to join us in November in Little Rock to learn and share ideas with about 40 other smart Southerners. For young state lawmakers, it's a chance to meet with officials from other states to talk about common challenges and opportunities. For thinkers and leaders, it's a chance to help promote a pragmatic agenda..

RESOURCES

Agenda for a Better South, developed at our 2009 conference

Briefing Book for 2009 conference

Gov. William Winter: Impact of the LQC Lamar Society, 11/18/04

Publisher H. Brandt Ayers, Extinct Volcanoes: Liberalism in the South, 11/19/04

© 2010, Center for a Better South. ThinkSouth.org is a project of the Center for a Better South. Contact for more.