Berkshire Forum Hopes to Spark Connections, InnovationBy Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
01:23AM / Friday, August 06, 2010
Mary Collins George and Tina Chase are bringing thinkers and doers from inside and outside the Berkshires to Pittsfield this September to spark a communitywide conversation. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Area entrepreneurs, educators, cultural leaders and residents will come together over three days in September in what organizers hope will be the first of many annual events to network and strengthen connections for a better Berkshires.
The Berkshire Forum will feature more than 40 speakers and panelists ranging from William "Bill" Little, chairman of the National Chamber Foundation, to local writers and publishers to venture capitalists to nationally known experts in education and health care. Gov. Deval Patrick is scheduled speak at the conference's conclusion.
The topics will be as equally wide ranging, touching on business, technology, education and finding the American Dream in rural America, and include films featured at the Berkshire International Film Festival, concerts, performances and book signings, all held at the Colonial Theatre.
"We wanted to bring together all those subgroups," said organizer Mary Collins George on Thursday during a press conference to announce details of the forum. "The forward-thinking doers and dreamers from all walks of life and areas of commerce to come together annually to learn, to network and to swap ideas."
The forum, running Sept. 14 to 16, is the brainchild of Collins George, of Hinsdale, and colleague Tina Chase of New Marlborough, who both work for the Gilder Publishing LLC, publisher of the Gilder Technology Report, in Great Barrington (editor George Gilder is also a speaker). It's received support from local organizations including the Beacon Cinema, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, Berkshire Creative, Berkshire Living, Women's Times, and WGBY.
Standing in the Hall of Innovation at the Berkshire Museum with Mayor James Ruberto and museum Director Stuart Chase, Chase and Collins George spoke of how and why they put the conference together.
The two have been producing for nearly a decade the annual Gilder/Forbes Telecosm Conference, which brings together technology entrepreneurs. "We met some truly amazing people experts," said Chase. "Incredibly smart forward-thinking women and men with a real passion for what they do and the message they want to convey."
They'd considered five years ago bringing Telecosm - and all those very smart people - to the Berkshires but ran into a very large problem. There was no place to hold it.
"Companies and entrepreneurs focus on relieving scarcities by exploiting abundancies," said Collins George. "Tina and I were sitting down thinking about what's abundant and what's scarce in Berkshire County? ... In Berkshire County, there's a wealth of creative, innovative, entrepreneurial inhabitants; it has a rich cultural community, multitude of groups ... working to strengthen the community.
"We knew what was scarce was a conference center."
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♦ The full schedule can be found here.
♦ All speakers listed on the website are confirmed.
♦ Cost is $49.99 for all three days; tickets can be purchased on the website or through the Colonial.
♦ Some 200 balcony seats will be set aside for educators and students.
♦ The forum opens Tuesday evening and ends Thursday night with 3rd Thursday.
♦ Organizers are still seeking coporate sponsors.
♦ Speakers and audience are encouraged to engage in discussion.
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With Telecosm taking a year off, they decided it was time to bring a Telecosm-like vision to the Berkshires but let the resurgent Pittsfield itself be the "conference center" through its new restaurants, new streetscape, Beacon Cinema, and other centrally located amenities, including the Crowne Plaza.
Putting the conference together went swiftly (and primed with their own cash) since, said Collins George, "did we want to find ourselves six months or a year from now scrambling to catch this rocket or did we want to catch a ride on it now?"
They said they were particularly excited about having Sanjoy Mahajan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and author of "Street-Fighting Mathematics," a book on innovative ways to teach math.
Educators and students will be provided complimentary seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
The cost for the full three days is $49.99; the forum is already attracting interest from outside the Berkshires and the organizers hope it will spark other conferences to consider Pittsfield as a suitable location. They plan to follow up with one-day and online forums to keep the conversation going.
"I think what you've seen are to very talented entrepreneurs trying to bring an energy and a spirit to our community," said Ruberto. "We certainly hope they do prove a point ... that Pittsfield is a place where conferences can be held.
"Let's help them be successful. Their success will truly translate into our success; let's have a good learning experience in September."
For now, they'll be happy to bring the Berkshires together, foment some innovative ideas, and break even.
"We'd like everyone leaving the conference asking us what the dates for next year's conference are," said Collins George. "We'd like this to be an annual event; a real community-building event."
Updated Aug. 6, 2010, at 1p.m. to include images that could not be posted earlier because of technical difficulties.
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