The Times West Virginian

Local News

September 24, 2008

Create West Virginia Conference set Oct. 20-22

By Jessica Legge

FAIRMONT — By providing real examples, the 2008 Create West Virginia Conference can help inspire participants and get them ready to take action.

The conference, in its second year, will take place Oct. 20-22 at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Jeff James is chairperson of the Vision Shared Creative Communities Team, which leads the Create West Virginia initiative. This initiative was announced last June, and the first Create West Virginia Conference was held at Stonewall Jackson Resort in November 2007.

“The conference is just one of many things that we do,” he said. “Our group’s mission is to help people build creative communities that support the new economy in West Virginia.”

James explained that the new economy is the part of the economy that basically generates revenue from ideas and innovation, which includes anything from high-tech and software to engineering and architectural design.

Communities have to prepare to make their neighborhoods attractive for creative persons to live and work, he said.

“The conference is basically a giant statewide networking, training and celebration of everyone in the state that’s trying to do this,” James said.

He said 250 people attended last year’s event, which was a great success. James expects the conference to draw more than 300 individuals to Snowshoe this year. More than 200 people have already registered.

As program manager for the conference, Rob Godbey has designed the sessions and has scheduled the keynote speakers. The conference is offering 42 different sessions on various topics, with learning tracks in education, tolerance, technology, place, strategy, resources and business.

Five speakers will be featured. Rob Kitchin will touch on “Growth Lessons from Ireland,” and Dale Dougherty’s speech is titled “Making the Future.” Curtis Johnson will speak about “Taking Innovation Seriously as an Education Strategy,” and Vaughn Grisham’s presentation is called “Extraordinary Results in Ordinary Places.” Mary Frances Winters will talk about the role of knowledge and information in the new economy.

The event will feature a variety of entertainment, including musicians, artists and dancers from West Virginia.

Pre-conference training is also available. Workshops will be held on how to be more creative and how to communicate and market more effectively in the Internet world.

In addition, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is partnering with Create West Virginia for a seed capital matchmaking event. Entrepreneurs with strong business plans will meet with investors during this post-conference component.

James said the conference isn’t only for people who are trying to stimulate business growth locally and statewide. He encouraged a diverse set of people — from artists and entrepreneurs to educators — to participate.

“It’s really anyone that wants to see their community thrive in the 21st century,” he said.

Through the conference, attendees can gain an understanding of the new economy and why it’s an opportunity for them, James said.

“They’re going to learn what the recipe is for their community to build that sort of growth,” he said. “They’re going to be able to network with people who have already succeeded with it.”

People can register for the conference online at createwvevents.com. The cost for individuals is $349, a group of five or more can attend for $229 per person, and the college student rate is $149.

Godbey said participants can gain awareness about the economic development opportunities that are available and how to approach them differently. People can learn what to specifically do in their communities and can develop a support network.

“We’re trying to give them examples,” he said. “We really want to get people moving in the direction of getting plans together ... realizing that you’re not doing this alone.”

“If you really want to grow your community, this is the place to come.”

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.

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