The Berkshire Forum will be led by a remarkable network of local and national business leaders, social innovators, technology visionaries, and entrepreneurs—bound by a devotion to the Berkshires and an interest in shaping its cultural and economic future.
A press conference welcoming The Berkshire Forum to the Berkshires will be hosted by Mayor James Ruberto at 11:00 am on Thursday August 5 at The Berkshire Museum. Members of the press and local business community are invited to attend. The Berkshire Forum’s mission is to inspire participants to assume active roles in rejuvenating the local economy. It will kick off on the evening of Tuesday September 14 with talks on “The Future of Business: Stabilizing the Fluctuating Job Market” and “The Business of Healthcare: Medical Delivery Innovations Taking Root in Massachusetts” delivered by National Chamber Chairman, William Little, and Health-policy expert, Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
The Forum will continue over the following two days, wrapping on the evening of 3rd Thursday (Sept. 16) in downtown Pittsfield, with a talk from Senator Benjamin Downing on “Broadband Expansion to Rural Communities: Growing Locally, Competing Globally” and a possible visit from Governor Deval Patrick.
“The Berkshire Forum will help bring forward the ideas that will shape our future. I’m looking forward to participating, listening and learning, and hope many others do as well.” – State Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D- Pittsfield)
The Berkshire Forum welcomes forward-thinking doers, thinkers, and dreamers from all walks of life and areas of commerce. Every business owner, employee or entrepreneur, be it at the start-up level or publically trading on the NASDAQ has insights to share and knowledge to gain. The goal of the Forum is to bring Berkshire homeowners and the business community together in hopes of strengthening our collective economic future.
All Berkshire Forum talks and panels will be amplified by performances by local musicians and artists, the showing of short films produced by local filmmakers (courtesy of Berkshire International Film Festival), and a two-day schedule of regional author book signings.
“The Berkshire Forum will be the newest feather in the Berkshires’ cap—one many of us have wanted to see for years. Tina and Mary have the energy, connections and savvy to pull off a top-notch event. We’re thrilled to be on board as a sponsor.” – Eugenie Sills, Founder & Publisher, The Women’s Times
The Berkshire Forum producers welcome local business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, artists, and innovators to contact them directly, in order to learn more about securing booth space in The Colonial lobby or having your work spotlighted at this year’s event. Several display areas, panel positions, performance roles, and book signing timeslots are still available.
A one-time-only inaugural rate of just $49.99, for the full three-day event, is currently being offered to the community, with an additional discount available to members of all area Chambers of Commerce. Educators and students will be offered complimentary seating with the presentation of a teacher/student ID, subject to availability.
Tickets are now on sale through www.TheBerkshireForum.com or www.TheColonialTheatre.org.
About The Berkshire Forum:
The Berkshire Forum is produced by Tina Chase of New Marlborough, MA and Mary Collins George of Hinsdale, MA, co-owners of Chasing George, LLC. Since 2000, Tina, an accountant and business manager, and Mary, a writer and technology analyst, have served various roles at Gilder Publishing, LLC in Great Barrington. MA. Together they co-produce the Gilder/Forbes Telecosm Conference, a technology-investment conference hosted annually by Forbes magazine Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes and Berkshire-based Economist and Author, George Gilder. The Berkshire Forum is the team’s first event in the Berkshires; for the Berkshires.
Contact:
Event Producers: Tina Chase, 413.644.2133, tina@theberkshireforum.com and Mary Collins George, 413.626.7832, mary@theberkshireforum.com
The Berkshire Forum 2010 Featured Speakers and Participants
• RICHARD ALCOMBRIGHT, Mayor, City of North Adams
• ANN-ELIZABETH BARNES, Co-author, A Free Woman On God’s Earth
• JANE BURKE, Life-long Educator; Founder & Director, Flying Cloud Institute
• STUART CHASE, Executive Director, The Berkshire Museum
• LISA CHAMBERLAIN, Founder and Managing Partner, The Chamberlain Group
• BENJAMIN DOWNING, Massachusetts State Senator
• NANCY FITZPATRICK, Vice Chairman, The Fitzpatrick Companies
• HELENA FRUSCIO, Director, Berkshire Creative
• DEREK GENTILE, Reporter, The Berkshire Eagle; Author of six non-fiction books, including Splitters, Squeezes, and Steals: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Greatest Techniques, Strategies, and Plays
• CORNELIA BROOKE GILDER, Author, Houses of the Berkshires & Hawthorne’s Lenox
• GEORGE GILDER, Berkshire-based author of over ten books, including; Wealth and Poverty, The Spirit of Enterprise, Microcosm, Life After Television, and The Israel Test
• DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, Forbes columnist; The Wall Street Journal Contributor; CNBC Commentator; Former Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Health-policy Expert
• JESSICA HARRIS, Host of NPR’s From Scratch: The Radio Show on Entrepreneurial Life
• MATT HARRIS, Managing General Partner, Village Ventures
• RUSS HOWARD, Managing Director, High Peaks Venture Partners
• CAROLE HYATT, Entrepreneur, Renowned Career Strategist, and Best-selling Author, The New Woman’s Selling Game, Shifting Gears, Lifetime Employability, and When Smart People Fail
• JANA LAIZ, Author, Weeping Under This Same Moon, Elephants of the Tsunami; co-author of A Free Woman On God’s Earth
• WILLIAM “BILL” LITTLE, Chairman, National Chamber Foundation; Former Chairman, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• TODD MACK, Singer; Producer; Founder, FODfest (Friends of Daniel Pearl music festival)
• DR. SANJOY MAHAJAN, Author of Street-Fighting Mathematics; Professor, MIT
• MITCH & SETH NASH, Owners and Founders, Blue Q
• JAMES NEJAIME, Owner, Nejaime’s Wine Cellars
• LAURIE NORTON-MOFATT, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Norman Rockwell Museum
• KEVIN O’HARA, Author, A Lucky Irish Lad
• PERRI PETRICCA, Chief Executive Officer, Petricca Industries; President, Unistress
• SPENCER REISS, Contributing Editor, Wired magazine
• SETH ROGOVOY, Singer; Guitarist; Editor-in-Chief, Berkshire Living magazine
• JAMES RUBERTO, Mayor, City of Pittsfield
• EUGENIE SILLS, Founder and Publisher, The Women’s Times
• KEVIN SPRAGUE, Designer; Photographer; Owner, Studio Two
• RICHARD STANLEY, Commercial Real Estate Developer; Managing Partner, The Beacon Cinema
• BRET SWANSON, President, Entropy Economics; Wall Street Journal Contributor
• MARK VOLPE, Managing Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra
• ABBIE VON SCHLEGELL, Philanthropic Fundraising Consultant
• KELLEY VICKERY, President, Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF)
• MICHAEL ZIVYAK, Founder & Publisher, Berkshire Living magazine
• EDWARD ZYSZKOWSKI, Chief Executive Officer, Steeplechase Networks
FEATURING SHORT FILMS BY LOCAL FILMMAKERS (courtesy of BIFF):
• HAL CLIFFORD & JASON HOUSTON, Cowboy Yoga and Stone River
• BEN HILMAN, Bach of Antarctica and Little Red Jiving Hood
• RYAN KAMPE, Breaking Pattern
2010 Speaking Topics and Panel Themes
• Isolating the Entrepreneurial Gene: The Psychology of the Serial Entrepreneur
• The Business of Healthcare: The Cost of the Massachusetts State Health Plan
• Cleantech: Creating New Markets and Focusing Investments on Clean Technologies
• The Commerce of Culture: Artful Innovation & Effectiveness in the Non-profit Sector
• Impulse to Innovate: Inspiration, the Launching Process, Set Backs & Breakthroughs
• The Spirit of Enterprise: Encouraging Unrestricted Entrepreneurship
• Philanthropic Power: The Business of Giving
• Broadband Expansion to Rural Communities: Growing Locally, Competing Globally
• Getting to Next (Career workshop lead by renowned career strategist, Carole Hyatt)
• The Investor-Entrepreneur Relationship: Building Businesses & Strategically Partnering for Success
• The Future of Business: Stabilizing the Fluctuating Job Market
• Finding the Where of Happiness: Realizing the American Dream in Rural America
The Berkshire Forum Attendee Profile 500-plus business owners, entrepreneurs, social innovators, investment advisors, cultural enthusiasts, educators, media representatives, philanthropists, political leaders and public policy decision makers, as well as artists, writers, technology visionaries, strategists, and thought leaders—bound by a devotion to the region and a personal interest in preserving its rich past and shaping its cultural and economic future. Two hundred additional seats in the upper level of the theatre will be reserved as complimentary seating for local students and educators.
