Press release
Creative Sector Summit, March 20-22
Join the Asheville Area Arts Council, The City of Asheville and the Buncombe Cultural Alliance in our region’s only annual arts, culture, and entertainment advocacy, networking, and educational conference! The 2014 schedule is better than ever, bringing success stories and great speakers from our Southeast regional neighbors, where the arts are helping build community and the economy. The Summit is a must for artists, arts organizations, and arts partners, as it is our yearly opportunity to connect around how we can work together to support mutually reinforcing goals, and to learn how creative industry and the arts can make Buncombe County an even better place.
Creative Sector Summit Schedule:
Thursday, March 20 at The Altamont Theatre
8:30am-9:00am Registration and Check In9:00am-10:00am The Perfect Storm: Visitation and Creativity in Buncombe County
Over 9 million visitors come each year to Buncombe County, and many of them are seeking unique, experiential, and signature destination amenities. Many of those visitors use the CVB’s visit planning tool, ExploreAsheville.com, to plan their visit. The Asheville CVB and AAAC have worked together to produce a comprehensive calendar connected to ExploreAsheville.com that provides an expanded opportunity for those seeking rich and diverse cultural experiences to find what they are looking for. The powerful architecture of the Explore site offers a variety of ways for the arts and culture business to meet customer need, including a custom profile page that gives an expanded view of each destination. Artists and arts organizations, as well as creative businesses, will be provided a free opportunity to meet new customers before they even set foot in Asheville.Stephanie Brown, Executive Director of the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau
Kitty Love, Executive Director Asheville Area Arts Council
Sponsored by The Asheville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau10:00am-12:00pm Inspiration and Innovation: Building a Great City
Keynote: Jennifer Cole, Executive Director Metro Nashville Arts Commission
Keynote: Lee Fisher, President and CEO CEO’s for American Cities
Sponsored by the Economic Development Coalition of the Asheville Area12:00pm-1:00pm LUNCH
Lunch will be provide in The Green Room.1:00pm-3:00pm Success Stories: Projects From Our Neighbors
Panelists:
Alan Ethridge, Executive Director Metropolitan Arts Council of Greenville
Dan Bowers, Executive Director Arts Build, Chattanooga (via skype)
Peggy Townsend, Public Art Coordinator City of Chattanooga (via skype)4:15pm-5:30pm “Take this Job and Shove It!”: Music as a driver of Tourism & Economic Development Panel
Location: Echo Mountain Recording
Asheville and Western NC enjoy a rich musical heritage that continues to thrive today. Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s early Asheville folk festivals attracted fans from across the country, including a young Pete Seeger who first encountered a banjo here. Jimmie Rogers’ first recordings were at Asheville’s WWNC radio station back in 1927…
Today, musicians and music industry businesses are relocating here from across the country, discovering firsthand what the national buzz is all about. And this Spring’s Moogfest will attract many thousands, including technology executives from Google, Apple and Silicon Valley.
In this panel, we’ll explore how our community’s music heritage, festivals, venues, businesses and musicians can better connect with community stakeholders to fuel both tourism and job creation in Western NC.PANELISTS:
Wayne Martin – NC Arts Council / Blue Ridge Music Trails
http://ncarts.org
http://www.blueridgemusic.org
Michael Selverne
Entertainment lawyer for the Fugees, India Arie, and Wyclef Jean, corporate counsel to Vibe Records
Stephanie Morgan – local musician and former festival producer
http://www.stephaniesid.com/
Jessica Tomasin – Echo Mountain Recording and AC Entertainment
http://www.echomountain.net/
http://acentertainment.com/
Michael Adams – President, Moog Music, Inc.
http://www.moogmusic.com/
http://www.moogfest.com/
Gar Ragland – moderator; Director & Co-founder, NewSong Music
http://newsong-music.comSponsored by Echo Mountain
5:30pm-7:30pm Networking Reception and Live Recording
sponsored by IAMAsheville with food and beverage provided by The Lexington Avenue Brewery.Friday March 21 at The Altamont Theatre
8:30am-9:00am Registration and Check in9:00am-10:00am Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina—A Comprehensive Strategy for Cultural Tourism
A look into the history of traditional mountain music, its economic impact, the strategy driving the Music Trails project, and the marketing that promotes it.
Angie Chandler, Executive Director Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
Jill Jones, Director of Marketing and Communications Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
Laura Boosinger, Musician, project consultant, and Executive Director of the Madison County Arts Council10:00am-12:00pm The Power of Special Events
Introduction by Ben Teague
Panelist:
Emmy Parker, MOOG Music Marketing Director
William Funderburk, Burning Man
Scott Watson, Executive Director Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Charleston, SC
Linda Smathers, Shindig on the Green12:00pm-1:00pm LUNCH
Lunch will be provide in The Green Room.1:00pm-2:00pm Presentation by Andre` R. Nabors
Andre` R. Nabors, Tourism Development Manager NC Division of Tourism, Film, and Sports Development2:00pm-4:00pm Local Opportunities, The Artist as Partner
Learn more about what successful creative destinations within Buncombe County have done to capture visitors. These are creative businesses, nonprofits, arts presenters and historic sites who have captured funds not only from customers but also from funding sources, such as the Tourism Product Development Fund offered by the Tourism Development Authority. Many of these groups consistently reach out to artists and other creativity engineers to augment their projects using those funds. Artists will benefit from hearing more about what those groups look for when they need art works, curation, design, and other creative input.Panelists:
Sam Powers, Director, City of Asheville Office of Economic Development. Sam will discuss the City’s process of request for proposal for artists to contract with the City on capital improvement projects, and about the role of the US Cellular Center in arts & tourism.
Callie Polk, Asheville Airport Gallery
Jill Jones, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, Blue Ridge Music Trails
Alice Sebrell, Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center
April Nance, Southern Highlands Craft Guild and the Folk Art CenterFriday Evening (time to be determined)An Evening at the Altamont Musical Showcase and AAAC Members Party!
SATURDAY MARCH 22
Creative Community Resource Day at The Asheville Art Museum
FREE
9:00am-12:00pmBuncombe Cultural Alliance Stakeholders Meeting
Facilitated by Tracy Kunkler, Simms & Steele Consulting
In 2013, one of the top goals of the Creative Sector Summit was achieved, and the Buncombe Cultural Alliance was convened. Over the course of 2013, the BCA met to identify how best to serve arts, culture and entertainment in Buncombe County. The Asheville Area Arts Council serves as the backbone administrative organization for the BCA. The City of Asheville was the 2013 funding partner. The BCA will host an open forum with stakeholders in five key areas of arts, culture, and entertainment in Buncombe County, in order to improve the draft scope of strategy arts culture and entertainment.Time to be Determined Visitor Readiness with Visit and Venture Workshop
Over the years, Asheville has earned accolades from national media sources and a following from many choosing to follow their bliss be it for the indie food scene; staple breweries; alternative health and wellness; handcrafted goods; the entrepreneurial spirit; legendary resorts or breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Regardless of the reason, when the destination is Asheville the underlying reality is that creativity is our main attraction and native kudzu. In this interactive session, we will further explore traveler profiles, patterns and trends in order to spark a dynamic discussion on strategies for integrating our creative expressions with the guest experience by becoming “visitor ready”.
Cortina J. Caldwell founder and managing consultant of Visit & Venture: www.visitandventure.comTime to be Determined Arts Education for America’s Students: A Shared Endeavor
Banu Valladares at the NC State Arts Council12:00pm-3:00pm Artist Opportunity Tabling with Summit Partners and Area Organizations
Featuring:
The Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Asheville Area Arts Council present a hands-on workshop for using the new arts, culture, and entertainment specific web portal on ExploreAsheville.com
HandMade in America
Visit & Venture
The Anam Cara Theatre Company
City of Asheville
LEAF Community Arts/ The Easel Rider
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area12:00pm-3:00pm Gallery One-On-One
Representatives from local galleries available for one-on-one portfolios review.12:00pm-3:00pm Film Series curated by Daniel Lowe
Creative Community Resource Day food and drinks provided by Earth Fare.
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