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Convention Overview
Russell Simmons
Entrepreneurial Approach As An Essential Ingredient
Saturday, June 7, 1:00 p.m.–2:45 p.m.
Russell Simmons, media mogul and entrepreneur, is the master visionary who has long shaped the cutting-edge of hip-hop, America’s most compelling cultural explosion of the latter 20th century. His vision stems from his early realization of two key points: first, hip-hop’s appeal could cut across geographic, ethnic and class boundaries; second, hip-hop would evolve from a musical form into a lifestyle expression. Over the course of the last fifteen years, he has utilized these realizations to immerse hip-hop into every facet of media and pop culture: in music, film, television, fashion, publishing, and philanthropy with Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, reaching out to youth and emerging artists of color. Today, Russell Simmons has continued the evolution of hip-hop by launching major ventures in the fields of advertising and the Internet.
Richard Florida
Creativity As An Essential Ingredient
Sunday, June 8, 9:45 a.m.–10:45 a.m.
Richard Florida is the author of the groundbreaking book, The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, published by Basic Books in June 2002. The book has been widely acclaimed in The New York Times and other major media for showing how the most profound changes in our workplace, culture, and everyday lives come from the rise of creativity as an economic force. Currently in its eighth printing, the book has stimulated a national debate about the causes and consequences of economic growth and development. Florida is the H. John Heinz III Professor of Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University and has been a visiting professor at MIT and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Keynote Luncheon featuring Dana Gioia
Monday, June 9, 12:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m. 
On January 29, 2003, Dana Gioia was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the ninth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is an internationally acclaimed poet, librettist, educator, and former business executive. An influential critic, he is best known for his 1991 book Can Poetry Matter? about the role of poetry in contemporary culture. His third full-length collection of poems, Interrogations at Noon, won the 2002 American Book Award. His anthology Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, co-edited with X. J. Kennedy, is a best-selling college literature textbook. His poems, translations, essays, and reviews have appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Book World, and The New York Times Book Review. Trained in music, he served as the classical music critic for San Francisco magazine from 1997 to 2002. In 2001, he founded "Teaching Poetry," a conference dedicated to improving high school teaching of poetry. For 15 years, he developed his writing while working as an executive for General Foods in New York, eventually becoming vice president of marketing.
During the keynote luncheon you will hear from Dana Gioia, the recently confirmed Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who will share his plans for the agency and the road that lies ahead, as well as Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, as he presents an update on how Americans for the Arts is responding to the state of the arts in America. Also, Sojourn Theatre Company members have spent the convention asking you and Portland residents three questions: How do the arts help communities survive? How do the arts survive? Why are the arts important? During this session Sojourn Theatre will present a brief original theatre piece based on these conversations.
