Sizzlin' in Scottsdale
Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2008
ARTICLES
"This conference recharged my batteries," said first-time participant and Colorado activist Lenina Close. She was among the record-setting 500 attendees at the SPN 16th Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. Close added, "I was energized by the countless new people I met, who are now part of my network of experts to call upon, and whom I hope to build friendships with."
Kevin Kane, founder and president of the Pelican Institute in Louisiana, was at his first SPN Annual Meeting, as was the Institute's vice president for policy, Jeb Bruneau. Close to a year old, the Pelican Institute has had considerable impact with its government budget transparency project, and has been cited in The Wall Street Journal.
Kane commented, the event "was invaluable for someone just getting a think tank started. There were networking opportunities galore, as well as presentations focusing on just about every aspect of think tank management. The information and contacts will benefit our organization for years to come."
Before the Annual Meeting, the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute led a half-day training program for executives of start-up and established state think tanks. Goldwater topped that by hosting dinner and organizing the SPN Idol contest. Idol acts ranged from "Rasta Clint" Bolick to Scott St. Clair's bagpipes to Jamie "ukulele" Story and Tom McAuliffe (plus the JS Hula Babes) doing the Hawaiian classic "My Wahine and Me." See Page 8 for the contest winner.
More than 200 organizations and 49 states were represented at the second K-12 Education Reform Summit, co-hosted by the Alliance for School Choice, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and SPN. Many of the K-12 attendees stayed to take part in the two-day SPN Annual Meeting. The night before, early arrivals watched the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's award-winning documentary, Flunked . Refer to Page 4 to learn who won the Friedman Foundation's annual Grant Award for Innovation in School Choice.
Continuous conversation and laughter filled the Annual Meeting hallways, meals and receptions. New Media and technology presentations were hot topics, as were the in3vestigative journalism, development and media crisis management sessions. Many of the Scottsdale presentations are available at spn.org.
On Saturday, after the Meeting ended, the Sam Adams Alliance hosted state and local bloggers from around the country for another SamSphere. The day-long event aimed "to build cohesive blogger networks and amplify the limited-government message online."
The Scottsdale events had a good buzz about them. That feeling is exemplified by Colorado's Lenina Close. When asked if she'd attend another SPN Annual Meeting, Close replied, "Here's to North Carolina in November 2009!"
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