Welcome to the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy! Skip directly to the navigation or the content.

Frequently Asked Questions


The Conference | Program | Registration | Speakers | Location/Hotel/Travel

The Conference

What is the National Conference on the Creative Economy?

The conference will examine the role that a strong, creative workforce plays in the growth and success of businesses and communities in an information-based economy. Topics will include:

What is the appropriate attire for conference?

Business attire is the appropriate attire for the conference.

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Program

What are the elements of the conference?

The conference features a number of panel discussions, two keynote luncheons and two concurrent sessions and networking receptions.

Do you have any concurrent sessions?

Yes. There are two concurrent sessions on Wednesday, October 24th. As you fill out your registration form the screen will prompt you to select your concurrent session of choice.

Are there any evening events?

Yes. There is an evening networking reception on October 24th open to all conference registrants.

Can I sit with my party at the luncheons?

Yes, if you arrive together. However, attendees are seated randomly.

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Registration

How much is the registration fee?

Are there any incentives for group registration?

Yes. The group registration fee (based on 20 people or more) must be made at the same time with the same form of payment. Please contact Connie Royal for details.

How can I register?

Click on the "Register" button at the top of the Creative Economy Web site, and you will be taken to our secure CVent registration site.

Does my registration fee include hotel accommodations?

No. Your registration fee includes participation in the conference, concurrent sessions, conference materials, networking reception, continental breakfast and lunch on Wednesday and Thursday.

For your convenience area hotels include:

Are meals included in the registration package?

Yes. A continental breakfast will be served on Wednesday and Thursday with a networking reception on Wednesday evening. Also, keynote luncheons on Wednesday and Thursday are open to all conference registrants.

What if I have to cancel?

The National Conference on the Creative Economy will refund your registration fee (minus the $100 processing fee) if the cancellation is made online by September 24, 2007. Please have your confirmation number available.

If I have already registered but cannot attend, can I send someone else in my place?

Yes. Name changes are acceptable if the change is made online by the original registrant. Remember to have your confirmation number available.

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Speakers

I’m interested in being a speaker at the conference. Have speakers been selected, yet?

Speakers are still being accepted for review. However, most speaking positions are filled. Please send your request, along with your press kit to FCEDA, Attention Events Department, 8300 Boone Boulevard, Suite 450, Vienna, Virginia 22182.

NOTE: Due to overwhelming requests, we are only able to contact those selected.

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Location/Hotel/Travel

Where is the National Conference on the Creative Economy being held?

The conference is being held at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in McLean Virginia

Are there other hotels in the area?

Yes. Area hotels include the following:

What is the closest airport?

Washington Dulles International Airport is 14 miles from Tysons Corner, while Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is 14.67 miles.

How much will a cab ride from the airport to the hotel cost?

The average cost of a taxi cab ride from both Washington Dulles International and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is approximately $35 to $40 dollars.

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Featured Speaker

Photo of Richard Florida.

Richard Florida

Professor Richard Florida is the author of the 2002 best-seller, The Rise of the Creative Class and the 2005 must-read follow-up, The Flight of the Creative Class.

Photo of Thomas Friedman.

Thomas Friedman

Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times , Thomas Friedman is the author of the runaway best-seller The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century.

Photo of Alvin Toffler.

Alvin Toffler

Author of the book Revolutionary Wealth and former associate editor of Fortune magazine, Alvin Toffler literally invented the roll of the futurist with the publication of his seminal work Future Shock.

Photo of David DeLong.

David DeLong

MIT AgeLab research fellow and and adjunct professor at Babson College, David DeLong is the author of Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce. His firm, David DeLong & Associates, helps companies solve performance and staffing problems caused by an aging workforce and skills shortages.

Photo of Joe Watson.

Joe Watson

Joe Watson is CEO of Without Excuses and StrategicHire, located in Reston, VA. Without Excuses delivers professional development programs across a wide swath of executive skills. StrategicHire specializes in the placement of diverse middle- and senior-level management personnel across a broad range of industries. Watson is the author of Without Excuses: Unleash the Power of Diversity to Build Your Business, published in 2006 by St. Martin's Press.

Photo of Joe Watson.

Anne Fisher

Anne Fisher is a Senior Writer for FORTUNE magazine, where she covers workplace and management topics. Fisher also writes the popular weekly career-advice column "Ask Annie" at CNNMoney.com and is the author of two books, If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? and Wall Street Women.

Photo of Frank Sesno

Frank Sesno

Frank Sesno has been chronicling world events as a journalist for more than 25 years. He serves as a Professor of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC, and he is a Special Correspondent for CNN where he makes documentaries and works on special projects for the network.

Creativity Quotes

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

— George S. Patton

“The only things in my life that compatibly exist with this grand universe are the creative works
of the human spirit.”

— Ansel Adams

“The creative process is not controlled by a switch you can simply turn on or off; it's with you all the time.”

— Alvin Ailey

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”

— George S. Patton

“It is the supreme art
of the teacher
to awaken joy
in creative expression and knowledge.”

— Albert Einstein

“The question
is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

— Martin Luther
King, Jr.

“All creative people want
to do the unexpected.”

— Hedy Lamarr

“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

— Dr. Seuss
(Theodore Geisel)

“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.”

— Victor Hugo

“We are not creatures of circumstance; we are
creators of circumstance.”

— Benjamin Disraeli

“It may be that those who do most, dream most.”

— Stephen Leacock

“Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.”

— Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”

— Charles Mingus

“Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem.”

— Brian Aldiss

“Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is.”

— Mason Cooley