Press Room
“Arts Moment” in store for the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy
Robert Lynch, 30-year veteran in the arts industry, will join accomplished list of speakers at the October 24-25 conference in Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County, Virginia, USA, September 13, 2007 — Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, a national organization dedicated to making the arts more accessible to every American, will speak at the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy, set for October 24-25, 2007, at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. Americans for the Arts is a conference sponsor.
Now in his 33rd year of work for the arts industry, Lynch will present conference participants with an “Arts Moment.” While technically seven minutes long, the “Moment” will focus on the role of the arts in driving innovation, building creative and economically vibrant communities, and stimulating the skills needed to successfully compete in the 21st century economy.
Lynch has served as executive director of the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies for 12 years, during which time he managed the successful merger of that organization with the American Council for the Arts to form Americans for the Arts in 1996. In 2005, he oversaw the merger of the national Arts and Business Council into Americans for the Arts and created the Americans for the Arts Action Fund. Under Lynch’s leadership, the services and membership for Americans for the Arts has grown by 4000 percent.
Sponsored in part by FORTUNE magazine, the conference (www.creativeeconomies.org) will examine the role that a creative workforce plays in the growth and success of businesses and communities. Participants will take home important strategies on:
- Attracting and retaining creative talent
- Creating a culture of creativity in the workplace to improve the bottom line
- Using diversity to promote creativity
- Harnessing the power of an aging workforce
- Improving communities and the economy through creative companies
The National Conference on the Creative Economy (www.creativeeconomies.org) also will feature four compelling keynote speakers: George Mason University Professor Richard Florida, author of “The Rise of the Creative Class” and “The Flight of the Creative Class;” Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, author of “The World is Flat;” Alvin Toffler, author of “Future Shock,” “The Third Wave” and “Revolutionary Wealth;” and Admiral Thad Allen, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and head of post-Hurricane Katrina relief efforts on the Gulf Coast.
In addition to Americans for the Arts and FORTUNE, conference sponsors are the Fairfax County government, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, ICMA, The Push Group LLC, Siddall, SkillSource Group, the Washington Business Journal, Potomac Tech Wire and Tech Journal South.
