Panels/Workshops

How the Lawyer Became a Painter:  The Role of Maine’s Craft Schools in Fostering Creative Career Change                

Maine’s craft schools have long been helping people discover, explore and develop their creative interests from boat building and pottery to poetry and photography. The recent economic recession has forced many to make life changes, with some taking the opportunity to finally pursue an artistic passion as a full-time profession.  How do our craft schools inspire and enable people to re-imagine their lives as professional artists or craftspeople? What risks and rewards are inherent in this kind of reinvention? And what stories (successful or not) and resources are out there to guide and encourage those considering this type of change? 

Moderator:  Susan Palmer, SusanPalmer Consulting, LLC

Panelists: 

Charles Altschul, Maine Media Workshops 

Peter Korn, The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship 

Stuart Kestenbaum, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts 

You Can Get There From Here: Tools for Business Expansion

Contemplating the risk of expanding your business? Recovering from challenges in the economy? Small businesses need a road map and guide to the future. These four panelists are well experienced at helping businesses to get the financial resources they need on the road to business success.

Moderator: Eric Belley, Bangor Savings Bank

Panelists:

Maria MacIntyre, Maine Small Business Development Centers 

Charlie Emmons, Finance Authority of Maine 

Bill Card, US Small Business Administration Maine District Office

Maine’s Broadband Revolution…it’s coming  

Asour connectivity abilities improve in Maine, new opportunities are opening up for Maine to conduct business and build revenue from outside of Maine’s borders. In this panel we will cover: Roadblocks (economic, social and governmental) to getting state of the art connectivity in all areas of Maine; Success stories of companies that have been able to grow their business outside of Maine’s borders because of better connectivity; and Creative ideas for Maine businesses on how they can grow their business outside of the state.

Moderator:  Martin Farrell, Epic Management Group

Panelists: 

Josh Broder, Tilson Technologies 

Susan Corbett, Axiom Technologies

Fletcher Kittredge, GWI

Entertain Us!  Festival and Arts Promotion Potential for Community Development 

Maine is fast becoming a haven for festival goers and those seeking art and entertainment of all sorts. The experienced event promoters and community development experts on this panel have played pivotal roles in not only bringing visitors to events, but also been witness to the positive effects of art and entertainment for their communities. This panel will engage the audience to talk about this unique approach to community development and offer their experience on promotion, building and defining an audience, pitching to sponsors, and much more.

Moderator:  Paul Benjamin, North Atlantic Blues Festival

Panelists: 

Shannon Haines, Maine International Film Festival; Waterville Main Street

Chuck Kruger, State Representative; Entertainment Resources, Inc.

Heather McCarthy, American Folk Festival 

Financing Options for your Business

An experienced and active panel will provide insight to the various financing strategies for capitalizing businesses in Maine and regionally. Panelists will discuss types of business financing, expectations, and the general requirements of funding. Join lenders, investors and finance counselors to gain a better understanding of what you should be considering when developing a plan to grow your business.  

Moderator: Joe Migliaccio, Maine Technology Institute

Panelists:

Tom Gallant, Small Business Development Centers

John Burns, Small Enterprise Growth Fund 

Tim Nightingale, Camden National Bank

Don Gooding, Maine Center for Enterprise Development

Do You Know What I Mean?—Discovering Your Personal Communication Style

We spend a lot of time planning what to say in preparation for important and/or difficult conversations, hoping to achieve understanding. The Communication Styles Framework, as outlined by Bob Keteyian in his book Do You Know What I Mean?—Discovering Your Personal Communication Style, offers an in-depth approach to conversational dynamics. This workshop will provide you with new, incisive tools for successfully managing even your most complex, high-stakes conversations.

Robert Keteyain, Elias & Keteyian

Food = Community: Maine’s Food Shed – A Risk Reducer

Food is an essential ingredient to building and maintaining vibrant and productive communities around the world. As natural resources and their distribution continually make sharp shifts in lifestyles, Mainers are taking action to preserve food production as a precious resource. Food is not only the fuel that energizes our bodies; food creates powerful economic and social change.

Learn about inspiring work being done in Maine's food sector to make Maine a vibrant, healthy, and sustaining place to live (and eat!). 

Panelists:

Amber Lambke,  Maine Grain Alliance

Bonnie Rukin, Slow Money

Sally Walker Madore, No Small Potatoes Investment Club, LLC

Zentangle and Beyond

Juggling?  Balance? Sometimes we become so 'busy' in our daily lives that having time to take care of ourselves can easily be overlooked. Often it seems that work, relationships, personal time and more compete for our waning attention.  Is the answer more masterful juggling or finding a greater balance amidst the all the demands and good self care? 

Working with Jane Haskell to identify and rethink what 'feeds and nurtures' your spirit is the first part of this afternoon workshop. With that information in mind we will then experience the process of Zentangle which instructor Nancy Lubin calls a ‘meditation in pen and ink’. Following the Zentangle experience we wrap up with some deeper questions about 'what feeds your spirit/soul' and how you might incorporate more of that in your life. Both Jane and Nancy offer ways to consider ‘risk’, in action and reflection.

Nancy Lubin, Coach Associates / Zentangle Maine

Jane Haskell, University of Maine Extension

Powering the Creative Economy by Reframing Risk through an Appreciative Lens

“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”- Thomas Alva Edison

Short Description: What happens when we pair strength with strength, hope with hope, and risk with capacity? How can our individual dreams fuel a collective tipping point? What contributions might we make to see each other’s aspirations come alive? How do we take our creativity to the next level to benefit the whole?

These are among the questions we will explore together in this fast-paced, highly interactive session. Together, we will: discover the life-giving “positive core” of Maine’s creative economy; create a shared dream for a Maine infused by the best this creative economy has to offer; design the first small steps forward and contemplate what giant steps are possible; and learn by engaging in a process for social innovation, where risk becomes the springboard for new realities.

Facilitated by:Innovation Partners International

Bernard Mohr

Robert Laliberte

Diane Carazas

Net Zero and Beyond:  Integration of Deep Green Technology in Construction

The sustainability movement in buildings has brought a wealth of innovation to construction practices. These new ideas are being implemented in a variety of scales in Maine – from the individual homeowner to Universities.  We’ll explore their implementation and the challenges to making new technology standard practice.   

Moderator:  Naomi Mermin, Efficiency Maine

Panelists:

Randall Walter, Bensonwood Homes

Doug Baston, North Atlantic Energy Advisors

Alan Gibson, GO Logic Homes

Susy Jones, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships

Inspiration to Perspiration and Back: True Stories

Come talk with entrepreneurs from the field who will offer their first -hand accounts of real life and on-the-ground experiences of what it means to create and make a start-up business work. This will be an open Q&A with the audience after initial introductions. Come with questions and leave with a tangible, tactile and verifiable sense of the actual mechanics and challenges of founding a start-up that has a reasonable chance of ensuring success and scalability.

Moderator: Kerem Durdag – Biovation, LLC

Panelists:

Ian Kopp, Kenway

Susan MacKay, Zeomatrix; Cerahelix

Edie Johnston, Maine Medicinals

Geo Johnston, Maine Medicinals

How to grow your business with very little money out of pocket

Time to catapult your business to “Millionaire/ess” status without going bankrupt in the process! The SECRET to attracting incredibly talented individuals to join forces with you for very little money out of pocket. The 3 biggest challenges entrepreneurs have when it comes to growing their business and what to do to overcome them. The 2 most Critical Mental Shifts You Must Make to launch your business to "Millionairess Status." The most popular mistakes Entrepreneurs make when trying to grow their business that prevents them from achieving the success they deserve.

Amy Applebaum, Amy Applebaum, Inc.

Connecting People to Places: Bikes & Hikes Link Dooryards, Downtowns, and Trailheads 

If you plan for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places. Our American car culture is risky business while conversely, a bicycle and walking oriented society creates vitality in the areas of economy, health, conservation and cultural vibrancy. This session will highlight the benefits of how trail systems that connect communities impact the broader context of human, environmental and overall community well-being.  America’s increasingly unhealthy population, stressed natural systems and diminishing economic vitality are local problems, which require communities and agencies to work together to implement and promote user-friendly, people-powered transportation alternatives to access recreation and other popular community destinations. Increasing a culture of bike and pedestrian communities is a powerful form of economic revitalization that accelerates home sales and, attracts and sustains business. Learn from a panel of urban designers and trail development experts why it makes sense for communities to invest in more people-powered environments to improve and preserve our quality of place. Linking community destinations by creating interconnected pathways for Maine cyclists and pedestrians can drive economic growth, improve the overall physical health of our communities, and leave a positive legacy for the generations to come.

Moderator:  James Tasse, PhD Bicycle Coalition of Maine

Jaime Parker, Portland Trails

Tim Tierney, Kingdom Trails Association

Dan Stewart, Maine Department of Transportation

CEO by Day, Community Leader by Night: Successful CEOs with Souls

A unique opportunity to meet 4 very successful and incredibly diverse CEOs who have led their companies to high-growth through high tech, high-quality and high-touch! Each has invested in innovation, their people, and a higher cause: from education to animal adoption, the business climate to youth sports and homelessness. CEOs with passion and compassion – making it in Maine.

Moderator: Ann Matlack, City of Rockland

Panelists:

Stephanie Volo, Planet Dog

Kent Peterson, Fluid Imaging Technologies

Wick Johnson, Kennebec Technologies

Norm Elvin, G&E Roofing Co; China Dine-ah

Benefitting from International Cultural Partnerships

Cultural entities all over the world are looking beyond their borders to develop new markets and opportunities. A partnership between Maine and New Brunswick is creating alliance between U.S./Canadian arts sectors. Strengthening the connection between Maine and New Brunswick builds a bridge for cultural trade between all of New England and Atlantic Canada. This alliance has created opportunities on the state/provincial level and aligns directly with initiatives happening in the national and global environment.

In this session members of the Maine/New Brunswick cultural taskforce will discuss progress that has been made within the past year. Invited guests from the New England Foundation for the Arts and the World Acadian Congress planning committee will join the task force in sharing information about developing cultural projects beyond national borders. Attendees will have the chance to learn about local opportunities, regional collaborations and international initiatives that are being developed.

Panelists:

Rebecca Blunk, New England Foundation for the Arts

Akoulina Connell, Arts New Brunswick          

Nathalie Dubois, NB Department of Wellness Culture and Sport

Hugh French, Tides Institute and Museum of Art

Donna McNeil, Maine Arts Commission      

Jason Parent, World Acadian Congress

Kathy Hamer/Jacinthe

Breau, Artslink; Association acadienne des artistes professionnel

Sixteen Percent Plus  

This panel will focus on the opportunities in accommodating persons with disabilities in arts and cultural venues and businesses; and the challenges in managing the risks.  Sixteen percent of Mainers report some type or some level of disability, and the percentage will likely increase as baby boomers encounter age related changes.  What are the risks of investing in accommodation and what are the benefits?

Universal design concepts provide opportunities for designers and entrepreneurs.  How can my organization incorporate existing technology to improve universal accessibility?

What low cost strategies and improvements can your business or organization adopt right now and how can I fund it?  How can Universal design concepts be developed and marketed in Maine?

Panelists:

Bryan Gould, National Center or Accessible Media

Jill Simpson, Alpha One

Aisha Hixon, Iris Network

Margaret Gaertner, Historic Preservation Consultant

Built-in Support: Constructing a Better Board

These are challenging times for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. While it’s hard to control the external forces at work, we can work towards equipping our board members with the tools that will help them make well-thought out, effective, and supportive decisions.

Join us as we look at three areas critical to mission fulfillment that are often challenging to address ~ strategic planning, board recruitment and education, and financial indicators. Our presenters will share their stories as well as provide hands-on processes, tips and techniques for getting the most out of your nonprofit board.

Board Building ~ How do you decide the board’s role in the organization? Does the organization have the right people in the room? What do you do when you have them there?

Strategic Planning ~ What is it? Why is it important? Where do we start? How will we know when we’re done?  How do we implement it?  How do we measure progress?

Financial Indicators ~ Is there a CPA in the room? Does there need to be? What information does the board need? How do you present meaningful data clearly and simply?

This workshop is for the leadership of emerging nonprofit organizations.

  Moderator: Jennifer

  Johnson, FMC

  Panelists:

  Alex Gaeth, Big Brothers 

  Big Sisters of Midcoast 

  Maine

  Dalene Dutton, Five Town

  Communities That Care

  Lori Roming, Unity

  Foundation

Viral Marketing and Social Strategies

The "viral" in viral media is more than just a buzzword: it is a metaphor that provides a lens into how ideas are passed from one person to the next.  The structures and strategies this metaphor suggests can be used to craft a message capable of surviving in a chaotic online environment where cats with captions stand as much chance of being recognized as multi-million dollar ad blitzes.  Learn how to build a campaign that takes advantage of the social media environment to effectively get your message out by looking at the mechanisms of transmission underlying social networking.  Understanding these basic roots will not just allow you to effectively use today's technologies of the moment like Facebook and Twitter but also to adapt your tactics to the evolving technologies of the future.

Richard Corey, Artistek Design, Inc.

John Bell, University of Maine's Innovative Communication Design

Innovation + Entrepreneurship = Maine’s Future

Come hear from three Maine entrepreneurs who are growing exciting businesses and adding good jobs in Maine by applying their own mix of innovation, entrepreneurship, Maine's abundant natural resources, and skilled workforce. 

How do I do that? The panel will be followed by a discussion with the three partners of the Blackstone Accelerates Growth initiative, funded with a three-year, $3 million grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, which will boost growth-oriented companies by increasing access to entrepreneurship training, coaching, peer networks and access to capital.

  Moderator:Betsy Biemann,

  Maine Technology Institute

   Panelists: 

  John Ferland, Ocean

  Renewable Power Co.

  Steve Page, Ocean Farm

  Technologies

  Paul Dobbins, Ocean

  Approved

  Renee Kelly, University of

  Maine

  Don Gooding, Maine

  Center for Enterprise

  Development

The Risk of Sharing Your Voice: Poetry, Creativity and Courage  

Do you think of yourself as strict pragmatist? Afraid to express your creative side? Did poetry in school make you squirm? This poetry workshop for non-poets will expose you to unexpected and non-traditional voices from the communities who have taken the risk of making themselves heard through poetry, and will encourage and inspire you to reveal your own poetic self. Get in touch with your creative voice and learn how communication through poetry can give you permission to say what you think and feel in a new way, deepening both your personal and professional lives.

Gary Lawless, Poet, teacher, bookseller and publisher

Designing a Sustainable Life                

Living more sustainably is a goal for so many of us. Yet evaluating and changing our lifestyle often seems too challenging and the problems too large for our contribution to be meaningful. There are so many aspects to consider in designing our sustainable lifestyle – food sources, consumption, our personal goals and motivations, and even finances. In this session, we’ll examine these aspects and our experts will help participants take those all-important first steps.

Moderator:  Sara Trunzo, Unity College

Panelists: 

Mark Fulford, Look Far 

Jim Merkel, Global Living

Project  

Steve Roberts, Great Big Idea

Building the Next Community Media Portal

A powerful new communication model has been developed in Maine by a group of filmmakers, software developers, educators and linguists. It was created to save a dying language, Passamaquoddy, by using documentary film and software to link vocabulary with direct experience in the context of traditional activities.  So many more community needs can be addressed with the creative use of media and the internet.

Entrepreneurs, creative professionals, technologists, policy makers, social advocates, and any interested persons are invited to participate in this workshop. We will present video case studies and help facilitate attendees to brainstorm their own community documentation needs with feedback from an interdisciplinary panel.

Moderator: Louise Rosen, Louise Rosen Ltd.

Panelists:

Gustavo Aguilar, TUG; University of Maine, Farmington

Gaelyn Aguilar, University of Maine, Farmington

Mohammed Dini, Somali Community Leader

Andrew Jawitz, African Diaspora Institute

Ben Levine, Speaking Place

Alexa Mills, MIT Community Innovator’s Lab

Kicking Ass Sustainably: The New Sustainability Marketplace & Path to Innovation

What if someone had told you 15 years ago that the internet was a fad and you listened to them? What would have been the implications for you and your company? Today, you hear the term sustainability bandied about all the time in the business world. Like the internet, it’s in the early stages of revolutionizing business. The question remains, how do you take advantage of this new marketplace and use sustainability to transform your enterprise? This presentation and working session will explore the sustainability revolution happening throughout the business world.  Specifically this session will: Examine a strategic framework for using sustainability to spur innovation and expand your bottom line; Provide insight about the usefulness of sustainability benchmarking tools; and Demo an interactive sustainable assessment tool developed by Maine Businesses for Sustainability and Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences to help you SEE the cash you’re leaving on the table.

Panelists:

Merritt Carey, Graffam Solutions

Jay Friedlander, College of the Atlantic

Marketing to the Young Guns

In this dynamic session, our panelists and moderator will discuss the changing landscape of marketing and how to best reach younger audiences with your marketing message.

Shannon will address industry trends, where things are going, changing media and tactics for effective marketing messaging and social media’s impact. Tobin will cover his view of most effective tactics for marketing messaging, with a specific focus on mobile and lead generation through video and mobile. As a young gun himself in the tech industry, Chris Jones will share his experience and point of view in terms of the most effective methods for communication, and what tone/types of messages will be most effective.

Moderator:John Zavodny, Unity College

Panelists:

Shannon Kinney, Dream Local Digital

Chris Jones, Phireware

Tobin Slaven, Mobile Marketing of Maine

The Policy Risk:  Saving 5.4 Billion Gallons of Oil in the Northeast

In buildings, public policy plays a key role in dictating energy performance. What do we risk both at home and abroad when much of our key energy source comes from foreign sources? Moving our buildings and our policy toward passive and net-zero consumption may seem like an impossible goal. But, it is the goal of many architects and builders here at home and is also being implemented by foreign governments such as the EU. This session will explore the challenges and possibilities for Maine’s energy future.  

Moderator: George Callas, Build Green Maine

Panelists:

Paul Kando, Midcoast Green Collaborative   

Matt O’Malia,GO Logic

Beth Nagusky, Environment Northeast

Keil Moe, Architect; “Thermal Efficiency: Eastport”

Risking Energy Revolution:  Sustainable Energy and Innovation Funding

Bringing revolutionary energy technology to market requires investment. Investment requires return. The challenging relationship between innovation and funding can all too often stop a new idea before its potential can be realized. This panel will present the perspectives of both sides and give insight on how to make it past the funding hurdle. 

Moderator:  Vicki Worden, Worden Associates

Panelists: 

Jon Calame, Architect; “Thermal Efficiency:  Eastport”

John Voltz, E2 Tech

Bill Staby, Resolute Marine

Energy, Inc.

Death By PowerPoint

We've all experienced it before. That slow, creeping numbness that starts at the eyes and ears and gradually spreads over your whole body. You're trapped, paralyzed, and unable to move as you look and listen and try to process what could well be the most important thing you’ve ever heard, but you can't escape it. It's the horror we whisper of as we gather around the water cooler as death by PowerPoint. How do we escape that horror? How do we avoid killing others with our own presentations? In this workshop we will explore the effective use of appropriate software and graphic elements in presentations, from text to graphs to fixed and moving images. After a look at the established ground rules for “good” presentations, we will break them all in the name of making compelling presentations.

Andy Hurtt, Visual Studies at the University of Maine

Matt LeClair, Student and Teacher

Multi-Generational Collaboration: Young and Older Leaders Learn, Plan & Create Change

Learn how experienced leaders are making a very conscious effort to bring young adults to the leadership table. Community transformation efforts cannot be successful or sustained unless all ages of residents are fully engaged and involved in setting the agenda for planning and change.  This panel will consist of inspiring community leaders who are under the age of 21 and older than 21 to share how they take initiative to expand economic opportunity, enhance social networks and improve services and support structures that create healthy and vibrant communities. By engaging neighbors both young and old in positive community change we build a strong network of knowledge, experience and ownership for shaping the future of our municipalities, business environments and a shared culturally rich landscape.

Moderator:John Anders, USGS

Panelists:

Gabe McPhail, ARCafé

Theo Brown, Student, ARC Café

Adam Bullard, Trekkers Mentor

Mark Lunt, Trekkers Student

Roger Dell, Farnsworth Art Museum

Student - Julia’s Gallery, Farnsworth Art Museum

Talking and Walking the Main Street Risk

It takes courage, creativity and charging ahead to turn Main Street around. Years of decay and disinvestment present myriad challenges and opportunities to community activists, preservationists, retailers and residents. 

Get a realistic perspective on the activities and choices these risk challengers are taking to revitalize the heart and future of their communities: "Main Street.”

Moderator:Eileen Wilkinson, Freelance Writer & Editor

Panelists:

Roxanne Eflin, Maine Downtown Center

Lorain Francis, Rockland Main Street, Inc.

Pat O’Brien, Fiore Oils

Be Here – Be Anywhere: Building a Knowledge-Based Economy by Leveraging Quality of Place

The Coastal Mountain region of Maine features many of the idyllic images Associated with the state; the rocky coastline, iconic lighthouses and, of course, lobsters. The region is also home to many knowledge-based workers and entrepreneurs. They fuel the regional economy, growing businesses, creating jobs. They enhance our arts & cultural landscape and they are champions in efforts to preserve and protect our natural environment. In essence, they have come to take advantage of our unrivaled Quality of Place and Life.

This panel will encourage a conversation between attendees and panelists to discuss the roles QoP & QoL play in encouraging economic development in a knowledge-base economy, which assets are of greatest and least importance and how strategies may be developed to advance development.

Moderator:Justin Holmes, Maine Coast Economic Alliance

Panelists:

Amanda Austin, 2A Architects

Paul Hodgson, GMI 

Rob Brown, Opportunity Maine

Dan Bookham, Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce 

Jasie Costigan, Cellardoor Winery