One more plug for One Guilford
I'd like to join Doug Clark and John Robinson in encouraging you to participate in the second One Guilford Conference Oct. 17 at Guilford College.
This session will follow up the first One Guilford symposium last May at High Point University, which drew more than 225 participants and seemed to stoke the fires for greater unity and a shared vision in the county.
JR suggests calling it 2.One Guilford (wish I'd thought of that).
This fall's conference, sponsored by the News & Record and hosted by Guilford, promises to be more hands-on for the audience. We'll sandwich small-group breakout sessions between gatherings of the larger group.
We were very pleased by the energy of the first One Guilford. We hope we can sustain it in the sequel.
We're also aiming to attract a broader cross section of the population. Make no mistake, we were delighted to see the number of business, government and nonprofit leaders on hand at the first One Guilford and hope they'll return for the second.
But we need more grass-roots voices and young voices and more voices from people of color represented as well.
One Guilford starts at 9 a.m. and ends at noon on Oct. 17, a Wednesday. The price is right: It's free and open to everyone.
Parking shouldn't be a problem, either, since Guilford will be on fall break at that time.
Doug provides a detailed overview of the program and the speakers here.
Doug also deserves a huge hand in advance for leading the planning on our end for both One Guilfords, which requires a boatload of planning and coordination (in addition to his regular job).
Meanwhile, Guilford College has been more than generous and gracious as a partner.
As for why we're doing this, it's simple. The News & Record wants not merely to report on community problems but to help find solutions.
That's why we're also holding town meetings on elections next week in Districts 1 and 2. And why we're digging deeper in our city elections coverage.
As we see it, the more we can bring people and ideas together, the better we'll be as a newspaper. And the better off we'll all be as a community.
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Comments (5)
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If I move my schedule around, count me in on showing up, AJ.
Posted on September 14, 2007 9:44 AM
We'd be delighted to have you.
Posted on September 14, 2007 11:15 AM
Actually, Allen, Sue Polinsky uses a more melodic, One Guilford 2.0.
Posted on September 14, 2007 12:41 PM
Most people work on Wednesdays. How do you hope to get the "grassroots" there.
The message is if you want more people there then make it at a people friendly time.
Posted on September 16, 2007 9:18 PM
We debated that very issue several times, and will revisit it, I'm certain, for the third One Guilford.
We considered a Saturday (we worried about weekend conflicts) and an evening (would people have the energy and the attention span at that time, especially in a One Guilford that promised to be more of a working session?).
We are open to suggestions. We want to do what works best for the most people.
Posted on September 17, 2007 9:20 AM