Written by Kaitlyn Squires, WAM Theatre’s Marketing Associate. The blog, with photos taken by Kaitlyn at the Forum, can also be found on her website: http://eideticberkshire.com/2010/09/the-berkshire-forums-enlightenment-in-the-berkshires/
Today I spent day 3 at the very first Berkshire Forums that is being held at the Colonial Theatre on South Street in Pittsfield. When I had first heard about it I wasn’t really sure what to expect until I started reading over the schedule. It turns out there were some amazing panels of entrepreneurial successful people here to talk about some of the things that made them that way.
The whole conference was very tuned into twitter as well, the hastag #berkforum has become quite popular today thanks to people like Nancy Fitzpatrick and Eugenie Sills tweeting some of the topics being discussed. I have to say it was quite inspiring to be in a building with so many people that have had a goal and worked very hard and successfully to accomplish.
Helena Frucio hosting the panel at the forums
Some of the topics included “The Psychology of the Serial Entrepreneur”, “The Commerce of Culture”, “The Impulse to Innovate”, “Cleantech”, “Philanthropic Power”, and “Negotiating the Changing Media Landscape”. Some of the panelists included Michael Zivyak Founder of Berkshire Living, Mitch & Seth Nash Founders of Blue-Q, Nancy Fitzpatrick of the Fitzpatrick Companies, Kevin Sprague of Studio Two, Seth Rogovoy of Berkshire Living, Jennifer Dowley President of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Charlie Deitz of WAMC, Stuart Chase of the Berkshire Museum, Eugenie Sills Founder of The Women’s Times, Martin Baron Editor of The Boston Globe and tons more of extremely talented and influential people.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend on both Wednesday and Thursday of the Forums held at the beautiful Colonial Theatre! I was there as a representative of WAM Theatre and to learn as much as I possible could from all of the talented people that had come to offer their knowledge to the rest of us! A lot of the topics talked about are things that directly relate to me. I always thought that the ideas that I come up with or the composition of my photographs were obvious but then I realized that a good part of the population does not think like me. I have some how figured out how to tap into my motivating creative juices naturally(although with lots of hard work!) without even realizing what I was doing. This is similar to what was discussed during “The Psychology of a Serial Entrepreneur”. Thanks to all of the dedicated tweeters I have some great quotes to share with you and reflect a bit on!
The ceiling at the beautiful Colonial Theatre!
“People who are successful aren’t looking at the clock, they’re looking to get it done.” – Richard Stanley Managing Partner of the Beacon Cinema. I probably couldn’t agree more with this! I have yet to really consider myself “successful” but I do find that I never ever stop “working”. As I work on one project excited about whatever the finished product or outcome will be I somehow always end up with more tasks to do that relates in some way to the original project. I am extremely motivated to facilitate change and that motivation leaves me hungry in a sense to keep working.
“It’s amazing how strong of an instinct survival is.” –Mark Volpe, Boston Symphony Orchestra. Another great quote from this panel, I think that any true entrepreneur has a very strong will to succeed or survive in what ever their field is but only those with the strongest survival instincts will succeed because those are the people constantly innovating new ideas and technologies to advance their companies and projects. There are many business owners who start their companies and do what they have to do to turn a profit, then you have those who take their profit and use it to fund new ideas that will launch them to an entire new level.
One of the topics I felt most strongly about was the Education Round Table. Commentated by Dr. Sanjoy Mahajan they discussed some of the key problems that teachers and students face in the current education system. I have always personally felt that the education system is totally obsolete. I feel like school not only left me completely unprepared for real life but that the way the information was presented was completely inapplicable to my life. I never really understood why teaching wasn’t more focused on projects and concepts that applied all of our topics in a way that can be clearly show us how useful these tools are. Dr Sanjoy and the panelists discussed this problem and the issues with standardized testing. It was absolutely refreshing to hear such proactive ideas from people in such great positions to make a difference in the way we learn!
The Philanthropic Power Panel at the Forums
Another panel that I particularly enjoyed was the Philanthropic Power. Working with WAM Theatre has definitely raised my awareness about the amount of effort and business strategy that goes into a non profit organization. “Fundamentally a non profit knows what it’s doing because it’s focused on it’s mission” – Kevin Sprague. I have to say I think Kevin is really a smart businessman and he explained to us that the language you use can make a big difference. You should look at your non profit just like any business, you should have a strong strategy and product otherwise you will not succeed.
I really could talk forever about some of the amazing insights I have gained over the past few days but you can check out the tweets from the event by searching the hastag #berkforum! I want to thank everyone involved in putting this together and making it happen. Events like this are truly what we need in the area to continue to learn and grow. I feel so blessed to be part of this amazing transformation here in Pittsfield and I hope to play a larger part in the future as I myself learn and grow thanks to the help of the people like those of the Berkshire Forum. Can’t wait for next year!
NOTE: WAM is thrilled to have Kaitlyn on board and thrilled she could attend the Berkshire Forum as our representative. We definitely agree with her final thought-Can’t wait for next year!