The Creative Economy Summit

The recent Portland Maine Creative Economy Summit at Merrill Auditorium was fantastic. The creative force in Portland is evident everywhere one goes. The graffiti here tends to be a bit more arty, there are just enough galleries to arouse suspition. Portland is an art safe zone. The fact the creative economy summit existed and was so well attended professed to the extreme amount of interest in the arts in Portland. It was scheduled in the morning on a weekday. There were probably three hundred people there.
What ends will this meeting of such magnitude have? It is hard to say. Kids attending the meeting from the experiential learning program in Portland felt it was not anything but an opportunity for local artists and business people to say, "Here I am and this is what I am selling." Many local political pundits were alternatively disgusted and exuberant. There were many there who spoke whose relation to the arts in Portland seemed peripheral. So again, what ends will this meeting have?
As an attending and a artist I was farmed off to the creatives section in the brain storming segment of the discussion. We talked about what it was that Portland could do to help us create more. Miraculously there was a conclusion: promote artists, give them a place to live, and give them some money. There were other ideas as well(45 or 46) but they were streamlined to distill three down for presentation.
We reconvened and were encouraged by an even higher turnout for lunch than had been present for the workshop part of the meeting. It was clear great things were afoot. All three groups presented their three distilled ideas. The results were put up for election as the top three ideas.
After all had been said and done, the mayors meeting seemed to be a success. I have yet to see the website but I am sure that the brilliance found there in is one of Portland marvels. My singular hope is that this meeting spawned further discussions.
It is a week after I wrote the above piece. I have seen there is activity. There has been mention of creative economy in random places throughout Portland. Hopefully success is at hand.