Ten at The Top announces date for 2016 Upstate Regional Summit
January 26, 2016
Fortune Magazine’s senior editor to headline event themed around “Creating a Leading Region”
Building on the successful 2014 Upstate Regional Summit: Re-Checking Our Reality, Ten at the Top is pleased to announce its 2016 Upstate Regional Summit – “Creating a Leading Region” – will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at the TD Convention Center. The 2016 Summit will provide a unique opportunity for business, community and civic leaders, as well as interested stakeholders from across the region to share ideas and discuss how to work collaboratively to ensure the Upstate region continues to enhance the economic vitality and quality of life for all residents.
“While Ten at the Top regularly convenes Upstate leaders around a wide variety of regional issues, the bi-annual Upstate Regional Summit is a valuable opportunity to bring together a large group of passionate leaders and key stakeholders from across the region to renew relationships and refocus efforts moving forward,” said Dean Hybl, Ten at the Top’s Executive Director. “The 2016 summit will examine current best practice examples of initiatives and organizations from across the region that are essential to making the Upstate a leading region, and will allow us to, together, target some of the gaps and areas where we need to grow local and regional capacity.”
Hybl continued, “The 2016 Summit theme ‘Creating a Leading Region’ celebrates the fifth anniversary of the unveiling of Our Upstate Vision, the original call for Upstate residents to identify what matters most in the future growth of the Upstate. Now, Ten at the Top challenges stakeholders and leaders to create a vision where the Upstate will be recognized universally as the best place to live, learn, do business and raise a family.”
The 2016 Upstate Regional Summit, presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina, begins with a B2B Expo and morning panel session of Upstate CEOs, then continues with breakout sessions involving presentations by and discussions with Upstate leaders through the lens of Ten at the Top’s five Regional Driver areas: Community Vibrancy, Economic and Entrepreneurial Vitality, Human Potential, Natural Beauty & Resources and Sustainable Growth. The Summit will culminate with the Summit Keynote Luncheon.
Geoff Colvin, 2016 Upstate Summit Keynote Speaker
Ten at The Top is excited to welcome Geoff Colvin as the 2016 Upstate Summit Keynote Speaker. An award-winning thinker, author, broadcaster and speaker, Colvin is considered one of America’s sharpest and most respected commentators on leadership, globalization, wealth creation, the infotech revolution, and related issues. His work as Fortune Magazine’s Senior Editor-at-Large, anchor of Wall Street Week with Fortune on PBS, and regular broadcaster on the CBS Radio Network, where he reaches seven million listeners each week, have given Colvin long-standing relationships with the world’s top leaders in business and government.
Colvin’s groundbreaking bestselling book, Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, received the Harold A. Longman Award for Best Business Book of the Year and has been translated into a dozen languages. His book The Upside of the Downturn: Management Strategies for Difficult Times was named the Best Management Book of the Year by Strategy and Business Magazine. His latest book debuted in August 2015 and is entitled Humans are Underrated: What High Achievers Know that Brilliant Machines Never Will.
Colvin has appeared on TODAY, The O’Reilly Factor, Good Morning America, Squawk Box, PBS’s Nightly Business Report, and dozens of other programs. He is an honors graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Economics, and has an M.B.A. from New York University.
“I’ve spent my career studying what separates great leaders and great businesses from all the rest –around the world,” said Geoff Colvin in a video announcement made for Ten at the Top. “I’m really looking forward to sharing with you what I’ve learned about what creates leading organizations, great communities and a strong region at Ten at the Top’s Upstate Regional Summit.”
“There are so many positive things going on in the Upstate that are resulting from people to people connections,” said Hank McCullough, Ten at the Top’s Board Chairman. “We are super excited to have Geoff Colvin, a nationally acclaimed thought leader and person of action, with us at the Summit this year to share his experience in building diverse community connections that have resulted in positive outcomes globally.
How to Get Involved
The 2014 Upstate Regional Summit brought together more than 800 community and business leaders from across the Upstate in a sold-out event sponsored by more than 65 organizations to discuss key issues impacting current and future growth and the importance of regional collaboration. Ten at the Top expects the 2016 Upstate Regional Summit to draw a similarly large attendance, participation and support among Upstate leadership.
Sponsorship opportunities are currently available for the 2016 Regional Summit. Participation in the morning B2B Expo is included with most summit sponsorship levels. A table for ten at the Summit is available for $750. A table for ten with added exposure in the Summit’s B2B Expo is available for $1,250. All questions and inquires regarding sponsorships can be directed to Ashley Downing at [email protected] or by calling 864-283-2317.
A call for breakout session presenters will go out in February, and give organizations and leaders from across the Upstate the opportunity to participate in the regional conversation.
Individual Summit tickets will be available for purchase beginning in July based on available space. Due to past demand, Ten at the Top encourages organizations and individuals with a desire to get involved to commit early. Sponsorship deadline is July 11 to be included in major Summit materials.
About Ten at the Top
Formed in 2009, Ten at the Top envisions an Upstate region where collaboration, coordination and cooperation across communities and business sectors are hallmarks. It fosters partnerships and cooperation amongst the ten counties that form South Carolina’s Upstate, and encourages these diverse communities to work together to enhance the Upstate’s economic vitality and quality of life. To date, Ten at the Top has hosted more than 500 meetings, programs, workshops and forums that have informed and engaged 25,000+ participants. To learn more, visit www.tenatthetop.org.
