SNOWSHOE - From West Virginia's first lady Gayle Manchin, to Marshall graduate student Sean Hornbuckle, to the president of the Pocahontas County Chamber of Commerce Malinda Meck to the city of Shinnston's office manager Emma Patterson, to hip hop instructor and youth mentor Rasheed Jones, they were all here to network.

The early session of Create West Virginia at Snowshoe Resort's Mountain Lodge on Monday seemed like "speed dating" for business, but with a definite diversity theme. Nearly 150 participants sat at tables in a large conference room. They chatted with the person across the table for around five minutes, a bell rang, and then they moved right or left to meet the next person. Cards were handed across the table. Questions were asked. Information was exchanged.

Patterson of Shinnston said it was good to meet people from so many different fields. "So often, we go to conferences where we only meet people in government. This allows us to meet people from a variety of jobs and organizations." 

Create West Virginia is a conference to train people in towns across the state to allow creative development, focusing on community promotion, education, diversity and creating a culture of creativity and entrepreneurship.

The volunteer-led organization is hosting the meeting in Snowshoe with nearly 400 attendees from government, business, the arts and educational entities all over West Virginia. Forty college students are attending this second-annual conference.

West Virginia's future depends on utilizing the diversity from within, said Jeff James, chairman of the Creative Communities Team of A Vision Shared.

"West Virginia has diverse resources that must be used creatively to move ahead," said James, who has been spreading the idea of economic development in the new "Idea Economy" by speaking to groups and organizations around the state.

"Jeff James came to speak in our community, and we just wanted to continue to learn about this new way of development," Meck said. A Vision Shared is funded, in part, by the Benedum Foundation.

James said $32,000 is the average wage in West Virginia, but he said if the state would focus on creative communities, the average wage in the 'creative communities' is $49,000, including all of the "starving artists" in our state. He stressed 'quality of place' with education, arts and technology all working together.

Conference organizers hope the momentum built at the event will promote revitalization of communities through the pursuit of lucrative growth opportunities in the new, creative, economic sectors including technology, science, research, design, microenterprise and the arts.

The conference continues through Tuesday afternoon with keynote speakers including Rob Kitchin, director of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis at the National University of Ireland, Dale Dougherty, founding editor and publisher of Make magazine, Curtis Johnson, co-author of Disrupting Class, Vaughn Grisham, director of the McLean Institute for Community Development and professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi and Dr. Mary-Frances Winters, president of The Winters Group, a 24-year-old organizational development and diversity consulting firm.

Contact Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com

or (304) 348-1249.

SNOWSHOE - From West Virginia's first lady Gayle Manchin, to Marshall graduate student Sean Hornbuckle, to the president of the Pocahontas County Chamber of Commerce Malinda Meck to the city of Shinnston's office manager Emma Patterson, to hip hop instructor and youth mentor Rasheed Jones, they were all here to network.

The early session of Create West Virginia at Snowshoe Resort's Mountain Lodge on Monday seemed like "speed dating" for business, but with a definite diversity theme. Nearly 150 participants sat at tables in a large conference room. They chatted with the person across the table for around five minutes, a bell rang, and then they moved right or left to meet the next person. Cards were handed across the table. Questions were asked. Information was exchanged.

Patterson of Shinnston said it was good to meet people from so many different fields. "So often, we go to conferences where we only meet people in government. This allows us to meet people from a variety of jobs and organizations." 

Create West Virginia is a conference to train people in towns across the state to allow creative development, focusing on community promotion, education, diversity and creating a culture of creativity and entrepreneurship.

The volunteer-led organization is hosting the meeting in Snowshoe with nearly 400 attendees from government, business, the arts and educational entities all over West Virginia. Forty college students are attending this second-annual conference.

West Virginia's future depends on utilizing the diversity from within, said Jeff James, chairman of the Creative Communities Team of A Vision Shared.

"West Virginia has diverse resources that must be used creatively to move ahead," said James, who has been spreading the idea of economic development in the new "Idea Economy" by speaking to groups and organizations around the state.

"Jeff James came to speak in our community, and we just wanted to continue to learn about this new way of development," Meck said. A Vision Shared is funded, in part, by the Benedum Foundation.

James said $32,000 is the average wage in West Virginia, but he said if the state would focus on creative communities, the average wage in the 'creative communities' is $49,000, including all of the "starving artists" in our state. He stressed 'quality of place' with education, arts and technology all working together.

Conference organizers hope the momentum built at the event will promote revitalization of communities through the pursuit of lucrative growth opportunities in the new, creative, economic sectors including technology, science, research, design, microenterprise and the arts.

The conference continues through Tuesday afternoon with keynote speakers including Rob Kitchin, director of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis at the National University of Ireland, Dale Dougherty, founding editor and publisher of Make magazine, Curtis Johnson, co-author of Disrupting Class, Vaughn Grisham, director of the McLean Institute for Community Development and professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi and Dr. Mary-Frances Winters, president of The Winters Group, a 24-year-old organizational development and diversity consulting firm.

Contact Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com

or (304) 348-1249.