I’ve got my share of guilty pleasures. If I’m channel surfing and I happen to land on Top Gun or Road House, I have to stop and watch. And I can’t help but eat those awful orange slice candies when I’m in the car for more than two hours. It’s what I plan on doing tomorrow while driving to one of my newest guilty pleasures: the Mackinac Policy Conference.
I came to terms with this reality over the weekend as I checked the weather up north and pulled out the suitcase to pack both summer and winter options. When I took a final look at the agenda and attendee list, I realized this is the seventh time I’ve made the trek to the island, and I have no intention of stopping.
The first time I went, I was vey much the rookie, odd-man out. I was standing in my big-boy clothes on the big front porch of the Grand Hotel, this creative guy, trying to fit in with a bunch of tie-wearing, suit coat-sporting banker/lawyer types. I spent most of the night next to the vodka luge and stumbled back to the hotel I foolishly booked deep in the woods.
Since that inaugural trip, I was adopted by Don Tanner and Matt Friedman who showed me that the real fun happens at places with names like the Mustang, the Pink Pony and Horn’s. They taught me to pace myself at the open bar and stop at Tony’s on the way up for enough fuel to make it through the weekend. They taught me how to survive.
Now, I’m officially a veteran of the conference. I’ll be leaving bright and early on Wednesday morning to make the drive up I-75. I’ll hop on Shepler’s Ferry, en route to what is being touted as one of the most important Mackinac Policy Conferences yet. Some say it’s critical in setting the course for Detroit’s emergence from bankruptcy. Some claim it’s because of the intense race for Carl Levin’s U.S. Senate seat.
But most of the people here at Skidmore seem to think it’s because our illustrators and designers created the three special covers for The Detroit Regional Chamber’s Detroiter magazine that will be prominently featured at The Grand Hotel.
My vote is with my fellow Skidmorvians. This year’s Detroiter covers are amazing. If you look closely, you’ll see how the speakers are navigating through the three pillars of the conference. It’s great art with a great story. And considering I’ve got that special thing for the conference, I also had my team create something special for each of the speakers who appear on the cover.
For those of you who haven’t won a coveted spot on a panel or a keynote to call your own, I’ve got something special for you too. Just follow me on Twitter as I revive a favorite hashtag of Church VanSteuben’s from 2011: #surviveMPC.
I’ll tweet about everything from front porch mishaps to horse-drawn highlights. It’ll be a guilty pleasure you can talk about for days.
Tim smith
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