From a small northwestern observatory…

Renaissance Weekend is an invitation-only, off-the-record, no photographs, no minutes taken, intellectual jam-fest held in Charleston, SC, each year.  (There are smaller “off-season” conclaves held around the country in Aspen, Monterrey, and Santa Monica.)  Lynnda and I have been terrifically honored to be invited here for several years.

Following the no-quote rule is tough.  As you can see from this article on Yahoo Finance (click here), the quantity and quality of high-end consultation is enormous.  Meeting (usually about an hour in length) go from 8am until midnight, and hit basically all of the cutting edge topics of today.  Everyone is expected to participate, speak, and lead group sessions.  I heard a terrifically well organized, thoughtful, and detailed discussion about the problems with school curriculum and testing from an 8th grader (it’s frightening how bright the progeny of type-A’s can be).  What’s more interesting, she was arguing with a senior attorney from the U.S. Department of Education…. and winning.

I’ve been asked to sit on three panels — one one each on real estate, corporate governance, and the issues surrounding LEED buildings.  Being able to not only organize my own thoughts, but also engage in high-level discussions about these and other topics with Nobel laureates, Fortune-500 CEO’s, top scholars from academia, and celebrities is terrifically invigorating experience.  It is really the way intellectual enclaves should be organized.  (By the way — there’s one panel made up of nothing but astronauts.)

Of course, it ends with the mother-of-all New Years parties.  Nothing like dancing with Dr. Ruth Westheimer when the champagne starts flowing!  Again, no pictures….. sigh.

Anyway, this is totally off the subject, but I had to put this down in words.  I’ll be back to talking about business, real estate, and the economy next week.  Happy New Year, everyone!