It’s been nearly a year since ROTHBURY’s state-of-the-art "Party with a Purpose" inaugural event paved the way for the new generation of rock ‘n’ roll music festivals. The high-profile four-day affair tallied more than 35,000 attendees, representing 50 states. Fans traveled to Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan, to witness, participate, and celebrate music, art, and get involved in climate change and clean energy solutions.
Now, affectionately dubbed the "Green Festival," ROTHBURY’s environmental wonderland marries stellar artist performances with eco-friendly semi-music events, such as the forward thinking Think Tank program, which integrates special musical performances into expert panels exploring cutting-edge ideas for how to solve some of our planet’s most pressing social and environmental problems. Spearheaded by a diverse line-up of leading minds, last year’s Think Tank panelists ranged from a Nobel Prize-winning climatologist to green business gurus to environmental journalists and youth activists. Experts were joined by members of Widespread Panic, STS9, The Crystal Method, and Four Finger Five, all interacting with fans in inspired Q&A sessions. The result? Ideas and solutions were founded to propel the 2008 theme of ‘Finding Energy Independence’.
THE 2009 ROTHBURY THINK TANK:
Building on its mission to create a state-of-the-art large scale sustainable event and to organize and nurture community involvement that makes a difference, the highly anticipated 2009 ROTHBURY Think Tank, an event within the event that offers buzz sessions, hands-on workshops and more, will connect fans with ways to get involved in fostering the growth of the "New Green Economy."
Curated by ROTHBURY’s Think Tank Director Dr. Jonathan Gelbard, who is the Executive Director of the Conservation Value Institute, the 2009 ROTHBURY Think Tank participants/moderators include environmental economist and National Teach In leader, Eban Goodstein; Paul Stamets – Mycologist and author of "Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World"; author, filmmaker and radio host, Mike Tidwell; founder of Cooler Inc. Michel Gelobter; Yale University educator and editor of Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media, Bud Ward; conservation scientist, policy expert and communication psychologist, Rev. Dr. Jamie Reaser; Energy Action Coalition founder, Billy Parish; Sustainable South Bronx Executive Director, Miquela Craytor, Mayor George Heartwell of Grand Rapids; Jeff Sharp – Senior Communications Advisor, House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming; Michigan Rep. Dan Scripps (who returns to the Think Tank as an elected official in 2009 after speaking as a green candidate in 2008!); Grist.org’s Sarah van Schagen, and Jeff Plowman and Tanner Watt of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance.
