FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A Convention of Unconventional Creativity

The effort will be conducted through charitybuzz.com, an innovative website that facilitates high-profile charity auctions around the globe. From now through May 25, interested individuals will have an opportunity to bid on a variety of items, ranging from an M School Driving Package at the BMW Performance Center to luxury box tickets for the Yankees vs. the Red Sox at Boston's Fenway Park.

"Food For Thought is all about new approaches, and charitybuzz.com represents a revolutionary approach to philanthropy," said Joe Erwin, president of ad agency Erwin-Penland, creators of the event. "We're proud to be hosting Food For Thought in the Upstate of South Carolina and, in seeking to give something back to the local community, we couldn't think of a better way than to help raise money for MLK Dream Weekend, which each January brings more and more people in our community together to celebrate Dr. King's vision of diversity and inclusion."

Marketers have a bevy of new tools to reach consumers -- and consumers have discovered a variety of ways to tune them out. How can companies crack this code and get their message across to their desired targets? Steve Driggs, Executive Creative Director for STRUCK, will join Hill Holliday Chief Media Officer Baba Shetty and Jane Quigley, Senior Director of Emerging Technologies and Social Media for Zeta Interactive, to explore how to craft compelling ideas and deliver them in the most effective fashion.

Brock will be joined by a cast of other culinary luminaries at the Thursday night event. Hosted by legendary Southern cooking expert Nathalie Dupree, the intimate, informal gathering will include Suzanne Hagins, whose Lutea Wine Cellars of Santa Rosa, Calif., specializes in all-organic pinot noirs; Chris Condos, winemaker for Vinum Cellars of Napa, Calif.; and Steven Greene, executive chef/partner at Devereaux's, which will host the event.

The dinnertime dialog will be followed by a Q&A session on the changing face of Southern politics with historian and commentator Jack Bass. The interview-style session will be conducted by John L.S. Simpkins, founding director of the Center for a Better South and an expert in constitutional law at The Charleston School of Law.

Dupree will lead a dinnertime discussion labeled "Unconventional Creativity," where renowned chefs from across the region will explore the reciprocal roles of creativity and inspired cuisine. Author of 10 cookbooks, host of more than 300 cooking shows and a two-time winner of the James Beard Award, Dupree is roundly celebrated as the originator of the New Southern Cooking movement that has taken the region by storm.

A professor of humanities and social science at the College of Charleston, Bass is regarded as one of the foremost experts on the history of Southern politics. A researcher, lecturer, author and producer of the PBS documentary, "A Different Dixie: Portraits of Change," Bass will regale an after-dinner audience with tales of the region's evolving political landscape, and also autograph copies of the book he recently co-authored with Marilyn Thompson, "Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond."

For more information on this year's event, contact Sydney Fanning, Executive Director of Food for Thought, at sydney.fanning@erwinpenland.com.

The author of 17 books on leadership, organizational dynamics and change management, Dr. Kanter's presentation will be centered around her New York Times best-seller, "Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End." The session will explore the vital roles accountability, collaboration and innovation play in creating a culture of confidence, which she says encourages creativity, teamwork and resilience in the face of inevitable setbacks.

A former editor of Harvard Business Review (1989-1992), Dr. Kanter has been ranked among the "50 most powerful women in the world" (Times of London) and the "50 most influential business thinkers in the world." Her book, "The Change Masters," was named one of the most influential business books of the 20th century by the Financial Times, and her latest work, "America the Principled: Six Opportunities for Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again," was released in late 2007.

For more information on this year's event, contact Sydney Fanning, Executive Director of Food for Thought, at sydney.fanning@erwinpenland.com.

Other speakers will include Ari Weinzweig, co-founder of the prolific delicatessen empire known as Zingerman's, along with Bart Thompson, an engineer at Michelin North America who helped invent the Tweel, an airless wheel developed for Segway Human Transporter that could dramatically impact the entire world of transportation.

"We're excited to have a line-up of speakers that reflects such groundbreaking thinking," said Joe Erwin, president of Erwin-Penland, a Greenville, S.C., ad agency that is a founding sponsor of the event. "Coupled with such great activities as the BMW Performance Center Driving Experience, and cooking demonstrations from some of America's most revered chefs, we expect the inaugural 'Food for Thought' to be a resounding success."

A three-day conference held each spring, Food For Thought is a catalytic event that explores the creative application and compelling implications of inspired, entrepreneurial thinking. For more information on this year's event, contact Sydney Fanning, Executive Director of Food for Thought, at sydney.fanning@erwinpenland.com.

"Food for Thought" will be a celebration of ideas that change the world around us. The invitation-only gathering will be held May 7-9 in one of America's most dynamic, up-and-coming cities: Greenville, S.C., nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and just a short drive from Atlanta, Charlotte and the South Carolina coast.

The event will be highlighted by renowned speakers in various fields of creativity -- from artists to entrepreneurs -- in intimate, inspiring settings across the Upstate. Activities will range from the exhilaration of racing around the test track at the BMW Performance Center to cooking demonstrations from some of the country's leading culinary experts.

"Throughout history, great food and great wine have always inspired great thinking," said Joe Erwin, president of Erwin-Penland, a Greenville, S.C., ad agency that is a founding sponsor of the event. "So we thought 'Food for Thought' would be the perfect name for an event that's all about the concept of revolutionary creativity."

For more information on this year's event, contact Sydney Fanning, Executive Director of Food for Thought, at sydney.fanning@erwinpenland.com.