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We keep eyes and ears on the Mackinac Policy Conference by monitoring news coverage, social media and livestreaming.
Consistency is a hallmark of the Mackinac Policy Conference -- a costly retreat ($2,500 to $3,400) held each year during the same week at the same hotel with many guests from the same companies, elected offices, lobbying firms and media outlets.
But this time, a notable change is visible before presentations and panel discussions start Wednesday morning. The Detroit Regional Chamber list of 47 featured speakers shows 15 women, or 32 percent of those on stage. There also are seven women among 20 panel moderators and speaker introducers (35 percent).
What looks proper and ordinary is a sharp divergence from last year, when "Where are the women?" was Detroit Free Press editorial writer Nancy Kaffer's first sentence in a column from the event. Its headline: "Congrats, you have a (nearly) all-male Mackinac Policy Conference."
"When women aren't at the table, policy is lopsided," Kaffer wrote. "Yet over the course of three days, 41 men, most of them white, will take the stage as keynote speakers or panelists. And just eight women." (That female share was 16 percent.)
Her commentary was widely discussed at the island and online.
"Yes, we noticed," tweeted Lisa Katz, executive director of the Workforce Intelligence Network, a Detroit employment data analysis and training collaborative. Julia Cuneo, an education manager, tweeted: "I want a state that respects me. I want to be represented."
In a three-sentence reply to a comment request from Kaffer, chamber president Sandy Baruah began: “We work to balance race, gender and perspective based on the issues we select for each conference. Some years we succeed more than others."
And indeed, his conference shows a gender balance adjustment 12 months later.
Those with microphones this week will include Melanca Clark, head of the Hudson-Webber Foundation; Washtenaw Community College President Rose Bellanca and U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Brenda Lawrence. .
"In order for real change to happen we must be invited to the table," first-time participant April Anderson, a co-owner of Good Cakes and Bakes on Livernois in Detroit, tells blogger Karen Dybis of TheHUB Detroit. "Not only invited to the table, but allowed to talk and make changes."
#MPC17 tweets that amuse
We'll compile share-worthy tweets through Friday, when the roughly 1,600 attendees get back on ferries.
Best thing about drive up to #MPC17 : finding a radio station paying tribute to Greg Allman.
— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) May 30, 2017
On Mackinac ferry watching protesters carrying a big puppet in a suit. Looked like Bill Schuette at first, but too tall. #mpc17
— Nolan Finley (@NolanFinleyDN) May 30, 2017
it's that time of year in michigan, the annual pilgrimage of all the movers and shakers to mackinac island to get drunk and eat
— Ryan Felton (@RyanFelton13) May 30, 2017
Related post today:
'Irrelevant' vs. 'Productive:' Lessenberry and Finley Disagree About Mackinac Conf.
