Plenary Sessions

• These sessions will feature keynote addresses by nationally-acclaimed scholars, policymakers and activists, followed by brief remarks offered by pre-selected respondents.

Concurrent Sessions

• Panels sessions will feature groups of presentations (12-15 minutes each) facilitated by a moderator to engage discussion.

Community Planning Charrettes

• Participants will spend a half-day learning about and contributing to local planning efforts within the greater Memphis region. The goal of this portion of the conference is to elicit the input of conference participants on a set of "wicked problems" being faced by local equity-oriented planners and policymakers.

Poster Session

• Participants will share local work and research through posters, which will be presented during the conference and displayed throughout.

Films

• Film screenings will highlight and explore critical economic, environmental, and social problems facing poor and working class communities. The 2011 conference will feature screenings of I am a Man, an award winning documentary describing the context of the 1968 sanitation workers strike in Memphis, and Leonie Sandercock's Healing Canada's Apartheid? Community and Regional Planning at the Margin.

Cultural Reception

• The organizing committee will host a reception highlighting and celebrating Memphis' famous local music, culture, and cuisine! The event will take place at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in the historic Soulsville, USA neighborhood, where legends like Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Same and Dave, and Booker T and the MGs put their unique stamp on American music.

Recreational Tours

• A series of Saturday afternoon tours will allow participants to experience Memphis' culture, history, recreational opportunities, tourist attractions, and planning successes in greater depth.

Book Fair

• Publishers will display and sell relevant books and journals. Participants are also encouraged to bring literature describing their work and research.