GREAT VALLEY CENTER ANNOUNCES DATE FOR 10th ANNUAL CONFERENCE

MODESTO (March 10, 2007) The tenth annual Great Valley Conference will be held May 9-10, 2007 in Sacramento, California. The conference is California's largest annual gathering focused on the Central Valley. More than 500 people from throughout the 19 county Central Valley area are expected to attend.

This year’s conference theme revisits the theme of the Center's inaugural conference, Our Place in the World: New Thinking for a Big Valley.

Keynote speakers include Joel Garreau, author of Nine Nations of North America, Edge Cities and the recently released, Radical Evolution; Allison Arieff, Designer in Residence for IDEO and former editor in chief of Dwell Magazine; Syndicated Columnist Ruben Naverette and Economist Ken McCorkle.

The event offers attendees 5 plenary and more than 45 concurrent sessions and workshops on a variety of topics in the areas of Health, Land Use, Leadership, Technology, Economy, Renewable Energy, Arts & Culture, Agriculture, Environment, Community Building, Land Conservation, Transportation, Youth Development and Cultural Diversity. The conference also features networking opportunities, business exhibits, cultural displays and more.

Early registration is $215. Register on line now at www.greatvalley.org

For sponsorship and exhibit information contact Heidi Arno at (209) 522-5103 or heidi@greatvalley.org. Additional information is available online at www.greatvalley.org.

Founded in 1997, the Great Valley Center is a private, non-profit organization that supports organizations and activities working to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of California’s Central Valley, in partnership with the University of California, Merced.