Midcoast — One of the facts of life for those of us who live in a state tucked all the way up in the northeastern corner of the United States is that we really are in no position to sit back and wait for the world to come to us. Previous generations certainly understood this and used this knowledge to build a fine economy, as is evidenced by the elegant sea captains’ homes and lumber barons’ mansions that line both ocean front and river roads throughout Maine. Given the tough recovery the state and national economies are currently enduring I certainly understand the temptation to turn away from the somewhat frightening prospect that our future prosperity will be dictated beyond our own borders and become an introverted, protectionist, and ever-more homogeneous place. That being said, the faster we stand tall in the global marketplace the more able we will be to both thrive economically and protect our justifiably vaunted quality of life.

A very public example of this global outreach comes around in every February with the annual gathering of the Camden Conference. This year’s theme, the very challenging “The US in a 21^st Century World:  Do We Have What It Takes?”, speaks to not just commerce but the economy as a whole, the environment, issues of social and economic justice and fairness, and life in a multi-polar world. The roiling economic and political tumult around the globe – and what that means for the United States – will be discussed and debated by some of the world’s leading experts on the region this weekend. There could be no more fitting topic to wrestle with in this, the Conference’s 25^th anniversary year.

The Conference convenes this Friday evening, February 17th, with the keynote address at 8PM, and continues on Saturday, February 18th from 8:30AM – 5PM and again on Sunday, February 19th from 9:00AM-12:30PM. This weekend’s conference is also the kick-off of a year of smaller public affairs programs (over 60 in 2011) that the Conference sponsors. Locally, the audience will congregate at the Camden Opera House, the Strand in Rockland, and at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast.

As many as 1,000 conference attendees are expected to participate in this year’s event, including dozens of students involved in the Conference scholarship program. Participants engage in lively question-and-answer sessions with the experts and continue their discussion in the area’s many restaurants and lodging places. Quite apart from elevating our understanding of global affairs, the Conference also helps elevate business in what could be a very quiet time of year in our small towns.

The Camden Conference is a real source of pride for our area and a link to our cultural heritage as a community with deep links to the international community. Whether we are talking about the schooners that carried trade around the world or the international tourists who visit our mountains and harbors today, we have always looked outward to the world. I’m thankful we have programs like the Camden Conference on our own doorstep to encourage us to continue to do so.