Conference on the Front Porch Announces 2019 Speakers

The Conference on the Front Porch, America’s only conference dedicated to celebrating the significance of the front porch in society, has announced its full lineup of speakers and the conference agenda. The dates of the conference are Sept. 26-27, 2019 and will take place at The Mill at Plein Air in Taylor.

Porch play at 2018 conference. Photo provided.

The keynote speaker, Mark Plotkin, heads the Amazon Conservation Team and is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost authorities on The Amazon, rainforests, and the indigenous people of that region. He was named by Smithsonian as ‘one of the 35
people on the planet that matter’ along with Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey.

Joining Plotkin is Oxford resident and journalist Curtis Wilkie, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack, New York Times reporter Audra Burch, novelist Ace Atkins, portrait artist Jason Bouldin, Catholic philosopher and author Brian Jones, and Garden & Gun deputy editor Amanda Heckert.

Keynote speaker and Amazon expert Mark Plotkin. Photo provided.

“We are thrilled with the lineup of speakers coming to the conference this year,” said conference director Campbell McCool.

“This unique conference celebrates what the front porch stands for – community, interaction, a slower pace of life. And several of our speakers will deliver talks directly about the front porch’s role in society and history. Keeping with our tradition, we’ve invited several speakers who will talk about politics, art, religion and other thought-provoking topics. There really is nothing in Mississippi like this two-day gathering.”

For the second year in a row Garden & Gun Magazine is the presenting media sponsor. In addition, Graduate Hotels, Krutz Family Vineyards, and Nicholas Air are conference sponsors. The two-day conference consists of lectures and presentations in the morning, tours in the afternoons, and dinners, music, and parties at night. One night’s dinner is a field dinner followed by The Kudzu Kings band in the open air. The conference promises to challenge your thinking, make you laugh, cry, eat too much, have good drinks, and leave thoroughly exhausted.

Registration is $395 and includes six meals, all tours, concerts, and parties. To register or for more information go to: www.theconferenceonthefrontporch.com or call 662.234.3151

Courtesy of Main Street Taylor