Linda, this looks terrific! I wonder whether you are getting any papers in that look at innovation and the economic cycle? The dilemma that is formulating in my mind is something like,

Innovation and the pursuit of problem-solving underpin markets. Markets are an expression of the desire - if not the need - for innovation. Profit provides a very strong incentive to place innovative goods and services in the market place.

What is the "engine" of innovation in a Buddhist conception of the economy?

Shiver me timbers! Linda, your post really did send shivers down my spine.

I'm always delighted by Lars asking provocative questions. When he asks them I often wonder about what he must have been like as a boy. As a father I'm sure he must wonder too.

I like the question. Here's a link to an essay by Thanissaro Bhikkhu "All About Change." Not an answer to the question, but simply to point out that innovation is not foreign to Buddhism.

Something I had not anticipated was recognizing the names of conferees. When you were at the heterodox conference I enjoyed Googling some of the presenters and reading a few online papers. With the bunch signed up for this conference it strikes me that there's a multi-media treasure trove.

In just a few minutes before supper I surfed around for Michel Bauwens trying to pick a link or two to share with others. It's an embarrassment of riches.

I don't know how to be helpful to you Linda--lol keeping my trap shut might be of service. Still it seems that as a collective effort by some of us Nedsters we might be able to bring together some online resources relevant to the conference. My sense seeing the line up so far is that this conference may be influential beyond my expectations. I'm eager to draw attention towards it.

Think of ways that we can help. I'll look forward to your ideas.

We will be airing a new documentary on Buddhist Economic Development in Tibet made by a Lao woman, Sukthawee Suwannachairop. I am really looking forward to seeing it.

The website has been updated but .... I want this conference to be over. I am so tired of doing all the work I am tired of whining and complaining and making mountains out of molehills.

A late entrant into this game is Sander Tideman.

I have been trying to make a connection with Mr. Tideman since maybe March or April and suddenly, early this week, a contact in Bangkok connected us! He has submitted a paper and will be attending the conference. I read the paper and would highly recommend his work.

At the end of July Chris Blattmann did a post Cheap advice, twice. Here's what he had to say about conferences:

There is possibly nothing so time-consuming and unrewarding as organizing a conference while a grad student or junior faculty. From a strategic perspective, these endeavors are best left for the day you are tenured. Attending conferences is great fun, but organizing is onerous and thankless. If I were you, I would angle to attend, but focus 110% of my time on my job market packet.

The Conference is really a great thing, a remarkable line up of people. Your work may be under-appreciated, but certainly we notice it here.

A while back I had made an event for this on Facebook so that one of my European contacts could promote the conference.

I really haven't paid attention to it, in part because I don't know how to effectively use it. Anyhow, today I went and looked and I can't even begin to tell you what I felt like when I saw this list of "May attend (9)".

Image	Name
	David Braden
	Mark Grimes
	Jessica Margolin
	Thomas Kriese
	Niny Khor
	Norbert Klein
	Ravi Arapurakal
	Shir Destinie Jones
	Ray Brosseuk

Even if not one of them comes - though I hope that all of them do as I believe all of them would both benefit and be a benefit to it - I feel incredibly supported.

Jessica (from onet) and Norbert are the only non-<Ned> folks and both of them should be!

I was encouraging David Braden to present his Community Development Corporation since it is incredibly inline with Joel Magnuson's Paper "Mindful Ecology and Economy: Integrating Buddhism and Institutionalism into the Community Corporation for Sustainability".

Linda,

I haven't checked in with NED for about a month - I was engaged in a Ning forum on the Global Brain Application.

I want to let you know that I appreciate your interest and offer to include may materials in your conference. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a way to express the ideas in a "presenting paper" format. It seems that one on one exchange of ideas is necessary - such as the one you and John and I had here - and the one I am having with Paul Klewin (excerpt posted in my Working in Community discussion).

I will not be able to attend - but I plan on reviewing the papers - particularly Joel Magnuson's. Wishing you conference success.

David

The registrations are not flooding in but they are coming in at a steady trickle. Many of the registrations I have so far are from people who are not participants. This is a good sign.

The undergraduates in the Hospitality Management program in the faculty are going to be in charge of "decorating" and set-up and serving of meals etc. The coffee breaks are being prepared and served under the supervision of one of the BBA students Nat. The meals are all under control and being catered by one of the local Asoke restaurants.

We have had a donation from the owners of Singha Beer of 200 copies of an incredible book by Phra Payutto in English to give to each participant.

McGraw Hill and Berrett-Koehler Publishers have donated 5 copies of Mark Albion's new book More Than Money. They arrived Thursday. I think I will give one copy to each of the first universities in Thailand who register someone. It will be a nice addition to their libraries. UBU and Naresuan University are the first two recipients.

I have transcribed Phra Payutto's opening talk in English and Aj. Apichai translated it to Thai for Thai subtitles. We will combine that video with two other videos we have been a part of making on the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy to a single VCD and sell them for 200 baht. That should pay for the production. We will give the "copyright" to Phra Payutto and ask for permission to post the video to YouTube.

Aj. Apichai has purchased 250 copies of his book that is going to the publisher on Monday (and is promised to be ready for the conference) and we will also give each participant a copy of that.

We managed to scrounge enough money to offer a small travel scholarship to a man in Bangladesh who has formed a Buddhist Economics Research Institute there.

We just got a note from a man in Archangelsk Russia who seems to be doing community development that is based on "Buddhist Economics" policies but only by accident. He is also looking for a travel grant. We are trying to help him.

We have located 3 companies here in Thailand who are all about 600-800 employees that are operating on Buddhist Economics principles. We have invited the owners to give a special panel presentation.

I am getting nervous and excited. It is going to be totally awesome.

This is what the schedule is looking like these days. None of the links on the paper titles work yet but that will eventually pull up the PDF of the paper.

And the registrants (less the ~30 monks from the monk's university here in Ubon and the maybe 4 from Malaysia, who have announced they will be registering) are looking good too.

This time in 3 weeks, day 1 will almost be over.

This is my final mailing. We have entered the home stretch.

Final notice - 2nd International Conference of the Buddhist Economic Research Platform

Two weeks from tomorrow we will be gathering from around the globe to consider a "new" way to do economics.

So much has transpired in the world since August of 2007 when we started dreaming and working towards this gathering. The state of the world's economy today brings home the concept that the economy and the economic principles driving it are broken.

Often crisis is a driving force for change. I have felt in my family and friends at last an understanding that things need to change but no one really has any idea what or how. In reading the papers that have been submitted for this conference, I have realized what a special group of people this is: people who have thought about what is wrong and how to fix it. These are, WE ARE, the people who can take the lead. I hope that this gathering will be more than a source of information like most conferences. I hope it will be a coming together of people that will inspire each of us to the courage to share this more realistic and human approach to economics. Just look at the schedule if you want to get inspired enough to register.

• If you have registered already, thank you!
• If you have delayed or just forgotten, now is the time to register. We don't want you to get here and be stranded at the airport, or the train or bus station. We also want to make sure you have a place to rest and refresh and food to nourish you while you are here.
• If you just haven't thought about it but are now thinking it might be a good way to spend three glorious days in Ubon Ratchathani Province, there is still time to register! But do it today - so you don't forget.

I am so looking forward to seeing you all in two weeks!

Linda Nowakowski

Conference Organizer

2nd International Conference of the Buddhist Economic Research Platform:

Theory AND Action

As many of you are aware, things are less that "as usual" here in Thailand at the moment. On Tuesday demonstrations at Suvarnabhumi Airport (the international airport in Bangkok) caused the cancellation of all flights out of Thailand. Flights have still been allowed to land but there are many unhappy travelers. This morning the demonstrators also shut down Don Mueang Airport (the old airport that has become a terminal for domestic flights).

Ajarn Apichai, the Dean of our Faculty of Management Science here at Ubon Rajathanee University, has asked me to tell you that he is certain that things will be back to normal by the end of the week-end. If they are not, we will send out a notification first thing on the 2nd of a cancellation of the conference. We are sorry for any distress that this uncertainty might cause you but we are concerned that you have the information to plan with and that most of all, your trip here to Thailand be a safe one.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at lindern@gmail.com.

Optimistically, I still look forward to sharing time with all of you at the end of next week.

Linda

Since that note, a State of Emergency has been declared. The airports are still closed.

Two of the speakers have already canceled as the airlines have given them the opportunity to get their money back if they make the decision now rather than wait to the last minute. I can not blame them for making the decisions they are making.

I am sending a brief update on the situation here. The PAD demonstrators are still in control of both Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Mueang Airport used for domestic flights. Ajarn Apichai has been informed that both sides are unofficially negotiating an end to this occupation. We are monitoring the situation closely and will make a final decision on the conference schedule around 9 am (Thai time) Tuesday morning (GMT = 2 AM DECEMBER 2). Please consult with your airline for what their policies and plans are in this situation. If you were scheduled to make a presentation and or were registered for the conference and will not be attending the conference, please notify me as soon as you possibly can so that we can have as much information as possible to assist in making decisions.

Linda

We have had several more cancellations and messages that a number of the participants have indicated tat they are stranded so far in Thimphu, Bhutan at the site of the Gross National Happiness conference. One of the participants from Canada informed me that his University notified him that he was not permitted to come into Thailand. He had been here and left for a few days to attend a conference in Manila and is not stuck in Manila.

I suspect we will cancel or postpone the conference. I can't really see the point of postponing, but it is not my call. I have been investigating ways that we can have the conference on-line but most look too expensive and too bandwidth demanding for me to operate from here.

Things are going to be a logistical nightmare here for maybe up to a month. There are hundreds of thousands of people stranded here. I can imagine that people who might be able to get here having their flights overbooked going home and losing their seats. What a nightmare.

Bronwen and I opted to not go to Bangkok and attend what remains of the Consumerism conference. I could see perhaps 2 of the participants being there since I know the itineraries of most of them and also know that 3 of them have already canceled being here. Oh, well...I will have an easy week with no classes scheduled!

Dear friends,

Thanks to the many of you who have given us feedback.

It has become clear that it will take much more time to open the airports once the demonstrators leave. We have heard up to 10 days for the international airport to check systems and open according to international regulations.

With that additional information and the wise counsel of all of you, we have decided to postpone the conference until early next year. We will check resource availability over the next few days and will be in touch with you all with the amended plans for the new and improved 2nd International Conference of the Buddhist Economic Research Platform: Theory AND Action.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding during these troubled times.

Sincerely,

Linda

-- Linda Nowakowski Conference Coordinator 2nd International Conference Buddhist Economic Research Platform: Theory AND Action.