At the Tom Tom Festival
April 19-21, 2023
Charlottesville, VA
Three Days of Big Ideas For A Bright Future
Not your average conference. During the Tom Tom Festival, we’ll be holding a pay-what-you-can conference that focuses on the future of our community through three tracks: Conscious City, Technology For Good, and Society & Justice. Engaged citizens from all sectors and neighborhoods, come together to connect, learn and get inspired to take action. Tackle some of the most important questions of our current day with leading thinkers while immersing in moments of pause, self-reflection, and connection that allow for deeper relating and collaboration. You’ll meet new friends and make lasting memories—and take steps toward lasting change.
FORMAT
Join us at our campus on the Downtown Mall: from the CODE Building to Common House. Whether you’re coming to elevate consciousness, learn about the latest technologies, or help build a more just Charlottesville, you will experience panels, keynotes, and workshops, alongside facilitated conversation, meditations, and embodiment experiences. This is not your average conference. Prepare to deepen your connection to Self and your community.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN TICKETS & BADGES
Everyone has a seat at the table and is asked to bring their voice. This conference has been created as an offering to the Charlottesville Community (and beyond). In the spirit of a gift, we are offering a Pay-What-You-Can model and ask attendees to assess the value of the conference in terms of their unique financial capacity and interest.
For most, attending a conference similar to this would cost $150 a day. You may pay less (or more). When deciding what amount is best for you, please include in your consideration that Tom Tom is a non-profit organization.
CONSCIOUS CITY
What makes us a healthy, mindful, and connected community?
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Healing the Individual. Healing the Collective.
This conference takes us on an intellectual and an experiential journey through healing. We all experience suffering in our lives – physical ailments, mental stress, emotional pain, societal pressures – and it’s up to us to decide how we handle it. The process of understanding, accepting, forgiving, and ultimately healing ourselves is a lifelong journey. How can you experience wholeness and happiness on an ongoing basis?
We’ll explore a variety of proven ways we can heal ourselves and increase our awareness and happiness —from meditation and mindfulness to plant medicines (inc. psychedelics) and guided practices such as counseling, yoga, energy healing, hypnosis, and more. Along the way, we will explore ideas about what is meant by “consciousness,” whether any part of your consciousness might survive death, how to bring more awareness to all parts of your life, and how you can meaningfully increase joy and fulfillment in your day-to-day activities and truly flourish.
THEMES:
Consciousness
Community Healing
Healthy Living
Sacred Ceremonies
Faith in Action
Conscious Dying
TECHNOLOGY
FOR GOOD
How does technology and entrepreneurship
increase opportunity in the community?
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Embrace evolution with technology…for good.
Charlottesville’s technology sector is one of the region’s most vibrant areas of economic opportunity and a source of global innovation and ideas. This conference is a state of the union for Charlottesville Tech, bringing together individuals from various sectors including biotechnology, energy, data, and AI. We will learn how these local innovators are driving global change. The conference also looks at diversity within the sectors, from a workforce and cultural perspective, ensuring that there are multiple voices shaping decisions.
So whether you're looking for insights into some of the most relevant global trends, the ethics around data and AI, or some of the hottest emerging Charlottesville companies, this is a conference that you’ll learn, connect, and truly become inspired by.
THEMES:
Angel Investing
Biotechnology
Data & AI
Diversity & Technology
Climate & Energy
Innovative Startups
THEMES:
Criminal Justice Reform
Financial Empowerment
Early Childhood Education
Youth Mentoring
Inclusive Culture
Faith & Community
SOCIETY & JUSTICE
What creates a welcoming and equitable community
with a shared vision for the future?
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Let’s turn conversation into action for an equitable tomorrow.
The Future Forward conference concludes by zooming out to the systems of our society. It is a sustained look at the ways in which the structures and resources of our community can be brought together to assist everyone and establish a shared conversation for the future.
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This day will feature critical conversations around criminal justice reform, art and culture, financial access and empowerment, and early childhood education.
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Please note: some of these conversations are by invitation as they will be facilitated charrettes, and others are open to the public. Please review session listings for info.
