Waypoints Forum: Futures of the Maine Waterfront
Friday, January 19, 2018
Portland, Maine

Videos from our live-stream of the Forum panel discussions are available here or via the links below.
A gallery of photos from the event are available here.

The Island Institute's 2018 Waypoints Forum featured an afternoon of panel discussions on the future of our coastal and island economy, presented with trends and analysis by key coastal leaders. The theme for this year's event was Futures of the Maine Waterfront, with topics ranging from aquaculture to the future of our state's working waterfronts.

The forum was followed by a reception and special dinner highlighting the bounties of the Maine coast and featured a multi-course meal with locally sourced food, including Bangs Island Mussels and Casco Bay Cod.

Forum Topics

Speakers

  • Barton Seaver, Author and Chef
  • Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association
  • Abigail Carroll, Nonesuch Oysters
  • JB Turner, Front Street Shipyard
  • Boe Marsh, Community Shellfish
  • Luke Holden, Luke’s Lobster
  • Mark Ouellette, Axiom Technologies
  • Briana Warner, Island Institute
  • Rob Snyder, President, Island Institute
  • Heather Deese, Executive Vice President, Island Institute

Speaker Information

Information on each of the speakers listed above is available here:  Waypoints 2018 Forum and Dinner Speakers

Schedule of Events

2:00 p.m. – Welcome
Dr. Rob Snyder and Dr. Heather Deese, Island Institute

2:20 p.m. – Panel 1:  Small Scale Aquaculture in a Global Marketplace

  • Moderator: Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association
  • Barton Seaver, Author and Chef
  • Boe Marsh, Community Shellfish
  • Abigail Carroll, Nonesuch Oysters

3:05 p.m. – Break

3:30 p.m. – Panel 2:  Big Ideas on the Waterfront

  • Moderator: Briana Warner, Island Institute
  • Luke Holden, Luke’s Lobster
  • JB Turner, Front Street Shipyard
  • Mark Ouellette, Axiom Technologies 

4:15 p.m. – Panel 3:  Futures of our Working Waterfronts in Maine

  • Rob Snyder, President, Island Institute
  • Heather Deese, Executive Vice President, Island Institute
  • Dan Tishman, Tishman Hotel & Realty
  • Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquauclture Association
  • Donna Wiegle, Mill Pond Health Center, Swan's Island

4:55 p.m. – Q & A

5:25 p.m. – Closing Remarks
Joe Higdon, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Island Institute

Dinner Keynote – Jeffery C. Becton, Artist

Jeffrey C. Becton

One of the pioneers of the digital revolution, Jeffery Becton is a visual artist who has lived and maintained a studio in Deer Isle Maine since 1977. He received formal training at the Yale School of Art earning an MFA in graphic design in 1976.

Although he received his degree almost a decade before the arrival of the first personal computers employing a graphic user interface, Becton had already had use of an early software application for formatting type digitally on the mainframe computer in Yale's computer science lab. It was an experience that primed him to welcome the new digital tools which became available in the mid 1980s.

As an islander, Becton is especially drawn to the ocean, finding meaning and inspiration in its challenging and mercurial presence, the embodiment of the beauty and harshness of life and proximity of death. With material drawn from his natural surroundings, local homes, and personal imagery, Becton also draws from a vast collection of his ongoing photography to create his compositions. The resulting images exist as a medium somewhere between photography, collage, and painting that he refers to as digital montage. For more information about the artist and his work, visit http://www.jefferybecton.com/. 

Jeffery C. Becton

"Off Spirit Ledge" (2017)


Thank you to the following for their support and sponsorships!

Host committee

  • Dan and Joan Amory
  • Roger Berle
  • Joe Higdon
  • Lee International
  • Yemaya and Lucas St. Clair
  • Dan Tishman

Adam Burk + Co

AV Technik