Day 11

Day 11. June 5, 2007

Breakfast was early today – 6:30 AM! We loaded the bus at the hotel (including the luggage for 56 people) and headed to the Auditorium at FedEx to brief for the National Civil Rights Museum project. The FedEx team was so kind to let us use the space this AM for a meeting. After a 90 minute project briefing we loaded the bus and headed downtown to the site of Dr. Martin Luther King’s death. On the ride to the museum, we watched a video documentary on the “Freedom Riders” from 1961. It was a very moving film and set the mood for the rich legacy of the Civil Rights Movement we would witness at the museum.

We were greeted by Ms. Beverly Robertson, President of the Museum. Ms. Robertson gave a very informative overview of the history of the museum and the types of guests who visit the facility each year. Following her executive briefing, the teams toured the exhibits.

Her challenge to the Accelerator 2007 teams:

The millennial generation is not active in areas of social action like their former generations. How do we bridge the gap of generations, raise the importance of social action within the Millennial generation, attract the attention of the Millennial generation on a national scale, and get them to visit the National Civil Rights Museum, and tell others. Project Deliverables:

1. Design 3 Word-of-Mouth national plans that effectively reach the Millennial generation with the goal of raising awareness of the NCRM and social activism/justice. 2. Create 3 NCRM special events or programs that would attract Millennial to visit the NCRM. 3. Recommendations to improve the brand image of NCRM with Millennials.

The winning team will be given the opportunity to attend the National Freedom Awards dinner held each fall to honor those who have advanced the cause of Freedom (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Bono are a few of the past honorees). Honestly, being given the privilege to provide assistance to this amazing place (in my view) is the reward. It is a testament to how far our great Country has come in honoring the commitment of our Founding Fathers that “all are created equal” – but a stark reminder of how far we’ve still to go to remove bigotry and prejudice so that all people are indeed free to worship, love, and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or handicap.

At 4:00 PM we loaded the bus for the drive back to Nashville. We stopped in Jackson, TN for dinner. We rolled onto the Vanderbilt campus about 10:00 PM…. a 15.5 hour day.