Media & Technology

Dear Mr. Medrano,

I am reaching out on behalf of the Texas Historical Commission (THC), the State’s Historic Preservation Organization, as well as for the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission (the state agency’s non-profit partner), with a request for your consideration.. I am writing to explore the possibility of having you participate in the THC’s annual Real Places 2020 Conference as a keynote speaker.

A little background on the Texas Historical Commission’s Real Places Conference – The THC annually hosts what is the premier historic preservation conference in Texas. The conference serves an audience that includes preservation professionals of course, but also historians, archeologists, architects and engineers, curators, interpreters, managers of museums and museum staff, educators, students, elected officials at the state and local levels, avocational preservationists across the state and beyond, among others. The conference focuses on the broad intersection of history and historic preservation with economic development, heritage and culture tourism, cultural resources management, etc. The THC’s goal is to preserve the “Real Places Telling Real Stories”, and the Real Places Conference provides THC with a platform to share these real stories fully and authentically, giving a voice to all Texans.

The 2020 Real Places Conference is scheduled for January 29-31st, in Austin. https://www.thcfriends.org/realplaces

The conference begins with an opening night reception on Wednesday night (January 29th evening), featuring a keynote speaker who launches the conference. Our keynote speakers at our last conference in January 2019 included Dr. Charles Ramirez Berg (UT-Austin School of Film), Colleen Dillenschnieder of IMPACTS Research, Nina Simon from the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and HIstory, and Gene Kranz, the legendary director of Mission Control during the Apollo 13 mission.

As you can imagine, our goal is to offer the best and most inspirational content at the Real Places Conference, both through the regular sessions, and especially through the keynotes. Towards that end, we feel very strongly that your perspective on the intricate relationship between food, culture and history would allow us to continue to raise the bar for the Real Places Conference.

I would greatly appreciate an opportunity to speak with you further about the conference, and answer any questions you might have. I will be happy to call at a time convenient to you, should you find this request of interest.

Sincerely,
Anjali Zutshi
Chief Development Officer, Texas Historical Commission
Executive Director, Friends of the Texas Historical Commission
512-936-2241