08/11/2026
Each year, Maryland’s counties come together at the MACo Summer Conference to exchange ideas, explore emerging issues, and look ahead at the future of local government.
This year’s theme, “Future Forward,” focuses on technology, artificial intelligence, cyber, and online innovations. Talbot County Government with Talbot 250 and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum teamed up to take the theme in a uniquely Talbot County direction: looking back as we look forward.
Under the theme “Honoring the Past. Stepping Into the Future,” the Talbot County booth highlights innovators, leaders, advocates, and changemakers with ties to Talbot County whose ideas and actions helped move their communities, and sometimes the nation, forward. Visitors can also experience that connection between history and technology firsthand through an AI-powered conversation with Frederick Douglass, developed using research from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Responses are generated exclusively from Douglass’s documented writings and speeches, allowing visitors to engage with his words and ideas in a new way.
In town for MACo? Stop by the Talbot County booth to collect one of eight Talbot County Legends trading cards, featuring Frederick Douglass, James “Jim” Rouse, Mary Bartlett Dixon, John Dickinson, Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins, Thelma Alford, Tench Tilghman, and Frank “Home Run” Baker. After the conference, these will be available at upcoming Talbot 250 events.
