In the American South, secular communities are hard to build, and diverse secular communities even more so, even when the populations are present. With the guidance of many incredible speakers, attendees of the 2016 S3RC were exposed to many of the issues facing the regional and secular community in general. Speakers included Dan Barker of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, internet and debating sensation Matt Dillahunty, former American Atheists president Ed Buckner, Mandisa Thomas of Black Nonbelievers, filmmaker Jeremiah Camara, and Jason Heap of the United Coalition of Reason.

Midway through the conference on Saturday, attendees had the opportunity to interact with speakers and each other at a social. After this year, we hope to have a rotating location at different universities in the region so as to make the conference accessible to as many people as possible. Some of the other speakers were Emily Mumford from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Dave Churvis of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, and Hiba Krisht of Ex-Muslims of North America. Other organizations present at the conference include the Center for Inquiry–Tallahassee; Florida Atheists, Critical Thinkers, and Skeptics; Atheists of Florida; the Humanist Society of the Suncoast; and the Coalition of Reason-Tampa Bay.