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Leadership Panel Set For November Broadband Communities Conference

In November 2012, Broadband Communities Magazine hosted the first of its Economic Development Conference Series in Danville, Virginia. The second conference, scheduled for November 5-7, 2013, will bring another group of leaders together in Tinley Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.

This year, the conference will focus on the Midwest with discussions about Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

As usual, our own Christopher Mitchell will speak there and will be generally available to discuss community owned networks with those who attend.

From the announcement:

We are assembling an outstanding multi-disciplinary roster of national, regional, and local experts who have extensive experience in using advanced communications capabilities to foster economic development and create jobs. We will examine what is working well, what is not, and what lies ahead, particularly as federal stimulus funding ends.

Our speakers will provide attendees a wealth of economic research, case histories, how-to materials, and other practical information that they can use effectively in their communities. We will address the latest "hot" topics, including Google Fiber, FirstNet, the Connect America Fund, the FCC's new Health Care Connect Fund, emphasizing their potential to foster economic development and job creation. We will also provide ample time for networking and learning about relevant cutting-edge products and services.

The leadership panel includes:

National League Of Cities Webinar on Local Broadband Solutions June 13

The National League of Cities will be presenting a free webinar on June 13 on local broadband solutions. The event, titled Local Broadband Initiatives: Finding a Model That Works for You, is scheduled at 2 p.m. EDT.

The speaker line up includes three leaders in policy, law, and implementation:

  • Jim Baller, President, Baller Herbst Law Group, Washington, DC
  • Joanne Hovis, President, CTC Technology and Energy, Kensington, MD and President, National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, Kensington, MD
  • Deborah Acosta, Chief Innovation Officer, City of San Leandro, CA

NLC describes the discussion as:

Broadband, or high-speed internet, service providers can take many forms, ranging from national franchises to local providers to city/county governments to a combination of public and private partners working together.  This webinar will give participants a better understanding of what the landscape of local broadband initiatives looks like in terms of public-private models, how and where local governments fit into these partnerships, and how they are financing and leveraging these initiatives to get the most benefit for their communities. 

You can register for free

Susan Crawford to Speak in San Francisco May 14th

On May 14th, Susan Crawford will speak at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in San Francisco. The event will be hosted by the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) of the CPUC, and the theme of the discussion will be "Digital Communications in the United States: Should Broadband Communications be a Public Utility Service?”

The event runs from 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. PDT. The CPUC auditorium is located at 505 Van Ness Ave. in S.F. For those of us who can't make it in person, the event will be webcast and archived.

From the invite:

Professor Crawford will speak on the current status of broadband communications including the state of competition, affordability, availability of high speed internet, and whether cities should be allowed to build their own municipal fiber broadband networks.  Attendees are encouraged to participate in the dialogue. 

Questions for the Forum may be posted on Twitter using #DRAForum. We look forward to seeing all your great questions and may even ask some of our own.

Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Gather in DC May 1-3

DC is the place to be May 1 - 3 to see how broadband and telecommunications policy will affect education, research, and healthcare. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) annual conference will be at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

The conference this year is titled "Getting to a Gigabit" and speakers will address a range of issues that will impact community anchor institutions, including E-Rate, BTOP and BIP funded projects, new programs developed to address the digital divide, state and local government broadband programs, and the Universal Services Fund.

A range of talented speakers will present, including Lawrence Strickling from the NTIA. Sunne McPeak from the California Emerging Technology Fund, Blair Levin, and a long list of other distinguished professionals in telecom.

You can still register to attend and there are also sponsorship opportunities available.

Christopher Mitchell to Join FCC Panel on Gigabit Communities

On Wednesday, March 26, Christopher Mitchell will be on the last panel at the Federal Communication Commission's Gigabit Workshop. The full agenda is here and starts at 9 AM EDT. The entire event will be webcast via fcc.gov/live. Mitchell's panel will begin at 2:20 EDT and discuss the ways communities can leverage local tools to build their own networks or to attract partners. All of the panels are scheduled to spend a lot of time answering questions - remote viewers can submit questions to livequestions@fcc.gov. Please do!

Freedom to Connect Starts Monday, March 4

Freedom to Connect starts on Monday morning, March 4, at 9 AM EST and should not be missed. If you cannot make the live event in Silver Spring, Maryland, you can join from afar.

That's right, there will be a livestream and for a $25 fee, you can join the backchannel discussion.

This conference has some incredible presenters ... and also me - Christopher Mitchell - giving a keynote in the opening session. I'll also be joining the Democracy Now show at 8 AM EST to talk about community owned networks. They also have a livestream at their site.


 

SEATOA Conference Set for March 21st-22nd

This March 21-22, the SouthEast Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (SEATOA) will be hosting the "Networking Communities for the New South" conference. The conference will be held at the Omni Charlotte Hotel.

We are excited to see Susan Crawford as the keynote speaker. From the conference page:

She will provide a broadband policy reality check, and answer – among other questions –whether current so-called “level playing field”, “free-market” policies are leaving us with a second class network that only the rich can afford.

(For a preview, listen to Susan in a recent Broadband Bits Podcast. She talked about her recent book and discussed the need for long term U.S. telecom policy change.)

Check out the schedule and list of other speakers [PDF] and start planning your itinerary. You can also register online.

Some of the issues discussed will be:

  • Public and private resources
  • How to offer services to schools and other government institutions as a way to save costs and yet build a platform for high bandwidth use
  • Info on the Research Triangle Park's North Carolina Next Generation Network, (NCNGN - sounds like NC Engine)
  • The National Public Safety FirstNET and municipal network
  • How to build, operate, and integrate social media into, local Public, Education and Government (PEG) channels, and into your organization's lobbying campaigns to obtain optimal reach

Exciting Upcoming Events!

If we want to protect the open Internet and expand access to fast, affordable, and reliable connections, we need to organize. There are few better ways to organize or get inspired than in-person events with great speakers and time to chat with others. I will be at both Freedom to Connect and the National Conference for Media Reform and strongly encourage you to sign up with the early bird rates now available. The first is Freedom to Connect (F2C) just outside Washington, DC, at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.
F2C: Freedom to Connect is designed to bring under-represented people and issues into the Washington, DC based federal policy discussion. F2C: Freedom to Connect revolves around three central topics. The first is an open infrastructure owned or controlled by and responsive to the community it serves and whose resources it depends upon. The second is a publicly specified set of Internet protocols open to all who meet its specifications. The third is the use of the Internet to promote government of, by and for the people, and to counteract autocratic government power.
To learn who will address each topic, visit F2C. Below is a short video with some of the fun moments of this conference in 2012. (You can see the presentations and panels from 2012 here.) Register by Jan 18 to get the early bird discount: $195. Don't forget, this event always has world-class music between sessions -- always a great experience. NCMR Logo One month after F2C, Free Press is holding the National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) in Denver on April 5-7. I spoke at the last NCMR and will be on at least one, possibly several panels in Denver to discuss community owned broadband networks and Internet policy.

Upcoming National Conference for Media Reform - Great Deal

Free Press is hosting the next National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) in Denver, April 5-7. Though the panels are not finalized, it is safe to assume that we will have a few on broadband and telecommunications policy. That's why I just registered for it and will undoubtedly be speaking on one or more sessions. For a few more days, you can register for this conference at a remarkable rate - just $95 for the whole thing! Register here. I always meet really inspiring people at NCMR and I expect this year to be one of the best. Denver is a great town and I expect people from Longmont to be there, talking about how they beat Comcast in a referendum where Comcast dropped $400,000 to protect its monopoly. I can't overstate how much stronger our movement is when we come together to inspire each other and strategize face to face. I hope to see you there.