Next Generation Broadband Last Word
The evaluations are back from the Blandin Next Generation Broadband conference in October. The response overall was very positive. Many attendees mentioned the students as a highlight and several mentioned that in the future they’d like to have more time to network with others; something we’ll remember for next year.

Rep. Edward Markey Chairs House Telecom Subcommittee
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass will chair the House Telecom Subcommittee next year. Markey has been on the telecommunications subcommittee since first being elected to Congress in 1976, and was instrumental in passing the 1996 Telecommunications Act and laws mandating children's television programming and v-chip technology that blocks unwanted programming. "For the Bell companies, there's no question it's bad news," one industry observer said of the Markey move. (Read more)

America’s Broadband Record an “Outrage”
FCC Member Michael Copps recently published an article in the Washington Post that lambasted America’s current record in expanding broadband communication. He observed that the US is 15th in the world in broadband penetration and US consumers pay twice as much as consumers in Asia and Europe for one-twentieth the speed. Copps offers suggestions for improvement including redefining broadband, developing a strategy, and encouraging public-private initiatives.

Net Neutrality after the Elections
The November elections are already spurring speculation on the potential impact on broadband and telecommunications policy. WebProNews points out that Net Neutrality has been a partisan issue in Congress but that efforts such as Save the Internet have shown that it’s not a partisan on the outside. Save the Internet has joined together strange bedfellows. Speculators predict that the Democrats, led by new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), will introduce this issue and more.

The Future of Internet II
Pew Internet & American Life recently surveyed Internet leaders on their predictions for the future of Internet II. Here are some of the highlights.

• A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a “flattening” world.
• Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems.
• Tech “refuseniks” will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change.
• People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy.

Citizen/Community Journalism with Griff Wigley

In November, Griff Wigley of Wigley & Associates spoke via videoconference to the Get Broadband communities. His presentation is available on his blog and more detailed notes are available on the Blandin web site. Here is a quick summary.

Griff has been developing online communities since 1991 when he started a real and virtual salon in Northfield, Minnesota through the Utne Reader. Northfield Citizens Online has been a leader in online community building ever since. One great success in the 90s was their triple play events when the local newspaper, public radio, and web site collaborated to highlight one issue over a two-week period through editorials, events, and online forums. Such collaboration has slowed some since the local media outlets have developed their own web pages.

More recently, Griff has had success working with community members and leaders to encourage citizens to post content about and for the community. He has provided seminars and coaching on leadership blogging.  So, many of Northfield’s politicians, community leaders, and citizens blog. The current Northfiend.org site features posts from local blogs, podcasts, news submitted from citizens, a calendar of events, forums, polls, and photos. Citizens are invited to participate at many levels, from taking a quick poll to maintaining their own blog that feeds news to the Northfield blog.

Photos are a key addition to the site. They attract visitors and with the popularity of digital cameras and advents of tools such as Flickr, it is easy for citizens to post pictures.

Griff offered this key advice during the session for anyone looking to develop a community content-driven site: Use pictures, find a good content management software (such as blogging tools), provide audio and video in formats that are most accessible (podcasts and derivatives), for online forums, be sure to moderate and require users to use their real names to promote quality discussions that attract policy makers.

Five Small Towns Blandin Broadband Project
The Five Small Towns remain busy with writing articles and handouts, providing e-commerce training, developing web sites for the cities and training a team of students to develop business web sites. (Get more information, including links to articles)

Fosston
In October, Fosston held a Technology Fair at the Fosston Civic Center. Attendance was an amazing 550, not bad for a town of 1,575! (Read more and learn how they got that amazing turn out.)  

Grand Rapids
The Itasca Economic Development Corporation organized a wireless forum that gathered local and statewide wireless experts to discuss the opportunities available for Grand Rapids. The event was well attended and included providers and leaders who have been working on the same issues, but had never before been in the same room together to discuss common concerns. A group of attendees will continue to explore opportunities to improve wireless service in the region in collaboration with providers and city officials.

Mankato
Mankato has been working on SourceLink, a designed to match questions to answers, stimulating business growth and economic development in the region.  (Learn more)

Marshall
Ten $1000 grants were awarded to Lyon County businesses. The grants were given to encourage e-commerce and upgrades to broadband technology. (Read more, including comments from participating business owners.)

Moose Lake
Moose Lake plans to take advantages of the common communications and information management systems available throughout the community to delivery public and emergency response information. See their vision statement (a work in progress) on the Get Broadband web site.

New Ulm
With the pre-survey are completed, the New Ulm Get Broadband Committee will soon complete key stakeholder interviews and begin to set our goals and action plans for the year. They are excited to create an action plan and share it with the chamber of commerce, key stakeholders and interested citizens of New Ulm. 

December 19, 2006 – Blandin Broadband COIN meetings – morning conference calls about the key broadband areas of E-Commerce (marketing through e-newsletters) , Economic Development (emerging trends in telework),  Health Care (FCC rural telemedicine network grants) and Education (undetermined).  Stay tuned for details.

February 13-16, 2007 - eTail 2007 (Palm Desert, CA) – focuses on how retailers can use technology to reach their customers and sell more online.

February 26 – March 1 – Minnesota Telecom Alliance (Minneapolis) – the 98th annual conference.

March 27-29, 2007 - CTIA Wireless 2007 (Orlando, FL) – the annual conference for the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry. (For wireless hot topics visit their industry topics page.)

April 30 – May 2, 2007 – Killer App (Fort Wayne, Indiana) - explores the applications that are driving broadband use and adoption worldwide. Killer App is looking for presenters. Visit their web site for more information. Deadline for applications is January 15, 2007.)

For many of our Get Broadband communities, the formal affiliation with the program has ended. Their funds have been spent and their grant documents submitted. This is a good time to reflect on and celebrate the success of the broadband program. 

Statistics from the Center for Rural Policy and Development indicate that the rate of broadband adoption in our communities far exceeds the adoption rates occurring in other rural communities. If numbers alone aren’t encouraging enough, we have the videos created by our communities; they tell great stories of how the program has impacted individuals and communities. 

Personally, I want to thank the project coordinators for their commitment to making things happen in their communities.  This work is not easy.  Competing for people's time and attention is a challenge.  Asking them to change and adopt new technology is even harder. The coordinators have done a great job making the Blandin program a success in their communities. Project coordinators, I encourage you to take a look back and celebrate the technology progress in your community.

I would also encourage you, whether you have an active grant or not, to continue to promote broadband technology use in your community. Keep it on the minds of community leadership.  Use your influence while wearing your many hats to push for better web sites, more online services, better and more affordable telecommunications services and digital equity.  The work to enhance community vitality is never complete; make technology a permanent pillar of your community's economic development strategy.

Feel free to call on me or any of the Blandin team for help in your continuing efforts!

Bill

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