Funding from the RUS
The Rural Utilities Service recently announced grants for broadband service in rural, economically-challenged communities. (http://tinyurl.com/2ngr7w)

Feasibility Study Advice
Blandin Broadband Strategy Board members have advice and perspectives on broadband feasibility studies. (http://tinyurl.com/3cyzmj)

Draft Bill for Broadband Mapping
Rep. Al Juhnke and Rep. Sheldon Johnson presented a rough draft of a bill proposal to develop a map of broadband coverage in Minnesota. A presentation from Brett Lagg of Connected Nation led to some concern about what might follow broadband mapping. (http://tinyurl.com/2qy8fn)

Demystifying Wireless and Fiber Optics
The Institute for Local Self Reliance recently published a paper for community leaders that helps compare and contrast wireless and fiber optics. (http://tinyurl.com/2vugbh)

23 Things on a Stick
Minnesota libraries have created a self-directed online tutorial to help participants learn to use a wide range of Web 2.0 applications. (http://tinyurl.com/327ed4)

Digital Cities Expo
Bernadine Joselyn and Bill Coleman represented the Blandin Foundation at the Digital Cities Expo in Arizona in January. Visit the Blandin on Broadband blog for notes and presentations from the conference. (http://tinyurl.com/2p394x)

Meet the Blandin Broadband Initiative Board – Eric Lampland
We hope to introduce Blandin Foundation’s Broadband Initiative Strategy Board members over the next few months; this month we feature Eric Lampland, President of Lookout Point Communications.  Read more (http://tinyurl.com/2hsbf2)  

Blandin on Broadband is your source for up-to-date news and information about Broadband use, policy and trends especially in Minnesota. Subscribe today.

Bemidji
In May, Governor Pawlenty signed a law that requires all school districts to address intimidation and bullying in all forms, including electronic forms and forms involving the Internet; the Bemidji School Board is considering changes now. (http://tinyurl.com/2u7u5y)

Faribault & Marin Counties
Suspected vandals were arrested in Faribault for causing more than $100,000 in damage to telecommunications sites and equipment owned by five local companies. (http://tinyurl.com/yueveh)

Iron Range
The Iron Range’s FiberNet project has halved their estimated startup costs for developing a fiber network. Meetings will be happening throughout the month to promote communities’ support of the project. (http://tinyurl.com/2742uu)

Kandiyohi
Kandiyohi is offering a series of classes to teach basic skills ranging from email and Internet browsing for individuals to online marketing for small-business. For those who participate, grants will be available to help underwrite 50 percent of the cost of creating or upgrading business web sites. (http://tinyurl.com/23orvk)

Monticello
Monticello is moving forward with a city-wide fiber optic network. The fiber network will be financed with revenue bonds, not a tax levy. The cost for the entire project is estimated at $20 to $25 million and completion of the fiber network will take approximately 18 months. (http://tinyurl.com/yuo2b7)

Owatonna
David Warlick of the Landmark Project (http://landmark-project.com) visited with Owatonna educators to talk about teaching information literacy to students to prepare them for their information-rich future. (http://tinyurl.com/39hm2m)

Rochester
The Mayo Clinic and IBM are building a Medical Imaging Informatics Innovation Center (MI3C) in Rochester Minnesota. (http://tinyurl.com/229h67) 

Rushford
Since the flood in August, Rushford has been scrambling with other projects but Yaggy, Colby Associates are helping them move forward with broadband. Rushford will use a blog to inform the public about the planning process. They continue to work on website development for area businesses and organizations and will be marketing the opportunity through the internet and other media outlets.

Thief River Falls
Thief River Falls Times reminds readers that, “Congress has mandated that Feb. 17, 2009, will be the last day for full-power TV stations to broadcast in both analog and digital. After that date, those TV stations will only broadcast in digital. The switchover affects TVs that receive free over-the-air programming (those that are used with rooftop antennas or with “rabbit ears” connected to the TV sets). Analog TVs hooked up to cable or satellite services won’t be affected by the switchover.” (http://tinyurl.com/2x8vke)

Winona
Home and Community Options, which provides support and residential services to people with developmental disabilities, was featured the Winona Daily News. (http://tinyurl.com/229h67)  Blandin is pleased to have a representative from HCO posting updates on the Blandin on Broadband blog. (http://tinyurl.com/235n28)

February 6-8 – MART Telco Marketing Group Conference (Plymouth, MN) – for independent telecommunications companies (http://mnart.org)

February 15 - 2008 Policy Forum & Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Awards (Washington DC) - Framing Broadband Policy for the Next Administration with The Honorable Jonathan S. Adelstein (http://www.apt.org/events/annual-event.html)

February 20 – Muni FTTH Networking Day (Nashville, TN) - a day dedicated to fostering communication and sharing information between municipalities considering or already deploying FTTH (http://tinyurl.com/2rx6au)

February 21 – Megaconference Jr – an event for and by students of the world. (http://www.megaconferencejr.org)

March 1 (Afloat in the Wireless Pond?) – (St Paul, MN) - explore the changes that the Internet is making in our lives on the state, local, and personal levels. (http://www.mncogi.org/wirelesspond.html) 

March 2-5 – Minnesota Telecom Alliance (Minneapolis, MN) – annual convention (http://www.mnta.org/events/events.html)

May 12-22 – Intelligent Community Forum Immersion Lab (various locations) - see some of North America's Intelligent Communities. (http://tinyurl.com/39r8j9)

A news clip promoting Kandiyohi County’s Get Broadband Initiative was in my Inbox this morning.  The local broadband group is hosting business and community broadband training similar to that provided by the other broadband communities over the past several years. I hope that they have great attendance and that the sessions are a success!  Many of our Get Broadband communities have been “done” with their grants for a long time and it is time for me to ask “What have you done for broadband lately? 

Here are some ideas for you to consider to promote the use of broadband and to enhance your community’s image as a tech savvy community:

• Create a list of all the things that community members can do online locally, with your businesses, hospital, school, civic organizations and promote these online applications
• Update your list of places where residents and visitors can get free wireless Internet access and put it on your Chamber or Visitors’ web site and in your visitor information center
• Identify stories of successful local business use of the Internet and get your local paper to publish them; focus on businesses that participated in Get Broadband training
• Host a breakfast or lunch meeting of your Get Broadband committee to identify and pursue new opportunities for promoting broadband
• Investigate and pursue economic development awards, such as the Intelligent Community Forum, to emphasize the importance of broadband for economic development (http://www.intelligentcommunity.org)
• Promote a bundled approach to overcoming our slow economy: e-commerce as a way to reach new customers or reduce costs; online learning as a tool for retraining and skill upgrades; and telehealth as a way to save public health dollars.

Blandin Foundation, through the new Community Broadband Resources Program (http://www.blandinfoundation.com/html/public_bb_cbr.cfm), is committed to providing flexible assistance to communities in their broadband promotion endeavors. Feel free to contact me for assistance or ideas!