Leading up to the Fall Broadband Conference, Blandin will be hosting a series of free webinars. In the past these sessions have been a great way to bone up on topics before the conference and/or a good taste of the type of topic that might come up at the conference. The first session starts next week. I hope you’ll register and put the others on your calendar…

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Critical Broadband Policy Issues
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

We kick-off this year’s pre-conference webinar series with JoAnne Johnson from U-reka Broadband Ventures.

JoAnne will tackle policy issues at both the Federal and State level:

• Federal policy – The Universal Service Reform Discussion: Who is lining up where and why?
• State policy – How do we move policy creation to strategy implementation and why hasn’t anything happened?

Please register. https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/rryczwv

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Mobile Broadband – Is it enough?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

The US Broadband plan establishes a 4 Mb goal for those lacking access to networks meeting the 100 Mb goal. Many assume that this goal will be met with mobile broadband networks. Will this be adequate to participate in today’s bandwidth intensive world?

Join Jeff Carlisle from LightSquared and Bob Bass from ATT in the exploration of this question.

Please register. https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/jjszfrm 

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Public-private partnerships in broadband
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

With stimulus funds allocated and clear understanding of the difficulties in obtaining strictly market-based funding, how can underserved areas reach their broadband goals? What are some successful models of public private partnerships?

Bill Coleman of Community Technology Advisors will present this topic.

Please register. https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/wwvhkfv

Pre-Broadband Conference Webinar – Community Transformation via Technology
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Communities want broadband networks to support economic vitality. Assuming infrastructure investments are made, what are the next steps to transform the way communities function in a broadband-based world?

School superintendents Matt Grose and Mark Adams from the Itasca Area Schools Collaborative and Paul Thon from Cisco will talk about the work they’re doing to bring technology to Itasca County schools and the communities in which they reside.

Please register: https://blandinfoundation.ilinc.com/register/rrychss