Moving the fall broadband conference (Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand) online presented an opportunity for us to think beyond the broadband industry for speakers. I’m excited to announce that the next keynote speaker has graciously found time to “come back” to Minnesota virtually to offer his uniquely international and hometown perspective…

Thomas L. Friedman, an internationally known author and journalist, has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at The New York Times.  His foreign affairs column in The New York Times reports on US domestic politics and foreign policy, Middle East conflicts, international economics, environment, biodiversity and energy.

For his coverage of the Middle East, Mr. Friedman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and 1988 for international reporting.  He was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary for “his clarity of vision…in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.”  In 2004, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club Award for lifetime achievement and the honorary title, Order of the British Empire (OBE), by Queen Elizabeth II.

Friedman is the author of many columns and books related to technology and society, including his most recent book, Thank you For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations 2.0 (2017).

Observations from Thank you For Being Late feel prescient in the new world of 2020. We look forward to his astute commentary in his presentation:
How I think about the importance of communities in the 21st century.

Mr. Friedman will speak October 29 from 9:15 to 10:30am. We are working on making Mr. Friedman’s presentation available via Facebook Live and YouTube. If you plan to attend only this session, please join via one of those platforms. We will be moderating questions from the audience via all platforms. Stay tuned for more details.

The presentation will be available to attendees of the conference via Zoom. If you are interested in the whole conference, please register here.)

There will also be a book club online on Oct 23.