Category Archives: Blandin Broadband Summit 2020

MN Broadband Conference Highlight: Digital Inclusion Showcase Agenda 2020

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The fall broadband conference is two short weeks away! We are excited to share more details, and today we unveil the Digital Showcase lineup. We will kick-off the conference on the morning of October 6 with brief (10 min) demonstrations, stories or presentation from folks on the front lines of helping people make better use of broadband. Some have ideas you might be able to implement tomorrow – some are intentionally stretch goals. They are all great examples of how broadband is changing lives. And you’ll get a chance to ask questions during the session.

We’ll be hearing from the following:

  1. PCs for People refurbishes donated computers to distribute to low income households. They also offer affordable tech support and Internet access (where available).
  2. Winona Friendship Center offers remote elder exercise online. Participants can see each other and the instructor for this one of a kind exercise program.
  3. Kairos Alive! transforms lives through dance and creative involvement and has regular online events to encourage participation with folks who might have difficulty attending on site.
  4. Minnesota Libraries & Libraries Without Borders bring literacy, digital literacy and library services to folks in and outside of a library. Learn about pilot projects happening in Minnesota – especially with laundromats and manufactured housing parks.
  5. Boreal Corps is a program that is using technology to help kids help others to tell stories. They have been working on COVID communication in their community.
  6. Wolf Creek Online is an innovative Online Public School Option for all Minnesota students grades 9-12 and up to age 21. They have been teaching successfully teaching students online for years.
  7. Online Gaming contest with Paul Bunyan; they have hosted several annual GigaZone Gaming Championships. Participants compete in online tournaments for real money.
  8. Precision Ag with Land o’Lakes; they talk about how their work with their members to use technology to streamline and improve agri-businesses in the field.
  9. Great Plains Telehealth Resource & Assistance Center (gpTRAC) helps healthcare providers develop and implement telehealth programs. Their mandate is to promote telehealth through training, technical assistance (consultation), and outreach activities.

MN Broadband Conference Special Session Announcement: Tom Friedman Book Club – Thank you for being late

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Pleased to announce one of those “special sessions” we’ve been promising as we move online for Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand, the fall broadband conference <drum roll please> an online book club to prepare us all for keynote speaker, Tom Friedman!

This will take place during the “middle weeks” we’ve saved for special events. The plan is to meet online at 10am on October 23 for a virtual Zoom discussion of Thank You for Being Late: An Optimists Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Tom Friedman, Minnesota’s own Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and author.

The Blandin Foundation is partnering with Global Minnesota, who will be hosting this exclusive book club.  Mark Ritchie, currently of Global Minnesota and former Secretary of State, will be moderating the book club discussion.

The Financial Times has described Thank You for Being Late as a “field guide to the twenty-first century.” In this book, Minnesota’s native son makes the argument that “decency,” “community” and the “topsoil of trust” can be cultivated anywhere to anchor increasingly diverse and digital populations. Chock full of references to his childhood in St. Louis Park and Willmar, Thank You for Being Late is Friedman’s most ambitious book–and an essential guide to the present and the future.

Participation in the book club discussion is free, but registration is required. (Register online!) Even if you have registered for the Broadband conference, we ask you to register as well because Global Minnesota will be technically hosting as well as emceeing/moderating the event.

You can check out the book from your local library, or order it online.

If you haven’t registered for the free, fall broadband conference, Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand, you can do that online too!

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Tom Friedman joins the MN Fall Broadband Conference

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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.

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Deb Socia joins the MN Fall Broadband Conference

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The MN Fall Broadband Conference (Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand) is getting closer and I’m delighted to share news of another one of our Keynote speakers…

Deb Socia is President and CEO of The Enterprise Center, a nonprofit that pushes innovation forward in Chattanooga and aims to ensure that all residents have access to the tools they need to thrive in the digital world.

Growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the Innovation District, building digital equity, and supporting research and implementation of smart city applications are all a part of the organization’s focus.

Prior to her current role, Deb was the Executive Director of Next Century Cities, a nonprofit that supports community leaders as they seek to ensure that all have access to fast, affordable, and reliable Internet. Previously, Deb was the Executive Director of the Tech Goes Home program in Boston whose mission is to ensure digital equity.

Deb’s early career included 32 years as an educator and administrator.  She was the founding principal of the award winning Lilla G. Frederick Middle School, a Boston Public School where she led the one-to-one laptop initiative.

Deb has been the recipient of many awards for her work, including the NATOA Community Broadband Hero, the Pathfinder Award from MassCUE, the CRSTE Leadership and Vision Award, the Google Digital Inclusion Award, Motherboard Human of the Year, an NTENny Award, and the Charles Benton Digital Equity Award.

She will speak on…

Connecting Residents to Essential Services: Solutions for Local Communities 

During the presentation, Deb will share creative problem-solving strategies for connecting residents to essential services. She will review The Enterprise Center’s digital inclusion program and the unique interventions her organization was able to help put in place to help connect residents to tele-health, education, work from home, recovery services, faith based supports, and mental health care.

Registration now open for Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand. The virtual and dispersed Fall Broadband Conference.

EVENT: Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand – Register is open!

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Big news – registration is now open for Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand. Careful reader will know we’ve shifted gears to find ways to keep us together yet safe. We’re going with a virtual and dispersed model with briefer encounters happening throughout the month of October.

Here’s a rough outline:

  • Week 1 (Oct 5-8): three mornings of “in real time” online events including speakers and small group discussion
  • Weeks 2 and 3 (Oct 9-26): customized programming based on your level of involvement and interest with special sessions, a chance to pilot future programming, a book club, regular online space just to chat, mentor match-making with host of local and national experts arranged by the planning team, a virtual happy hour. You choose your level of involvement. No expectations – only opportunities.
  • Week 4 (Oct 27-29): mirroring the first with three mornings of “in real time” online events including speakers and small group discussion.

We have announced some featured speakers and opportunities:

And there are more to come!!

MN Broadband Conference Special Session Announcement: NTCA on federal policy updates

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I’ve mentioned that we’re trying lots of different things with the Fall Broadband conference, spurred by the decision to go entirely online. This has opened up the opportunity for “special sessions” such as the one I can announce today…

We’re very excited to mid-conference session lead by Molly O’Leary, director of government affairs, NTCA, and advocates in Congress and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to influence legislative and regulatory policy on behalf of NTCA members. (And I have to note Molly’s Minnesota connections! She worked in the U.S. Senate as a policy advisor to Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn) on telecommunications, appropriations and native affairs. She previously served as a legislative aide to Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) for his position on the Senate Judiciary Committee.)

Join Molly and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association to discuss federal broadband regulatory and legislative updates, including the Federal Communications Commission Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and the Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program. Learn about upcoming federal investments in broadband deployment and the importance of federal coordination and future proof networks. Connect with Minnesota’s small, community-based broadband operators and learn how those providers can be a resource and partner with municipalities and counties looking to expand or build networks.

Registration open soon!

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Shirley Bloomfield joins the MN Fall Broadband Conference

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The MN Fall Broadband Conference (Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand) is getting closer and I’m delighted to share news of another one of our Keynote speakers…

Shirley Bloomfield, NTCA

Shirley Bloomfield is the CEO of NTCA. With more than 30 years of experience representing the country’s smallest independent telecom operators, she is an expert in federal communications policies and sustaining the vitality of rural and remote communities and the benefits rural broadband networks bring to the national economy. (Speaking Oct 8)

Her topic…

Bringing Broadband to Rural America: Opportunities and Challenges Post-Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown not only how important broadband is for all Americans, but it has also presented an opportunity to help fuel a rural renaissance with the creation of more Smart Rural Communities. The network of Smart Rural Community providers works to keep small-town American connected. They lead and collaborate on broadband-enabled projects that improve economic development, provide technology for advancing education, telemedicine, precision agriculture and other community services. This presentation will focus on the opportunities that broadband can bring to rural communities and the challenges that exist in bringing broadband to rural America.

Shirley is a strong connection between communities and providers. She helps them find common ground and common goals that help lift everyone up – and we’re excited to here her views and ideas in our new world.

Registration will be open soon!

OPPORTUNITY: Create a Digital Ready Community – pilot opportunity for 3-5 MN communities

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As part of the Fall Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand conference, the Blandin Foundation is partnering with Purdue University’s Center for Rural Development‘s Roberto Gallardo and Annie Cruz-Porter to offer a unique opportunity for up to five communities to work on becoming a Digital Ready Community.

This is a chance to join an abbreviated and accelerated pilot program to create an initiative to take the reins on the digital goals and standards for your local community to help improve marketing to the folks outside the community, encourage community-wide digital inclusivity by actively inviting all corners of the community and build trust in local digital communication – by aligning local websites, Facebook groups, Twitter accounts and other existing assets. Imagine working together to build your digital reputation!

The program will include video lessons and/or coaching on:

  • Networking 101 – learning how to work
  • Digital Assets Group (DAG) – creating a local group that will lead the digital ready effort

DAG Operational Agreement – setting rules, procedures and bylaws that will guide the use of digital assets by the community in an effort to become more responsive and increase civic engagement and trust

Post conference, the communities will be encouraged to work on:

  • Community survey
  • Digital Engagement plan

What do we need from you?

  • A community leader to compile a team that is willing to work on this effort during the conference (October 2020) and beyond
  • A commitment to participate in sessions and keep up with outside work
  • A commitment to present development (ASIS) to conference attendees in final week of October
  • A commitment to check in with the Blandin/Purdue team six months after the conference to report in and offer feedback

How do you start?

The Blandin/Purdue team will host an introduction soon – watch here for that announcement. Join us and let us know you’re interested (memagnuson@blandinfoundation.org) Enrollment is open until three communities are selected.

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Roberto Gallardo joins us online for the Fall Broadband Conference

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As part of the broadband fall conference planning team, I am excited to announce the first of our four Keynote speakers…

Roberto Gallardo, Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development will present on, From digital infrastructure to transformation: leveraging broadband for community economic development (speaking Oct 7).

His presentation will discuss some digital applications and uses to help communities leverage this technology to improve their quality of lives.

Roberto holds an electronics engineering undergraduate degree, a master’s in economic development, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration. He has worked with rural communities over the past decade conducting local & regional community economic development, including use of technology for development.

Careful readers will remember Roberto’s presentation at the 2017 Blandin Broadband conference asking if rural Minnesota was poised for the digital age? He has a gift for bringing research to the playing field, making information practical and recommendations actionable; we are looking forward to more of the same this year.

In fact, Roberto has offered to invite up to three communities to participate in a unique opportunity to create a digital community – more info on that coming right up. (I’m so excited about the opportunity I want to call it out in a separate post, which I’ll publish momentarily.)

EVENT OCTOBER: Mark Your Calendar! Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand

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From the Blandin Foundation…

We invite you to join us this October for a next generation broadband-enabled, broadband-focused conference.

Interesting times require innovative solutions!

The world is in flux and broadband seems to be at the center of it. The COVID-19 pandemic and guidelines on social distancing are creating the need and opportunity to learn how to do things differently, often with an online element. Meanwhile, the internet and social media are allowing people from all over the world in real time to witness and participate first-hand in the movement to end racial inequities in Minnesota and nationwide.

From telework to distance learning to keeping in touch with family and friends; from citizen journalism to starting a movement online; one thing is certain – access to broadband and the skills to use it is more important than ever.

We have decided to lean in, to take advantage of the technology we’ve been promoting for so long to meet your educational, professional, and civic needs, and hopefully demonstrate new ways to work and meet that you can bring back to your community.

The conference will be entirely virtual – but that doesn’t mean a series of online lectures. While we have planned a few traditional presentations, we have also created opportunities for discussion and collaboration, such as:

  • Custom meetup/mentoring sessions where you can meet online with potential partners and/or experts in broadband adoption and deployment.
  • Learning Cohorts (small groups) to connect you with other attendees to bounce ideas and traverse an online event throughout the conference.
  • Exciting keynote speakers with the option to ask questions in real time or later
  • Opportunities for small group discussion

For more information including a preliminary schedule of events, visit the conference webpage.

Save the month of October: Fall Broadband Conference is morphing into Broadband 2020: Connected We Stand

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Interesting times require innovative solutions! And that’s why I’m genuinely excited to tell folks about the First Ever Blandin Broadband Virtual Dispersed Conference. I’m on the planning team; and while I love the annual get-togethers, it might be fair to say I was most enthusiastic about creating somethign new this year. I am so excited!!

The world is in flux and broadband seems to be at the center of it. The COVID-19 pandemic and guidelines on social distancing are creating the need and opportunity to do things differently, often with an online element. Meanwhile, the internet and social media are allowing people from all over the world in real time to witness and participate first-hand in the movement to end racial inequities in Minnesota and nationwide.

From telework to distance learning to keeping in touch with family and friends; from citizen journalism to starting a movement online; one thing is certain – access to broadband and the skills to use it is more important than ever.

So the conference planning team has decided to lean in, to take advantage of the technology we’ve been promoting for so long to meet the educational, professional, and civic needs of the attendees and hopefully demonstrate new ways to work and meet that you can bring back to your community.

What does this mean? Picture a month of broadband Sundays. (Not really, but sort of!)

The conference will be entirely virtual – but that doesn’t mean just a series of online lectures. We have created different opportunities for discussion, interaction and collaboration and a few traditional presentations to happen over the course of four weeks. Here’s a rough outline: (More to share later!)

  • Week 1 (Oct 5-8): three mornings of “in real time” online events including speakers and small group discussion
  • Weeks 2 and 3 (Oct 9-26): customized programming based on your level of involvement and interest with special sessions, a chance to pilot future programming, a book club, regular online space just to chat, mentor match-making with host of local and national experts arranged by the planning team, a virtual happy hour. You choose your level of involvement. No expectations – only opportunities.
  • Week 4 (Oct 27-29): mirroring the first with three mornings of “in real time” online events including speakers and small group discussion.

We’ll group folks in cohorts so you won’t need to feel like you’re traversing the terrain alone. And we’re lining up speakers to include experts, practitioners and researchers who know broadband infrastructure, policy and digital equity. I am so excited about the speakers we have – but I’ll build up some suspense now. Just let you know what’s coming.

Please let me know if you have any questions. This is the 16th conference.  We’re all pretty used to the “regular way” and this year will be different in the same way kindergarten roundup is different from college drop off. Still very cool – but new.