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Broadband.io is honored to host Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX, as Mountain Connect 2024’s Keynote Speaker.

Now in its 10th year, Mountain Connect has grown into the largest independent gathering of broadband professionals in the United States. Other can’t miss sessions include $42.5B BEAD Director Evan Feinman, leading state broadband directors, and many more.Join <a href="https://broadband.io/">Broadband.io</a> at Mountain Connect 2024 to hear from a pioneering business leader, plans to land Americans on the moon, what it’s like running a rocket business, and upcoming plans for Starlink.Attendance is limited, <a href="https://mountainconnect.org/registration/">register for Mountain Connect today</a> to secure your spot.

Fireside Chat

<h2>About Our Guest</h2>An engineer by training with a leadership career starting in America’s automotive industry, Gwynne Shotwell has overseen SpaceX’s meteoric rise into a spacefaring juggernaut. SpaceX manufactures, launches and lands the world’s first and only reusable orbital rockets, carries astronauts safely to the International Space Station, and is deploying Starlink, the world’s most advanced satellite system which is providing high-speed, low-latency internet from space to those who need it all around the world.Now serving over 3 million active customers worldwide with constant improvements to speed and capacity, Starlink’s game-changing speeds from low Earth orbit makes it a stellar complement to fiber-extensive infrastructure fortifying the global internet.

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Welcome! The broadband grants community is honored to have Brian Mitchell, Director of the Nevada State Broadband Office, as the latest guest in the Ask Me Anything! series on Friday, April 19, at 2:30p ET / 11:30a PT.

AMA invites broadband industry leaders from all corners to share their knowledge and perspectives with our community of state broadband directors, policymakers, broadband providers and broadband investors.&nbsp;The format is simple:<ul><li>A one hour live webinar with our distinguished guests</li><li>Interactive questions from attendees in the comments below this post</li><li>See a question you also wonder about? “Like” it to upvote it</li><li>Have more questions? Add them as comments to this post&nbsp;</li><li>The moderator will tee up questions for our guest to answer. They'll answer as many questions as time permits</li></ul>Want to weigh in with your perspective? You’re welcome to share your replies!Please be respectful of our distinguished guest. It’s okay to disagree, but thank you for being kind. Trolls will be banned.

<h2>About Our Distinguished Guest</h2>Brian Mitchell serves as the Director of the Office of Science, Innovation and Technology (OSIT), the State of Nevada's Broadband Office, and oversees the planning, mapping and procurement of broadband infrastructure.&nbsp;Brian leads the State's High Speed Nevada Initiative, a $500 million program to achieve the goal of universal access to affordable, reliable, scalable broadband. Over the last five years, Brian and his team have secured State and federal funds to build over 400 miles of fiber to nearly 40 different entities, including 12 Tribal libraries, and annually assist over a thousand local entities apply for federal broadband funding. Passionate about equity, Brian also oversees Nevada's digital inclusion program.Brian also oversees Nevada's STEM education and workforce development initiatives, including the State's Graduate Medical Education and Physician Loan Repayment programs, STEM Workforce Pathways programs that bridge the high school-college gap, STEM professional learning programs for K-12 teachers, and an academy for aspiring STEM schools. In total, Brian manages a grant portfolio of over $40 million that has funded the creation of over 100 new STEM programs across the P-20 spectrum in high-demand career fields over the last six years.&nbsp;

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Darren and Jase's "Hidden Truths" conversation is going DIGITAL thanks to popular demand!

To win BEAD, you’ll need geospatial evidence, empirical data, and defensible grant applications. In the past, co-ops were forced to build broadband grant applications by hand, or rely on consultants in a time-consuming, rigid, messy, expensive process. Winners faced manual reporting and compliance burden. All that’s changed with <a href="https://broadband.money/">broadband.money</a>: now it’s as simple as point-and-click mapping for research, easy Q&amp;A, and automated reporting &amp; compliance. Fast, flexible, simple and affordable.Please be sure to leave any questions you have for Jase or Darren in the <a href="https://www.broadband.io/c/broadband-grant-events/hidden-truths-about-bead" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">event comment comment section</a>, and we will do our best to get to them over the course of the event!

<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Why your Co-op can, should, and must apply for BEAD&nbsp;</h2>Join United Fiber General Manager <a href="https://www.broadband.io/u/76537a91?show_back_link=true">Darren Farnan</a> and Ready CEO <a href="https://www.broadband.io/u/71adc114?show_back_link=true">Jase Wilson</a> as they revisit their conversation about the Hidden Truths About BEAD Grants.&nbsp;Cooperatives like yours are well qualified to obtain and deploy the $42.5 Billion arriving for broadband in your state soon. This historic, happens-once funding initiative is your golden opportunity to bring future-proof fast, reliable, secure internet to your member base and beyond.&nbsp;

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Join our session with President and CEO of Calix, Michael Weening, who brings more than 20 years of experience leading growth, strategy and transformation to his role as President and CEO.

<h2>About Michael</h2>Over its twenty four year history, Calix has worked to empower service providers who together serve millions of homes. Michael was promoted to president and CEO of Calix in September 2022, and is a member of the Board of Directors. He brings more than 20 years of experience leading growth, strategy and transformation to his role as President and CEO.Michael most recently served as the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer since January 2021. Michael joined Calix from Salesforce where he served as the senior vice president of Global Customer Success and senior vice president, Japan and Asia-Pacific Customer Success, Services and Alliances.Over the span of his career, Michael has held executive positions in North America, Europe and Asia. Previously, Michael held leadership roles at Bell Mobility in Canada, where he was vice president of business and consumer sales. Michael also held sales leadership roles at Microsoft, in Canada and the United Kingdom.Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, from Brock University supported by ongoing executive education at Queens, Wharton and USC.

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Welcome! The broadband grants community is honored to have Adam Geisler, President and COO of Tribal Ready, as the latest guest in the Ask Me Anything! series on Friday, November 17, at 2:30p ET.

AMA invites broadband industry leaders from all corners to share their knowledge and perspectives with our community of state broadband directors, policymakers, broadband providers and broadband investors.&nbsp;The format is simple:<ul><li>A one hour live webinar with our distinguished guests</li><li>Interactive questions from attendees in the comments below this post</li><li>See a question you also wonder about? “Like” it to upvote it</li><li>Have more questions? Add them as comments to this post&nbsp;</li><li>The moderator will tee up questions for our guest to answer. They'll answer as many questions as time permits, in order of upvotes</li><li>A community moderator will paraphrase our guest’s answers and post as reply</li></ul>Want to weigh in with your perspective? You’re welcome to share your replies!Please be respectful of our distinguished guest. It’s okay to disagree, but thank you for being kind. Trolls will be banned.

<h2>About Our Distinguished Guest</h2>Geisler is a member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians.Geisler worked at the US Department of Commerce for 8 years and formally served as the Division Chief for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, deploying nearly 2 billion in funding to connect 158,000 tribal households. He also served as the Department of Commerce’s broadband Tribal subject matter expert for the White House Council for Native American Affairs Economic Development, Energy, and Infrastructure Committee. Geisler is formally the National Tribal Government Liaison for FirstNet, a sister bureau within the Department of Commerce focused on building a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.Geisler is a former Tribal Leader, serving 3 terms as elected Tribal Council Secretary for the La Jolla Tribal Council, a federally recognized Tribal Government. During his time in and out of elected office, he has shaped national, state, and local policy and deployed infrastructure projects surrounding transportation, public health, gaming, economic development, energy, housing, emergency management and communications, and broadband.&nbsp; Geisler holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree from San Diego State University and is a recipient of the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) under 35 Young Achievers Award for his work in bringing public safety broadband access to Native communities.Read the <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2023/02/tribal-ready-wants-better-broadband-data-to-benefit-indian-county/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Background on Tribal Ready</a>

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Matt Schmit has been is Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband since 2019, and has been working for more than 20 years in economic development. He is responsible for Illinois' $420 million investment in Connect Illinois and more than $1 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. 

<h2>About Our Distinguished Guest</h2>Matt Schmit has been is Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband since 2019, and has been working for more than 20 years in economic development. He is responsible for Illinois' $420 million investment in Connect Illinois and more than $1 billion through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.&nbsp;Prior to his work in Illinois, Matt served as a Minnesota state senator, where he was instrumental in establishing that state's broadband office. Now, as the director the broadband program in Illinois, Matt is optimistic about the opportunity achieve universal broadband connectivity.In addition, Matt has served on the Cook County Council on Digital Equity (CODE), the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute board, the Blandin Broadband Strategies board, the St John's University Board of Regents, and the Legislative Water Commission; represented Minnesota on the National Conference of State Legislators Nuclear Energy Work Group and Commerce Committee; and was an active member of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators and State Ag and Rural Leaders.

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BJ Tanksley, director of Broadband Development at the Missouri Department of Economic Development, is the latest guest in the Ask Me Anything! series.

<h2>About Our Distinguished Guest</h2>BJ was brought on to serve as the director of Office of Broadband Development a little over a year ago in January of 2022. Before serving in Missouri's Department of Economic Development, BJ spent nearly nine years with the Missouri Farm Bureau, first as a regional coordinator and later as the director of State Legislative Affairs.

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The broadband grants community is honored to have Valarry Bullard, director of the New Jersey State Broadband Office, as the latest guest in the Ask Me Anything! series.

<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">About Our Distinguished Guest</h2>Valarry has served the state of New Jersey in various roles for over a decade.Since February of 2023, Valarry has served as the state broadband director, but before she took on that role, she served the Garden State as a transparency officer in the disaster recovery office, a senior IT project manager for the department of community affairs, a software development specialist at the office of low-income energy conservation, and a program assistant at the state's weatherization program.&nbsp;Valarry also holds a bachelor's degree in international business from the University of Bridgeport, and a master of arts in international political and economic development from the same.&nbsp;

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The broadband grants community is honored to have Christine Hallquist, executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board, as the latest guest in the Ask Me Anything! series.

<h2>About Our Distinguished Guest</h2>Christine is no stranger to broadband. She served for nearly 20 years at Vermont Electric Cooperative — first as the COO and then as CEO.Christine also served as principal CEO of Cross Border Power, and then as an administrator for NEK Broadband and Lamoille FiberNet.She currently served as the executive director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board — a position she has held since July of 2021.Christine holds an associates of science in electrical, electronic and communications engineering technology from Mohawk Valley Community College.

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Get the latest updates, along with ways that states, communities, and providers should think about the upcoming programs, including public / private partnerships to make the most of our historic public investment at Mountain Connect 2022.

We’re excited to welcome Alan Davidson, NTIA Administrator, as <a href="https://mountainconnect.org/">Mountain Connect</a> 2022’s Keynote Presenter.&nbsp;The Mountain Connect 2022 conference takes place near the largest single-day event in the history of the broadband industry. Soon, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will release its Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) for programs totaling nearly $50 billion of new broadband grants aimed at ending America’s digital canyon once and for all.NTIA’s programs will unleash more broadband funding over the next few years than all prior U.S. broadband funding programs combined. In the right hands, such resources could kick off nothing short of a new chapter in American dynamism. NTIA’s historic announcement is the “starting gun” for states, local governments, and network builders.&nbsp;Join Alan in a lively discussion with Broadband Breakfast’s <a href="https://discuss.broadband.money/u/4c987ac7?show_back_link=true">Drew Clark</a>. Hear Alan's vision for success in the upcoming programs, as well as how the NTIA will work with states and local governments to bring ubiquitous, affordable 21st century access to all corners of America.&nbsp; Get the latest updates, along with ways that states, communities, and providers should think about the upcoming programs, including public / private partnerships to make the most of our historic public investment.

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In this can’t-miss discussion, Vint will share his perspectives on digital inclusion, how state and national broadband leaders should think about confronting digital inclusion challenges in their upcoming $75 billion broadband grant deployment, what really matters in network performance, the potential of Web3, and more. 

<blockquote>Special thank you to <a href="https://broadband.money/">Broadband.money</a> community member ﻿<a href="https://discuss.broadband.money/u/030793f3?show_back_link=true">Dave Taht</a>﻿, Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG) member, for proposing this session. In his role with BITAG, Dave and fellow group members work to advance understanding of network performance, as experienced by end users and applications. <a href="https://www.bitag.org/latency-explained.php">Their latest report</a> examines the most important factor behind Quality of Experience. Hint: it isn’t “speed!”</blockquote>&nbsp; AMA invites broadband industry leaders from all corners to share their knowledge and perspectives with our community of state broadband directors, policymakers, broadband providers and broadband investors.&nbsp; The format is simple:<ol><li>A one hour live webinar with our distinguished guest</li><li>Interactive questions from attendees in the comments below this post<ul><li>See a question you also wonder about? “Like” it to upvote it</li><li>Have more questions? Add them as comments to this post</li></ul></li><li>The moderator will tee up questions for our guest to answer. They'll answer as many questions as time permits, in order of upvotes<ul><li>A community moderator will paraphrase our guest’s answers and post as reply</li><li>Want to weigh in with your perspective? You’re welcome to share your replies!</li></ul></li></ol>Please be respectful of our distinguished guest. It’s okay to disagree, but thank you for being kind. Trolls will be banned.&nbsp;

<h3>About Our Distinguished Guest</h3>Vint is Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, where he works towards ensuring billions more people get access to the internet. He contributes to global policy development and the continued advancement of the Internet.&nbsp;Vint serves on the boards of significant organizations, including Arch Mission Foundation, working to preserve humanity on earth and in space.&nbsp;In recognition for the importance of his work to humankind, Vint has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US National Medal of Technology, the Charles Stark Draper award, the ACM Turing Award, the Benjamin Franklin Medal, 29 honorary degrees, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLQz9U3MK8yMn7EaMwt8PLHPWEprUlrTl5jVOHiCs7IL3fNK8ksqRQS42KDsnikuLjgmnh2MXH5FxcVOJYnFqUUL2IVTwQzFMrz8xSSKhXKMvNKFJJTi9IAaZvf-GkAAAA&amp;hl=en-US&amp;q=awards+won+by+vint+cerf&amp;kgs=4fd6ed8bd749591a&amp;shndl=17&amp;source=sh/x/kp/osrp/3&amp;entrypoint=sh/x/kp/osrp">and many others</a>. He is a National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee, and was an inaugural Internet Hall of Fame Inductee.&nbsp;Outside work, Vint enjoys time with family, science fiction, fine wines, and cooking.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Learn More About Vint &amp; His Work</h3><ul><li><a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc968">Vint Cerf, Internet Hall of Fame Inaugural Inductee – Official Biography</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wired.com/2012/04/epicenter-isoc-famers-qa-cerf/">In Vint Cerf's Future, Internet Packets Fall from the Sky</a> – Wired Magazine</li><li>The paper that started it all: <a href="http://www-net.cs.umass.edu/653-04/documents/cerfkahn.pdf">A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication</a> – Vint Cerf &amp; Bob Kahn, 1974 Bonus reading: <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc968">Twas The Night Before Start-up</a> – V. Cerf, 1985</li></ul>

Broadband Grant Events

Exclusive events ranging from AMA conversations with key industry leaders to debates on broadband grants.

Broadband.io Fireside Chat with SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell

Featured Past Events

Ask Me Anything! with Brian Mitchell, Director of the Nevada State Broadband Office

Hidden Truths About BEAD Every Co-op Should Know with REC Broadband Pioneer Darren Farnan

Ask Me Anything! with Michael Weening, President and CEO of Calix

Ask Me Anything! with Adam Geisler, President and COO of Tribal Ready

Ask Me Anything! with Matt Schmit, Director of the Illinois Office of Broadband

Ask Me Anything! with BJ Tanksley, Missouri Director of Broadband Development

Ask Me Anything! with Valarry Bullard, Director of the New Jersey State Broadband Office

Ask Me Anything! with Christine Hallquist, Executive Director of the Vermont Community Broadband Board

NTIA's Alan Davidson's Keynote Address @ Mountain Connect 2022

Ask Me Anything with Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf

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