FTTH Reaches Minnesota - 17 Minnesota communities now have some level of Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service, according to a recently released report that describes 398 communities in 43 states. Click here...

US Falling Behind - Once a leader in Internet innovation, the United States has fallen far behind Japan and other Asian states in deploying broadband.

According to Thomas Bleha in his article Down to the Wire (Foreign Affairs May/June 2005), this lag will cost us dearly. By outdoing the United States, Japan and its neighbors are positioning themselves to be the first countries to reap the benefits of the broadband era: economic growth, increased productivity, and a better quality of life. Read more...

Navigating a Flat World - New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner and Minnesota native Thomas Friedman recently discussed globalization and his latest book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, at the Fitzgerald theater in St. Paul. His perspectives reinforce the critical nature of broadband in our economic development. Listen to Friedman's speech...

The combined baseline data from the broadband utilization survey conducted in the Get Broadband communities reveals percentages below the state average. Read more...

Ely - Ely's Get Broadband Steering Committee is offering "Thursday night is Technology Night in Ely!", a summer series of two-hour mini-courses. And on Tuesdays, the committee is hosting "Open Surf" at the Technology Center. Read more

Bird Island - With its broadband utilization survey results in, Bird Island has set its goals and agreed on an ambitious work plan, including exploring video conferencing technology to connect with local National Guardsmen serving in Iraq. Read more

Marshall Area - PrairieNet Cluster's broadband training for business owners is in full swing. Read more...

Sleepy Eye - Broadband and technology were one of two priority topics on the agenda of the Bridging Brown County workshop held in May. Read more

International Falls - "Come for one, come for all three or just come for the cookies!" The International Falls Steering Committee is working closely with senior citizens and social service programs to bring classes to area seniors. Read more

Thief River Falls - The Thief River Falls Broadband Steering Committee has identified their goals and program strategies. Read more..

Cohasset - Plans are in the works to spread the word about broadband at an annual community festival. Read more

Windom - With classes in place and a computer club forming, broadband activities are picking up in Windom. Read more

Grand Rapids - The Grand Rapids Area Broadband Committee helps the city put property assessment data online. Read more

14th Annual Community Technology Conference, June 17-19, 2005 - Cleveland, Ohio The Annual Conference is CTCNet's signature event and the largest national gathering of community technology organizations, programs, and experts. Read more...

Click here to access Get Broadband resource page with materials provided to support community efforts.

Save the Date!
Get Broadband Fall Convening
November 16-17, 2005 - St. Cloud, MN

In last month's e-news I mentioned that I attended the Digital City Expo - a great conference in Reston VA. The conference sponsors have made an audio CD of many of the speakers and Blandin Foundation has generously offered to furnish copies to interested project coordinators. If you are interested, contact Mary Magnuson at memagnuson@blandinfoundation.org and let her know. We will bundle up our order in the next week or so and send it in.

Because communication is at the heart of our effort...

Publicity 101 Toolkit - Published by Women Venture, this 50-page workbook is full of practical information to help you work effectively with your local media to increase public awareness of your project's goals and achievements. Regular price: $30.00.

More details including ordering information...;

In last month's Fast Company magazine, the cover story was on the difficulty in getting people to change. In fact, the title was "Change or Die." While the article points out the challenge, it also provides some concepts for success. Read more...

Question of the month -

Was your community successful in placing the Hot Websites column in your local paper?

Please contact us with your experience at broadband@blandinfoundation.org.

Hot Websites is a monthly article provided to you to submit to your local newspaper for publication by as part of your committee's effort to raise public awareness of the benefits broadband-based technologies have to offer to families, business and communities.

SchoolTIES - Do the teachers in your community have their own websites? SchoolTIES brings your school's classrooms into the community and the future - today! Teachers can create their own classroom web site in minutes without having to be a computer whiz.

It is on the Education CD in your Get Broadband Toolkit or click here to view it online.