“Next Generation Broadband” Conference Big Success
Thanks to everyone who participated in the “Next Generation Broadband” conference in Alexandria on October 18-19. Post-conference information is available on the Blandin Foundation web site and below in  Coleman’s Corner.

(Note to Get Broadband leaders: Checks for conference expense claims submitted by Get Broadband community members by Friday, November 3 will be mailed on Friday, November 10.  The next deadline for claims is Friday, November 17.  Questions? Contact Mary Magnuson at memagnuson@blandinfoundation.org.)

Bill Moyers on Net Neutrality
Many “Next Generation Broadband” attendees gathered to watch the Bill Moyers’ PBS special on Net Neutrality and participated in a lively discussion led by Becca Vargo Dagget. The Moyers video is now available on the PBS web site. To promote conversation in your community about broadband policy, consider hosting a viewing of the video followed by a facilitated discussion. It’s a great way to start the conversation and demonstrate a use for broadband (you can download the video for free).

FTC Issues Report on Municipal Wireless Network
The Federal Trade Commission released a report in October on municipal WI-FI. The report compiles federal and state legislative proposals that feature the pros and cons of municipal service. Pros include increasing competition, lowering prices, and increasing efficiency. Cons include government engaging in potentially anticompetitive practices. For more information, visit Broadcasting Cable.

Senator Clinton Introduces Rural Broadband Legislation
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced The Rural Broadband Initiative Act of 2006 in October. According to Senator Clinton, “The Rural Broadband Initiative Act recognizes the special economic needs of rural communities and ensures that the government plays a helpful role in furthering economic development by increasing broadband connectivity in rural areas.” Learn more by visiting Senator Clinton’s web site.

Capella Sponsors Charter School on Iron Range
Online educator, Capella University, is sponsoring East Range Academy of Technology and Science (ERATS), a brick-and-mortar charter school on the Iron Range. While the school will have online components, students will take classes in the school and will not do online distance learning from their homes. (Learn more)

Videoconferencing Goes Big and Little
Videoconferencing goes big with Cisco, who recently announced Cisco TelePresence, a videoconferencing application with twice the resolution of high-definition TV, life-size images, imperceptible latency and high quality audio. Users reported feeling as if they are sitting face-to-face with a person on the other side of the virtual table. TelePresence is expected to be available in December 2006 and will run on private networks as opposed to the Internet.

Videoconferencing goes small with TANDBERG, who is beta testing Movi, a PC-based video conferencing tool that will be available in 2007. Movi is a server-based application for the enterprise market, which IT departments manage centrally through the Web but which staff can use without IT support.

YouTube: What’s Legal, What’s Not
Since Google bought YouTube last month for $1.65 billion, pundits have been speculating on the potential legal issues of allowing any and all users to post video online for free. In Google’s favor, Tim Wu, with Slate, declared that YouTube may be a safe harbor, thanks to the phone company lobbyists in the 1990’s who urged for a “notice and take down” approach to networks that host materials posted by users. In short this means that the networks are not responsible for monitoring for copyrighted materials on their site but once notified of an infringement, they are responsible for removing material. Signs are not as promising overseas, where the European Commission is considering a Television Without Frontiers directive, a proposal that would extend current broadcasting regulations to the Internet. (Learn more)

The Economics of FTTH in Europe
Time Europe recently ran an article about the investments, costs and expected return on investment for FTTH (Fiber to the Home). Consumers have been thrilled with the expenditures companies are making in FTTH (it can cost between $600 and $2,000 per subscriber depending on local terrain). Investors have not been as pleased. They recognize that FTTH is one way that telecommunications companies can compete with cable and satellite but they are cautious about how many FTTH subscribers will actually be profitable.

Broadband Properties interviewed the Managing Director of Amsterdam’s FTTH project, the first country-wide project in Europe. He spoke about the public-private partnership, the process of implementing FTTH, and how Amsterdam worked with citizens and individual businesses to create a service that everyone wanted – focused on desire of applications versus desire for bandwidth.

The FCC Boosts Rural Telemedicine
The Federal Communications Commission announced in late September it would offer funding to public and nonprofit health care providers to build and connect to statewide and regional broadband networks that can help support health care services. One primary goal of the project is to create a national system that links rural physicians and patients to urban medical and research centers through telemedicine.

Broadband is Important to Users
According to the results of a new survey of US and Canadian consumers that segments households by demographics, all segments rated broadband as “the communication service they can least live without,” reports In-Stat. 

How Do Youth Use Broadband?
USA Today reports that students are increasingly using Internet tools for civic engagement and advocacy. Their modes of communication and dissemination include blogs, YouTube videos, email, websites and groups on social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. The MacArthur Foundation recently launched a five-year, $50 million digital media and learning initiative to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life.

Cohasset - A note from a “Next Generation Broadband” conference attendee: “Attending the Next Generation Broadband conference was the highlight of the month.  It was great meeting people that you have been working with for last several months.  It was also nice getting to know better those you have met before.  Oh the technology and information shared was also an added benefit.  Again I want to take this time to thank those that sponsored it, and did the preparation for the conference. I was impressed by how much was offered for just a short conference.”  Conrad Feldt, Get Broadband Leader and conference attendee.

Edge of Wilderness - A note from a “Next Generation Broadband” conference attendee: “The panel discussion with students from the University of Minnesota Crookston was very interesting and informative.  I also enjoyed learning more about Telehealth in Minnesota--easier access to specialty care for rural communities.”  Diane Coppens, Get Broadband Community Member

Five Small Towns - Several classes have been offered throughout the year to promote and establish an eCommerce environment within the Five Small Towns. This month a full-day, eBay Workshop was presented. Following the workshop one of the participants emailed this comment, “I attended your workshop on eBay and have completed my first sale on eBay.  I sold my traps for $28.00 plus $8.50 shipping and handling and just wanted to say thanks for having the workshop it got me going on eBay and I'm getting ready to launch 5 more auctions soon; thanks again and keep up the good work!!!!”

Montevideo - New to the Get Broadband program, Montevideo just completed their resident and business phone surveys. Once the results are compiled, they will have their first planning strategy session with Bill Coleman. 

New Ulm - New Ulm distributed a press release to encourage New Ulm residents to participate in the upcoming Get Broadband telephone survey. They plan to focus on retail businesses. The steering committee is excited and waiting to start the goal setting and implementation process. 

Note from a “Next Generation Broadband” conference New Ulm attendees: "For communities, staying on pace with the speed of broadband connections is critical to economic development.   At the Minnesota Development Conference, Richard Florida put forth the theory that jobs will come to where the people are.  If rural Minnesota communities expect to retain their youth, and their businesses, they must have high speed connections and those connections must be continually upgraded as the definition of high speed expands “

“We gleaned great volunteer tips and strategies, even developed job descriptions for our upcoming volunteer committees at the pre-conference training session. The conference was a great display of how Broadband is helping rural communities thrive in today's economy.”

Todd County - Todd County sponsored a popular workshop, Supporting Local Entrepreneurship designed for service providers and community leaders involved in the developing local entrepreneurship. One goal was to encourage economic development through greater use of technology to support entrepreneurs.

AmeriCorps*VISTA Places Tech Workers Into Nonprofits
[Editor’s Note: We have no affiliation to NTEN but we think the organization does good work and therefore was worth introducing to the readership – especially in light of the CTC VISTA opportunity.]

The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) is a membership organization of individuals, businesses, and organizations involved with nonprofits and technology. NTEN is partnering with the CTC VISTA Project to bring full-time AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers with technology skills into nonprofit organizations.

With this partnership, NTEN members will be given priority in the competitive application process for CTC VISTA placements. For Get Broadband communities and others, this can be a cost effective way to get support and bring a youthful perspective into a community project. (While this program is not exclusively for rural programs or programs in Minnesota, it does include those groups.)

CTC VISTAs can be placed with any non-profit that is using technology to address the needs of low-income communities but the Project is specifically interested in supporting organizations that are undertaking in community networking, technology assistance, digital media, or community organizing projects.

"For small organizations that lack staff, CTC VISTAs can make a big difference in the outcome of a technology project," said Paul Hansen, Director of the CTC VISTA Project.

NTEN organizational members can apply online for a CTC VISTA. The process is easy:

• Submit your intent to apply.
• Recruit local candidates. The CTC VISTA Project will also send you possible candidates from the national AmeriCorps application pool.
• Select a candidate and complete the application process.
• Pay about $3,000 for your VISTA's full-time year of work.

Interested organizations can become NTEN members online. More information on the CTC VISTA partnership is available on the CTC VISTA web site. Anyone interested in becoming a CTC VISTA can also look online.

November 14, 2006 – World Usability Day promotes the values and benefits of usability engineering and user centered design. It will be celebrated locally by the Minnesota Chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association.

November 15-16 (Alexandria, MN) – Minnesota Telecom Alliance Fall Conference and Communications Seminar.

November 16 (Minneapolis) Connections for All: Accessibility Institute – learn about essential information, tools, and resources to support the inclusion of people with disabilities into technology programs.

November 20-21 (London) TeleMed & eHealth '06 – focuses on people’s use of e-Health for self care: development and implementation, finding out how it works and telecare for people with long term conditions.

December 13 (Morris, MN) Hide and Seek - an Internet Marketing Overview for small and midsized businesses.

It was great to see everyone at the conference last month in Alexandria. I encourage you to implement something that you discovered at the conference. For example, you could have your local students and/or ISPs/technology providers set up their own power users’ demonstration.  You could do this at parent-teacher conferences or some other community event.

As the holidays approach, your local team might want to consider how to use the Internet to promote local shopping. With more people online and schedules so busy, shopping locally might not be as convenient as going online to national retailers. Convene a meeting and brainstorm some ideas that might work in your community. Easy ideas include online coupons, a one-page local shopping portal featuring both Main Street and local artists or crafters, or special deals on shipping to out of town friends and family.

Creation of local content is an important step in the technological transformation of your community. Online retailing is an area where your local broadband group can play a central role in promoting new ways of using the Internet to increase local economic vitality. Use the holiday season as an opportunity to stimulate hometown progress.

Your Health Record - http://www.mynetrecord.com/
Did you get your flu shot yet? Can’t remember? Consider storing your full medical history online, accessible with a secure password.  It’s ideal if you travel often or maintain more than one home in different parts of the world.