Earlier this month, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) conference was held in Washington. It was a great conference, like the ones I’ve attended in the past. The speakers were excellent, the content was superior, the hotel facilities were top notch, and the nightlife was not disappointing. The NATOA conference needed just one more thing – lots of attendees.
The NATOA conference, in years past, was able to attract 600 to 700 people, but not this year. Blame that on the recession, no doubt. Travel budgets for many local staffs and officials have been cut to bare bones, or they have been eliminated entirely. Is the cutting shortsighted? Yes. Has the recession stopped the NATOA conference or other telecom conventions in their tracks? Surprisingly, no.
Not everyone has had their travel budget cut. Some municipalities have maintained their budgets for professional development. Travel, for municipal staff in these communities, continues. A few years ago, if you were a cable administrator for a city, there were two conferences – NATOA and the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) – that you might attend, funds permitting. But, times have changed, and as I’ve been fond of saying all these years, “Cable isn’t cable any more.” No, cable isn’t cable, it’s broadband, and now there’s a Thanksgiving-sized cornucopia of conventions concerning broadband that municipal cable broadband administrators can attend.
Last week, the 4G World conference was held in Chicago. It was an outstanding event, showcasing the latest in wireless technology, applications, engineering, and business planning for the wireless world. The event was aimed at IT professionals as well as wireless industry officials. Local government IT professionals would be at home in 4G World, especially if they are interested in wireless communications. But, 4G is not the ultimate broadband panacea. 4G World has other broadband convention competition.
Last month, the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council held their annual convention in Las Vegas. This gathering is getting larger every year, and has grown from modest beginnings to a major meeting with thousands of attendees from government and industry who are interested in the latest FTTH approaches. Municipalities are eager to learn about the progress of the Lafayette, Louisiana and Chattanooga, Tennessee fiber projects. Now, with federal stimulus funds aimed at local middle-mile and last-mile broadband projects, FTTH Council is going to be a huge resource for those who received stimulus dollars. This group’s convention will have a long and healthy life ahead of it.
If 4G World and the FTTH Council weren’t enough, there’s Rural Telecon ‘10 next month in Yuma, Arizona. This conference seeks to attract small communities interested in broadband. Topics such as planning, partnering, marketing, and financing, will be on the agenda. This convention will be important for communities that are light in population, but heavily interested in broadband as an economic development tool. Also, the Broadband Properties Summit Conference planned for next April in Houston is already looking for early registrants.
Last, but certainly not least, is The Broadband Expo conference next week in Dallas. Although the target market for this conference is broadband for rural communities, it will highlight wired and wireless technology and focus on business, marketing, technical, and regulatory aspects of broadband. Their speaker mix includes vendors, federal and state government agency officials, wired and wireless broadband industry executives, and financing, marketing, and engineering specialists. They couldn’t have timed their conference better, with Dallas’ own Texas Rangers being in the World Series next week.
Top these off with regional conferences such as those held by the Minnesota Association of Cable and Telecommunications Association (MACTA), the States of California and Nevada (SCAN) NATOA, and the Southeast Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (SEATOA), and the choices for your travel dollar, whether free-flowing, or tightly restricted, multiply quickly.
For those with a paper-thin professional development budget, there are still numerous free and low-cost webinars going on every month. Having participated in a few of these webinars, I can honestly say that they will allow you to see and hear the latest on broadband issues wherever you are, be it behind a desk, in front of a laptop, or taking it easy somewhere while staring at a smart phone.
For those who say these are the worst of times for telecom, you could have fooled me. There’s never been so much choice and opportunity to learn about what it means to be a broadband professional. The market for these conferences is growing as broadband grows. So, choose wisely, and if you need to, choose frugally. With so many good options, it’s hard to go wrong.
– Stu