North Dakota Telephone Association Meeting in Minot on November 4-5/Tom Seymour and John Girard Present "Social Media"

NORTH DAKOTA TELEPHONE ASSOCIATION
27th ANNUAL MEETING
Grand International, Minot, ND
November 4-5, 2009
(701-852-3161) or 1-800-735-4493

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4

1:00 p.m. OPENING SESSION – CONVENTION CENTER
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Keith Larson, President, North Dakota Telephone Association
CEO/General Manager, Dakota Central Telecommunications
Carrington, ND

Presiding Keith Andersen, General Manager
Inter-Community Telephone Company, Nome, ND

1:15-2:00 p.m. “Washington Review”
Brian Ford, Regulatory Counsel
OPASTCO, Washington, DC
(In this presentation, you will receive a update on federal regulatory and legislative issues concerning the telecommunications industry, as well as what to expect from the new FCC.)

2:00-2:45 p.m. “Transition to Long Term Evolution (LTE) Networks”
Lanny J. Harris, PE
Senior Engineer, Telecommunications Group
Kadrmas Lee & Jackson, Inc., Bismarck, ND
(Mobile broadband is becoming a reality, as the internet generation grows accustomed to having broadband access wherever they go and not just at home or in the office. Of the estimated 3.4 billion people who will have broadband by 2014, about 80 percent will be mobile broadband subscribers – and the majority will be served by High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. In this presentation, Lanny will discuss what LTE is, what are the latest developments in LTE, and the transition to LTE.)

2:45 p.m. BREAK

Presiding Jeff Olson, General Manager
Red River Telephone Association, Abercrombie, ND

3:15-4:00 p.m. “Lights, Camera, Action…Local Content-Best Practices”
John Kuykendall, Vice President
John Staurulakis, Inc., Greenbelt, MD
(Learn the various ways telcos can provide local content over their video systems and the pros and cons of providing such content. Some of the topics to be covered include:
• Options available for providing local content—(use of contractor, own studio, etc).
• Types of content that can be provided—(local news, sports, high school football games, cooking shows, etc.)
• Examples of rural telephone companies providing local content and advertising the content on their websites
• Ways in which providing local content can benefit—(distinguishing your company from larger cable companies, greater community involvement)
• And exposure, etc. and pitfalls to consider when providing local content—(FCC rules regarding local origination channels, use of copyrighted material, etc.)

4:00-4:45 p.m. “Social Internet Tools for the Director and the Cooperative”
John P. Girard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management
Minot State University
Tom Seymour, PhD
BIT Department – Professor
Minot State University
North Dakota Senator
(This session will present specific examples of using social Internet tools that each director and cooperative could use in their everyday activities.)

5:15-6:30 p.m. Social Hour – Candelite Room (Dinner on your own)


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5–

7:00 a.m. Group Breakfast Buffet – Candelite Room (spouses included)
(Assorted Fruit Juices, Light Scrambled Eggs, Crisp Bacon and Country Style Sausage, Home Fried Potatoes, French Toast, Fresh Fruit in Season, Assorted Muffins.)

CLOSING SESSION – CONVENTION CENTER
Presiding Mark Wilhelmi, Manager
Midstate Telephone Company, Stanley, ND

8:00-8:45 a.m. “O Broadband, Where Art Thou?...The Broadband Stimulus Package…Nine Months Later”
Russ Sharer, Vice President of Marketing
Occam Networks, Santa Barbara, CA
(In February 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Revinvestment Act allocating $7.2 billion for the delivery of broadband to rural and inner city communities. Russ Sharer will discuss the impact the Broadband Stimulus Package will really have on homes and business and how this new broadband will be used.)

8:45-9:30 a.m. “Changing Demands for “Robust” Customers”
Christel Fritz, Broadband Operations Manager
IdeaOne Telecom
Fargo, ND
(Within the metropolitan area, what services are companies now requesting? How has IdeaOne had to change to meet these ongoing needs? This is a must-see to gain an in-depth idea as to what many companies are now requesting from the telecommunications industry and to grasp a better understanding as to what their needs will be in the future.)

9:30 a.m. Break

Presiding Patricia Gisinger, Manager, North Dakota Telephone Association

9:45-10:30 a.m. “Emergence of the Flexible Service Provider (FSP)
Russ Sharer, Vice President of Marketing
Occam Networks, Santa Barbara, CA
(Service providers today look increasingly alike—telcos offer VOD, cable providers offer VoIP, etc. Service providers need to redefine themselves based on the services they offer versus their network architectures. The new flexible service provider offers an evolving bundle of services based on an almost forensic understanding of subscribers and their needs. FSPs continuously adjust their service mix based on subscriber feedback, new services available and improvements in bandwidth. Russ Sharer can discuss the flexible service provider’s flexibility in a network architecture that enables rapid evolution and expansion.)

10:30-11:30 a.m. “Businesses Going Green”
Louie Weigel, Software Maintenance Manager
National Information Solutions Cooperative, Mandan, ND
Paul Gillund, Billing Manager
SRT Communications Inc., Minot, ND
(“Going Green” is a phrase referring to individual action that a person can consciously take to curb harmful effects on the environment through consumer habits, behavior, and lifestyle. “Going Green” has become the rage for businesses today! Louie Weigel will give examples of how businesses, including NISC, and their employees have been able to implement different “Going Green” ideas that other companies may want to implement too. Paul Gillund will share the steps SRT Communications is taking in “Going Green.”)

11:30 a.m. Adjourn

11:30 a.m. Annual Membership Business Meeting
Call to Order
Keith Larson, President
Credentials Report
Paul Wisness, Sergeant-At-Arms
Minutes of 2008 Annual Meeting
Dwight Schmitt, Secretary-Treasurer
Manager’s Report
Pat Gisinger
2009 Budget to-date
Pat Gisinger
Nominating Report
Dave Dircks, Nominating Committee Chairman
Election of Directors
Keith Larson, President
Unfinished Business
New Business
Adjournment

There will be a meeting of the NDTA Board of Directors in International Room (lower level) immediately following adjournment of the annual meeting for the purpose of reorganization and any other business as may properly come before such meeting.