Registration Desk Open

Exhibitor Move In

User Group Meetings

• Calix — Be in the lead. Stay in the lead.
  Juan Vela, Area Vice President
  Register Here
  Regulatory and financial environments are encouraging increased competition and investments in fiber. The only way to stay ahead of disruption is to focus on subscribers’ experiences, increased network and operational efficiency, and a relentless pursuit of data driven insights. There’s never been a more important time for you to seize and stay in the lead, and we at Calix want to help you do that. This session will highlight best-practices of winning services providers and proven strategies for tapping into the latest innovations in broadband technologies, services, and subscriber experience delivery.
• Inteliquent & Voyant — Focused on Your Future
  Teri Asiala, Inteliquent EVP and RLEC Segment General Manager;
  Nick Reifschneider, Inteliquent VP of Product Management:
  Dave Pruse, Voyant Director of Business Development
  Join us for updates on our new Stir/Shaken service options, TDM to IP network migrations, Voyant’s exciting new voice app offering, and other new services focused on enhancing your future!
  
• 2020 Olsen Thielen — Regulatory and Tax Update
  Tom Campbell - FCC Update, Industry Best Practices, and FAQ's;
  Josh Anderson and Kristi Broughten - A-CAM and Legacy BLS Update;
  Mary Buley - 2020 Tariff Update, MN Lifeline Verifier Update;
  Joe Mayer - Broadband Grant Tax Update;
  Rick Johnson, Moss and Barnett - IntraMTA Lawsuit Update;
  Shannon Heim, Moss and Barnett - BDS Contract Pricing Discussion
  

Exhibitors Open

Registration Desk Open

Breakfast & MTA Annual Meeting and Awards

Breakout Sessions

• Top 5 Things to Audit in 2020
  Tom Revnew, Peters Revnew, Kappenman & Anderson
  Labor and Employment Law is constantly changing. This presentation will focus on the top 5 things employers can audit to protect their business in 2020
• 2020 Video and Internet Report on Rural America
  Scott Meyer, Innovative Systems 
  Attendees will see video channel stats data from sixty thousand set top boxes located in over fifty rural markets from Alaska to New York state. Attendees will also see the 150 most watched television channels in rural America. This presentation will also include five years of benchmark data that identifies key demographic and social tendencies of your video and internet customers. A free copy of the report will be made available to all attendees.
• MNDOT Right of Way Permitting Process
  Jim Zigman, MNDOT; Ann Driver, MNDOT

Breakout Sessions

• Financial Statement Storytelling: How to Focus on What Matters Most 
  Adam Hennen, Olsen Thielen
  Telling stories is an intrinsic part of our society and that includes business stories from financial statements. Learn to tell your story so your audience can better understand your business.
  
• The Growing Cloud of Bandwidth 
  Shaun Carlson, Arvig 
  Cloud and over-the-top services are driving more bandwidth every day. Let's understand the drivers and impacts of those services and how it affects a customers experience.
• The Clock is Ticking: Planning for Your Future, Post USF 
  Steve Meltzer, JSI 
  Now is the time to properly position your company for life after A-CAM and Legacy. This session will discuss several key areas such as CBOL strategies, KPIs, reporting and buildout requirements, pricing decisions, and funding. Don't put off this important strategic planning!
  

Breakout Sessions

• Cybersecurity — Hacks, Tips and Tools
  Blake Griffin, Communication Network Engineering, Inc 
  
• 2020 Network and Beyond 2020 Network-Network Evolution, Automation and Network Programmability 
  James Esser, CCI
  This presentation discusses the IP Core network of Service Providers and how they have evolved. Service provider core routers have moved from power-hungry god routers to smaller purpose-built MPLS routers. The 2020 Network design takes the BGP-free design principle with lean MPLS routers and segment routing to allow you flexibility and high availability to meet bandwidth requirements. Leveraging Automation and Network Programmability to maintain, provision and grow service provider networks efficiently and seamlessly.
  
• STIR/SHAKEN Panel
  Shannon Heim (Moderator), Moss & Barnett
  Phil Linse, CenturyLink
  Nick Reifschneider, Intelliquent
  Brian Ford, NTCA
  How is your company dealing with unwanted robo and fraudulent calls? We have assembled a panel of experts discuss the newer technology standards STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) and SHAKEN (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) which defines how telephone service providers should implement the STIR technology to ensure calling numbers are not spoofed. There are forces beyond your control verifying calls at the Tandem level. Come learn what you don’t know about the industry’s response to this problem.

Issues Luncheon Speaker: Derrick Owens, Senior Vice President of Government & Industry Affairs, WTA: Advocates for Rural Broadband

Exhibits Open

Associate Members Reception

Registration

Associate Member Meeting/Convention Exhibitors Meeting

Exhibits Tear Down

Breakout Sessions

• Ten Things to Know About Your Customers 
  Carissa Swenson, Consortia  
  Do your company's customer service reps and technicians know the right information when assisting customers? Do your customers understand the products they are buying? Are all your broadband customers in the best possible speed package to meet their needs? This session covers 10 key items that your company needs to know to ensure your customers are satisfied with their broadband service. A couple of those items may surprise you!
• Minnesota Broadband Grant Program; Statistics, Successes and Strategies 
  Mark Mrla, Finley Engineering; Chris Konechne, Finley Engineering
  Minnesota's Broadband Grant Program is being used as a guide for many states throughout the country. This presentation covers program statistics along with some successes and strategies used to win awards.
• Emerging Multimedia Services will Break Broadband and Home Wi-Fi Networks 
  Alan DiCicco, Calix
  Ultra HD streaming video and a new wave of online gaming platforms that promise to deliver console-like performance will severely impact the broadband service network, bringing many opportunities for network congestion and disappointed subscribers. This session reviews the bandwidth requirements for these emerging multimedia services and identifies the potential bottlenecks in the end to end broadband service network.

Breakout Sessions

• Understanding Your Market in a Generational Divide
  Lana Gill, ISPN 
  This presentation will offer teachings to utilize your tools in today's fast paced world and constant competition to deliver meaningful solutions to your customers. Join ISPN to understand how to respond to the expectations of any customer, from 9 years old to 90 years old, and increase your customer satisfaction ratings.
• Broadband Funding: Upcoming Opportunities and What to do NOW
  Julie Darrington, Vantage Point
  Broadband funding programs reduce build-out expenses but have unique requirements and reporting obligations. Julie Darrington will share insights about upcoming opportunities and steps you can take NOW to get ready.
• FCC Performance Testing Panel 
  Tom Campbell (Moderator), Olsen Thielen
  Nathan Weber, Vantage Point Solutions
  Brian Ford, NTCA
  Ken Budd, Park Region - Otter Tail Telecom
  Over the next few years your company will have to implement network performance testing to demonstrate you are using your ACAM, ACAM II or CAF II dollars to deliver on the commitments your company agreed to. Our panelists will provide an overview of the regulations and their personal experiences testing the performance testing.
  

Keynote Presentation by Richard Coffey

Richard will speak about not only stepping outside your box, but living outside your box. With Richard’s background and experiences in the military, athletics and corporate America he will enlighten you on how to challenge yourself and strive to reach your full potential. Richard believes, “you can’t win at the game of life if you are not willing to get off the bench.” He creates a game plan to assist you with the next chapters of your lives. He often states that, “our life consists of ever changing seasons, one season never last forever.”

Richard believes that being “average is your enemy” and his ultimate goal is to assist others as they discover and utilize their talents to meet challenges and solve problems.