Connected Nation attends Broadband Communities Summit West Conference

San Diego, Calif. (November 12, 2024) - Last month, the Connected Nation (CN) team was pleased to attended the Broadband Communities Summit West (BCSW) conference in San Diego. BCSW is the newest addition to the Broadband Communities event portfolio, part of Total Telecom. The conference series features events for community leaders, property owners, network infrastructure builders, and telecommunications service providers to meet and discuss strategies for delivering connectivity for communities all over the United States.

This year, five of the six CN staff members in attendance spoke on and/or moderated a panel at the conference. Conference topics included federal broadband funding opportunities, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, digital inclusion, rural broadband development, telehealth, broadband in Tribal communities, and more.

Panel discussions featuring CN staff were:

• “America’s Growing Aging Population/Assisted Living & Senior Care Centers,” Chris McGovern, Director, Research Development — moderator.
• “Partnerships that Make Successful Rural Deployment Projects,” Heather Gate, Executive Vice President, Digital Inclusion — panelist.
• “Connectivity for Tribal Communities,” Frank Martinez, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives — moderator.
• “BEAD Progress and Overcoming the Challenges,” Tom Cox, Vice President, State Government Affairs — moderator.
• “Building the Infrastructure for the Digitization of Rural America,” Jessica Denson, Director, Communications —moderator.

The CN Communications Director, Jessica Denson, also hosted the award-winning Connected Nation podcast LIVE at the conference.

The BCSW event was a great opportunity to learn more about what is happening in the broadband space, meet other broadband/telecom leaders, and develop relationships to foster partnerships, projects, and programs in the future.

Check out some photos from the event below!