Previous WeTEC Conferences

2009 WeTEC Conference Photos

5th Wireless Community & Mobile User Conference:
March 19 - 20, 2009, Monterey, California

Providing opportunities to "think outside the box," this year's gathering engaged innovators and leaders from industry, government, the nonprofit and education sectors for provocative and in-depth analysis separating the hype from the issues concerning the broadband world. The emphasis on community broadband offers opportunities to engage the regional initiatives that the California Emerging Technology Fund/CETF is advancing. CETF-supported projects shared their research and case studies. The Central Coast Broadband Collaborative presented its draft Strategic Plan.

Seesions Included:

Thursday, March 19

1:00-3:00 PM Workshop - Get Up and Running with Web 2.0: From Mobile Social Networking to Personal & Community Productivity
- Download the PowerPoints
Barbara Beckmeyer, Academic Technology Consultant, CSU Monterey Bay
Gus Leonard, Language Lab Coordinator, CSU Monterey
Jeff McCall, Digital Media Producer, CSU Monterey Bay
Greg Pool, Lead Staff, Web Services, CSU Monterey Bay
Blogs, Twitters, Facebook, MySpace and More--This workshop covered the A-Z of Web 2.0 technologies. Attendees learned the tools, websites, shortcuts and more--on their own notebook computers, iPhones, Blackberries or other devices. This interactive workshop taught step by step how-to's for sign-up, use, and best practices & techniques to galvanize communities, hear what's on their minds, and increase worker productivity.

3:30-4:20 PM - The Central Coast Broadband Consortium Kicks Off Its Plans
- Download the CCBC PowerPoint
Welcome - Arlene Krebs, Director, WeTEC, CSUMB
Dr. Dianne Harrison, President CSUMB
Dr. Chip Lenno, Interim CIO CSUMB
Overview - Trish Kelly, Consultant, The California Emerging Technology Fund
Applications - Bobby Lee, Director, Language Technology Services, Global Security & Engineering Solutions
Technology - Jim, Warner, Network Engineer / Disaster Planner, UC Santa Cruz
Governance - Bradley Smith, Director Technology Strategy, IT Services, UC Santa Cruz
For over 6 months, the CCBC has been meeting to plan for a Connected Central Coast among the Tri-County Region (Santa Cruz, San Benito & Monterey Counties). CCBC presented the recommendations of the 3 working groups--Governance, Technology & Applications--as they launched the Consortium.

4:30-5:30 PM - Broadband & Social Responsiblity
Rick Ellinger, President, Wireless Communications Association
Sunne Wright McPeak, President & CEO, The California Emerging Technology Fund
Scott Slater, Founder, The Personal Broadband Industry Association
Broadband offers the potential to provide telehealth, education, public safety, small business and government applications--to everyone, everywhere. However, barriers exist: serving under-populated and low income areas, providing technology opportunities for digital inclusion, and sustaining projects that make the difference in people’s lives. Our Panelists analyzed how to transform challenges such as these into opportunities for our nation.

Friday, March 20

8:45-10:00 AM Breakout Sessions:

TeleHealth Applications

The California TeleHealth Network
- Download Cole's PowerPoint
Stacey Cole, Assistant Director of Operations, California Telehealth Network
The University of California and UC Davis Health System, in partnership with a coalition of government agencies, health care providers and others, received a three-year, $22 million award from the Federal Communications Commission to help develop a new California Telehealth Network. Stacey provided an overview of the Network, its status and plans, as well as examples of telemedicine applications on the network.

Smart Grid and TeleHealth: Economic Synergies that Enable Broadband Business Models
Harold Galicer, Principal, Seakay

Broadband & New Technologies

IT Operations--Filling in The Gaps & Understanding Usage Trends
- Download Sandford's PowerPoint
Darren Sandford, Vice-President for Technology Deployment, California Emerging Technology Fund

New Technologies & Convergence
Scott Slater, Founder, The Personal Broadband Industry Association

Lessons Learned from Muni Wireless 1.0--How Do We Capitalize for Better Networks Now?
- Download Gartin's PowerPoint
Wayne Gartin, COO, Novarum

10:20-11:00 AM - Broadband & The Economic Stimulus Package
- Download Lopatkiewicz's PowerPoint
The Obama administration has launched the largest telecommunications
spending program in U.S. history, with more dollars potentially on the way. The goal is to use broadband to develop the economy and create jobs. The question being debated right now in Washington is how to best achieve that goal: short term spending on immediate job creation or long-term investment in facilities?

Broadband & The Economic Stimulus Package:
What It Means for Communities and Stakeholders
Stefan Lopatkiewicz, Esquire, Dorsey & Whitney
In this session, Stefan Lopatkiewicz gave the "inside the beltway scoop" on the Economic Stimulus Package and its funding for Broadband infrastructure and projects. How can we best navigate the challenges and opportunities for securing funds?

11:00 a.m.-12:00 PM - Broadband & Economic Development: Anticipating the Unexpected
Steve Blum, President, Tellus Venture Associates, Moderator
Ellis Berns, Economic Development Manager, City of Mountain View
Fred Cohn, Assistant City Manager, City of Monterey
Gil Gonzales, CIO, University of New Mexico
In this session, panelists offered their perspectives and experience with broadband and economic development, clarified and expanded on the current debate, and focused in on what should be done to maximize broadband's role in developing our future prosperity.