04 Jan blizzard
Thursday, January 04, 2018
Okay, well, remember I live in the D.C.-metropolitan area, not Minnesota like our esteemed Chairwoman Kathy Nelson, and we are experiencing some icy temps here as well as excessive wind, but the snow is to a minimum. So it might be blizzard with a lower-case “b.”
Nonetheless, it is cold. And, to add to the cold weather, I also have a cold. Not the most inspiring way to start the new year, but…that sounds real whiny and not how I typically approach things…so, I will move on to warmer thoughts…
Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel
Palm Springs for Telecom & Technology 2018! Can’t get warmer than that! We have already booked Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Neil Chatterjee to be one of our key note speakers. The program will be great, the networking even better and the golf, well, the best.
Our spring regional meetings are always inviting. The Regions 8, 9, 10 Utility Technology Forum in Reno won’t necessarily be warm, per se, but the Reno venue and the Super Bowl event just before the program kicks off will certainly inspire comradery and set the stage for important presentations and information exchanges in a relaxed setting.
Region 7 will be held this year in New Orleans the week before Mardi Gras. And, our Utilities Broadband Council will host a broadband workshop at a hotel in the French Quarter, just after the Region 7 meeting. Enough said.
Region 3 will be held in Jacksonville, another cozy venue, with a fiber summit sponsored by our UtiliSite Council dovetailed with this event.
Region 6, in Kansas City, won’t quite be warm yet, but the excellent BBQ they provide warms the insides like no other.
And then, there is UTC America Latina which will this year be in – wait for it – Rio de Janeiro! In April. I know that our Brazilian friends welcome North American attendees and they even translate every panel or presentation from Portuguese to English and vice versa. Pretty amazing. And, some incredibly relevant issues that our South American friends address at their conference. We have a great partnership on access to international spectrum, with significant progress being made at CITEL this year on behalf of critical infrastructure providers. A joint effort by UTC and UTCAL.
Finally, just after Palm Springs is the African Utility Week in Cape Town, South Africa. Africa UTC will again host a track there. Anyone wanting to know more should contact Bobbi Harris of the UTC staff.
Thank you for letting me get a bit warmed up and excited about our upcoming meetings. The bottom line is…consider attending to get the benefit of each other’s experience and a chance to interface with key technology partners. Until we meet again…
