2018 Telecom Executive Forum Agenda

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Telco Executive Certificate Course codes: B103, B109 and T106.
Attending this event earns you three credits toward your Telco Executive Certificate.
Learn more about NTCA certificate programs.

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Agenda

Sunday, March 11 Daylight Saving Time: set your clock 1 hour forward.
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.	WELCOME RECEPTION

Monday, March 12 Today's Business for Tomorrow's Technology
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:20 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.	Welcome Shirley Bloomfield, CEO, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.	Hack Your Customer’s Brain: Magnetic Brands, Dazzled and Devoted Customers How everything we’ve learned as humans, friends, business people so far fits into the new world of technology- what still works and what has changed? Learn how to test prospects and customers to find out what language and ideas they respond best to, which ones they ignore and which ones they hate! Brian Carter, CEO, The Brian Carter Group
9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.	Reinvent the Customer Experience Face-to-face interactions, apps, social media presence or good old-fashioned TLC—learn how your peers are enhancing the customers' experiences. Jeremy Graves, President, Pivot
11:00 a.m. – Noon	Mergers, Acquisitions and Business Combinations—2018 Style It's 2018, do you know where your next partnership or growth opportunity is coming from? We'll talk about recent combinations from commercial companies and co-ops, including recent activity, likely hurdles and what 2018 has in store for the industry. Leo Staurulakis, Executive Vice President, JSI Eric Cramer, CEO, Wilkes Communications/River Street Networks Jim Costello, General Manager, Lemonweir Valley Telephone Co.
Noon – 1:30 p.m.	LUNCH
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.	10 Consumer Tech Trends That You Should Know What are your customers hanging off your network? We’ll plow through all the top consumer tech trends that telcos need to know now. Justyn Miller, President, Aureon Technology
2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.	Working Wonders With Wireless Wireless needs are constantly evolving and so are solutions. Hear the latest on what's available while seeing how your peers have solved challenges with wireless applications both temporary and permanent. Jamie Fink, CTO & Co-Founder of Mimosa Networks
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.	The TEF Top 10 We'll turn to the crowd for the most current concerns and we'll stay with the crowd to discuss solutions. This series of roundtable discussions is a networking opportunity unlike any other in the industry with just the right players at the table.
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.	RECEPTION

Tuesday, March 13 Leaders of the 21st Century
7:15 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.	Tuesday @ TEF Ryan McCarty, Co-Founder, Culture of Good World-famous co-founder of CultureOfGood.com Ryan McCarty will join us to emcee a morning series focused on current and next-generation leadership. He'll begin with an eye-opening session on ramping up the culture at your company and then guide us through various leadership topics designed to leave you inspired to make some changes for the good. 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Connect your WHY with your WHAT Imagine what your world would be like if all employees were given permission to care about not just their job but also their colleagues, your customers and a cause they are most passionate about in life. Ryan McCarty will explore how you can free up your employees to become even more passionate about the company culture while making a change for the greater good of your community. 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Reskilling the Workforce Your future depends on your workforce, and you need to assess if current skills align with future needs. Learn how to retool your company for success into the future by aligning staff, skills, tools and tasks. Camilla Formica, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Jones NCTI 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Attracting Talent to Your Company and Your Community The hardest part of keeping technology experts in your community is maintaining and growing the necessary talent. Hear how your peers are deepening their benches of talent within the company, as well as growing the community by participating in local economic development initiatives. David Hengel, Executive Director, Greater Bemidji Gary Johnson, CEO, Paul Bunyan Communications Chad Young, CEO, Norvado 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Putting it All Together to Become the Telco of the Future You've got the components in place, now you need to put it all together. Over the past year, a small group of telco CEOs have been gathering to examine the future of the industry and tackle some shared challenges. Hear their report on how the combination of our strengths can guide us to a successful future. Kristi Westbrock, Assistant GM & COO, Consolidated Telecommunications Seth Arndorfer, CEO, Dakota Carrier Network Eric Cramer, CEO, Wilkes Communications & River Street Networks
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.	Cyber Wise Workshop Join us for a free half-day workshop focused on what every rural telco should know about cyber risk assessment and mitigation, as well as strategies for threat response and recovery. Gain a deeper understanding of how to utilize the sector-specific guidance in the NTCA Cybersecurity Bundle to improve cybersecurity readiness at your company. Lunch will be provided. This workshop is free, but requires advance registration. For conference attendees, please add the workshop to your registration. For workshop-only attendees, please contact us to register. FULL AGENDA
5:00 p.m.	MEETING ADJOURNS