We’re in the thick of statewide travel season, a time when we go out and visit NTCA members (or at least visit a little closer to where they live and serve) and a time when I learn all kinds of new things. You can also tell it is "the season" when I keep my suitcase packed and ready in the guest bedroom but have to be mindful not to forget to restock it like I did this week with two back-to-back trips.
Still, I digress, and I want to share a few examples of things I have learned this week:
- The statue on the top of the Nebraska Capitol is called "The Sower" as a nod to the proud agriculture heritage of the state. It also serves as a lightning rod for the building. That focus on agriculture is carried over to each door in the Cornhusker Hotel, which has what I can only assume is the face of a Cornhusker on each guest door.
- Traffic is diverted upon return from Lincoln to the Omaha, Neb. airport on a regular basis depending on the schedule of baseball games at the famous site of the College World Series. Mine was diverted thanks to the Big 10 championship game between Michigan and Iowa.
- You never know who you are going to see at a Nebraska Telecommunications Association meeting, including friends like Rich Coit, a retired South Dakota association executive who now juggles his time between robocall regulations and grandchildren. It was a treat to see him.
- In Kentucky, the entire drive from Louisville is marked by tourist information on taking the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. That and there are so many gift shops in the airport devoted to more bourbons than I have heard of, which I guess is not saying much given that I'm not sure I have ever even tasted bourbon, much to the dismay of my hosts in the state.
- Folks in Kentucky take their bourbon selections very personally. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that the hotel actually had a bourbon dispenser in the lobby with at least 20 brands available. I am still thinking that the Pappy Bourbon had better have medicinal benefits in it for the $120 price tag per glass.
- Horses in the state are also a prized commodity. It was hard to make a turn without seeing a "run for the roses."
Aside from all of these fun facts that I picked up, my most valuable inputs came from NTCA broadband providers in Nebraska and Kentucky. They shared what they are working with on the ground and what their perspective is on all of this funding, building, need to sustain networks, congressional activity and more.
NTCA Board member Tonya Mayer, CEO of Mobius Communications (Hemingford, Neb.), was a wonderful hostess, welcoming me to the state and sharing her insights as the head of the Nebraska Telecom Association. That's a lot of leadership to manage and having someone with Tonya's interest in industry unity will come at a critical time.
In Kentucky, Tyler Campbell, the state executive for the Kentucky Rural Broadband Association, was also most welcoming as his spring meeting hit record levels of attendance including from the folks leading up the broadband efforts for the state. I loved seeing the focus on ensuring that stakeholder meetings across the state include community based broadband providers sharing their perspective on opportunities and challenges from the ground. I am hopeful that every state association meeting this spring, summer and fall includes these folks on their program and that the opportunity to engage and compare notes is made a priority.
Lastly, I love seeing our members at these meetings. Such events mean there is more time to visit and more of their teams tend to attend events closer to home. The biggest challenge is that there are simply not enough days on a calendar to make it work everywhere or every week and still get done the work that simply needs to get done. Still, I relish each opportunity.