The second full day of the 2015 Rural Telecom Industry Meeting & EXPO kicked off with NTCA Past President 
Terry Force passing the torch to 2015 President James M. Dauby during the Opening General Session. The other board officers also were introduced. NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield spoke about the importance of regulatory certainty, collaboration and evolving culture when it comes to ensuring a bright broadband future.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service Acting Administrator Jasper Schneider then discussed the agency's ongoing efforts to invest in rural America. Keynote speaker Larry Winget had the audience laughing out loud as he described the cold, hard and ugly truth about success. The session wrapped up with a panel discussion about NTCA's Smart Rural Community (SRC) initiative. The inaugural winners of the SRC Collaboration Challenge grants also were announced.
Day two continued with more educational sessions on topics like network neutrality rules, cybersecurity and succession planning for commercial and cooperative telcos. The day also featured
telco peer-to-peer roundtables and an associate member session focused on creating a customer experience.
The afternoon was packed with committee meetings, and the EXPO hall officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Hundreds checked out the latest technologies and heard about industry trends at each of the EXPO booths.
The day wrapped up with the Foundation for Rural Service's "High Octan
e Fun With FRS" fundraising event. Attendees hit the racetrack and put their driving skills to the test.
Tuesday will feature plenty more education, networking and tours of hot spots in the Phoenix sunshine.