Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines conference as "a meeting of two or more persons for discussing matters of common concern" or a "formal interchange of views". This was not a conference. It was a gathering of mostly like minded individuals from all over the country including V.P. Gore, members of congress, community and business leaders, and advocates for the so-called "have nots" of the telecommunications age. The event was jam packed with activities and a multitude of folks in the broadcast mode. There was no time for discussion or interchange of views. The event was, however, extremely informative and provided for future opportunities in collaboration, partnerships, and information exchange. PULP has done a great job in conference follow-up on the CAM web site. Should they continue to update and expand the site, a true conference may yet occur - virtually. Right now one can listen to some of the speakers taped presentations - here are some short notes from my observations.

The Luncheon Address on the second day of the event was given by The Honorable William E. Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission. I also had the opportunity to witness Bill Kennard receive the Award for Pioneering Efforts in Telecommunications and Consumer Access during the Alliance for Technology's Eighth Annual Conference - Avoiding the Digital Potholes: Empowering People to Make Choices. Chairman Kennard is an impressive speaker and seems to have a good grip on the Washington (D.C.) scene when it comes to Information Technology. His emphasis on solving the problem of the "last mile" of the Information Superhighway is, I believe, off the mark.

Connecting the last mile of the Information Superhighway is not a telecommunications issue, it's a people issue.

Throughout this event, many common themes were heard. Buzz worlds like strategic partnerships, collaboration, community involvement, extending the walls of schools and libraries, parental involvement, community networking, (tele)mentoring, business partnerships, etc., etc.

CBPIN was born in 1995 as a result of RECA Foundation efforts to apply for a NTIA/TIIAP grant. A couple of stories come to mind about those times three years ago.

• I met with a citizen's group in Morrow County (very rural country in eastern Oregon). The group consisted of representatives form the county seat, cities and towns, public library, public schools, business community, non-profit organizations, and some retired citizens. Their big complaint was that there was no local Internet presence - they had to dial a Portland number (long distance) to connect to the commercial providers (e.g. Prodigy). I asked them to conduct an on-the-spot survey of existing telecommunications assets. Here's what we discovered:
• The U.S. Forest Service had a T-1 Internet connection that they hardly ever used.
• A regional Emergency Dispatch Center had been funded, built, and then abandoned because it was relocated to another county. The building was in tact and had been wired and connected for T-3 Internet access.
• The county seat had an automated telephone system. The group agreed that it should be no problem to reallocate a number of phone lines to be used after hours (e.g. 7pm - 7am) for local dial-up to a community network.

• A group in Walla Walla (SE Washington State) had been meeting for nearly a year to work on gaining Internet access for the community. The composition was much the same as the group in Morrow County with the addition of the college component. The group asked the RECA Foundation to come talk about community networking and how we might work together on the TIIAP grant. Again the group found there were many existing assets that could (in theory) be shared as community resources.
• The biggest eye-opener was the Army Corps of Engineers. The manager in charge of telecommunications told the group that he saw no reason why the 100 or so phone lines that were not in use after hours (e.g. 7pm - 7am) could not be used by a community network.

 So where are these folks today? Morrow County still does not have a community network and the Walla Walla group dwindled to a few stakeholders from the college and business community. Walla Walla now has a commercial Internet provider that has its roots in this "community" effort but the have-nots they originally pledged to serve remain have-nots.

 You read in the notes about Jean Luker's experience in the Washington County Virginia Public Schools. "It took a full year to form a coalition of like-minded schools divisions" to tackle the technology issues in this rural area of southwestern Virginia. She called it the "classic potentate problem". Our experience is that "Turf issues will kill you". In many cases the "last mile" of technology is already in place - people are the only obstacle in connecting to it.

 I have watched the City of Richland here in South Central Washington spend hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past 5 years "studying" telecommunications issues. They even received a TIIAP Planning Grant. There has been and continues to be an emphasis on high end technology. If they can't have lots of bandwidth and all the bells and whistles, they just won't do it. Esther Silver-Parker, President, AT&T Foundation says "Technology doesn't have to be gee-whiz, it can be simple and basic".

 Keith Fulton, Director of Technology Programs & Policy, National Urban League emphasized that there is frequently a disconnect between receiving grants and the reality of implementation. All too often, those receiving grants do not do what they said they would do in the grant application. We have certainly seen that first hand. My letter to the Kennewick School District prior to this Washington, D.C. event points out a local example. My follow-up letter after the D.C. trip provides some specific detail.

 These are people problems, not technology issues. They are top-down management, bureaucratic problems. But thinking of the bottom-up approach also brings problems to mind. Frank Odasz, a long time community networking advocate, recently reported on his experiences in Alaska. He talks of a group of Native Americans having

But as James Casey notes: "Native American youth can be exposed to cultural and social issues through the Internet prior to established traditional timelines. " These are people issues, not technology problems.

 Ironically, on the way home from this event, two articles in the airline flight magazines caught my attention. One dealt with the status of Teledesic's Internet-in-the-Sky which promotes a "communication network with speeds 2,000 times faster than today's standard modems" and plans to string a web of 288 communications satellites around the earth by 2002. And Frank Odasz notes:

 The other article was on the phenomenal success of the Simon DeBartolo Group, largest developer and manager of commercial real estate in the world. Earlier this year the group announced plans to provide free dial-up Internet service and public access kiosks in some of it's retail shopping mall areas. Their long range plan is to do this in all of their locations.

Connecting the last mile of the Information Superhighway is not a telecommunications issue, it's a people issue.

 PULP announced its Community/Communications/Technology plan at the conclusion of the event. This is an ambitious undertaking designed to "empower rural and low income communities throughout our country to achieve advanced information and video connectivity".

 But is this another "last mile" project that uses the field of dreams "build it and they will come" approach? Or are there plans to work the problems from the "bottom up" - from end of the last mile backward? To address the people part of the formula?

 USA Today carried an article in its February 27, 1998 issue talking about Tom Peters new book "The Circle of Innovation". Peters says "all this technology stuff and the next 10 or 20 years of the Internet are really going to change the world. The kids are who are inventing the Yahoos of the world. Richard Fineman (Nobel prize-winning physicist) was quoted as saying most discoveries have been made by kids, because when you're a kid you don't know what you don't know." Peters goes on to say "don’t' rock the boat, sink it and start over." He advocates hiring "crazies" - highly creative people who will shake up an organization.

 The RECA Foundation was started by us "crazies". There are still people in our own community who don't have a clue about how we have accomplished so much with so little. And there's plenty of the "potentate thing" to go around. How do we do it? It's a people thing.

 I wish PULP and others seeking to solve the "last mile" problem all the luck in the world. But hire a few "crazies" who have been there (or who still are) and know how to handle the people part of the equation.