Speakers updated 19Nov08

Confirmed speakers to date:

  • Jim Baller, US Broadband Coalition (BB4US.org) & Baller Herbst Law Group
  • Geoff Daily, app-rising.com
  • Tim Denton, Commissioner, CRTC ("Canadian FCC")
  • Mary Evslin, Chair, Vermont Telecom Authority
  • Benoit Felten, Yankee Group Europe & fiberevolution.com
  • Terry Huval, Director of Lafayette (LA) Utility Systems' FTTH project.
  • Nathaniel James, Outreach Manager, The Media and Democracy Coalition
  • Paul Kaputska, wireless telecom analysis, Sidecut Reports
  • Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation
  • Ellen Miller, Co-Founder, Sunlight Foundation
  • Tim Nulty, former Chief Economist, House & Senate Commerce Committees, FTTH activist [bio].
  • Jon Peha, Chief Technologist, FCC
  • Chris Savage, Partner, Telecom & Media, Davis Wright Tremaine [bio]
  • Esme Vos, muniwireless.com

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Schedule updated 7Nov08

This schedule is bare-bones -- check back for details.

Monday March 30, 2009

  • 8:00 AM -- Registration, breakfast
  • 8:30 - 10:00 AM -- Session 1
  • 10:00 - 10:30 AM -- Break
  • 10:30 - Noon -- Session 2
  • Noon - 1:00 PM -- Lunch
  • 1:00 - 2:45 PM -- Session 3
  • 2:45 - 3:30 PM -- Break
  • 3:30 - 5:00 PM -- Session 4
  • 5:30 - 8:30 PM -- Reception TBD.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

  • 8:00 AM -- Registration, breakfast
  • 8:30 - 10:00 AM -- Session 5
  • 10:00 - 10:30 AM -- Break
  • 10:30 - Noon -- Session 6
  • Noon - 1:00 PM -- Lunch
  • 1:00 - 2:30 -- Session 7
  • 2: 30 - 3:00 PM -- Break
  • 3:00 - 5:00 PM -- Session 8
  • 5:00 PM -- Adjourn

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The Big Idea of F2C: Freedom to Connect updated 7Nov08

WHO: F2C is a meeting of people engaged with Internet connectivity and all that it enables, including vendors, customers, regulators, legislators, analysts, financiers, citizens and co-creators. F2C is shaped by universal connectivity and the plunging capital requirements of information production, which, in turn, are changing many of our fundamental economic and social assumptions. (F2C is produced by David S. Isenberg of isen.com, LLC.)

WHAT: F2C is a two-day meeting inside the beltway where the creators of the future of the Internet meet to engage in mutual learning and exploration.

WHEN: 8:00 AM on March 30 through 5:00 PM on March 31, 2009. Program here.

WHERE: AFI Silver Theatre, Silver Spring MD. More travel, lodging and venue details here.

WHY:

It is written that Freedom of the Press is only for those with presses. Internet technology now makes Freedom of the Press available to about 1,000,000,000 people, one sixth of Earth's inhabitants. How does this change the fundamental operating assumptions of society?

Join us!

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What they're saying about F2C:

Every event David runs that I've been to is a bit like taking a red pill and seeing the world rather differently. Unmissable. See you there.

Martin Geddes in Telepocalypse

Freedom to Connect [is] based on a critical worldchanging concept: The need to communicate is primary, like the need to breathe, eat, sleep, reproduce, socialize and learn.

Jon Lebkowsky in Worldchanging

"F2C is the absolutely unbuttoned-down deep thought conference of telecommunications. You'll find movers and shakers here (some ducked down in hiding); you'll find thinkers; and you'll find those who have been and those who will be the guiding forces in telecommunications. There's no way you'll agree with everything that's said and plenty of ways to make your opinion known whether you're on the formal program or not."

Tom Evslin, speaker at F2C 2007, in Fractals of Change.

"Don't miss F2C . . . F2C aims not to lobby or position or spin or score political brownie points. It aims to illuminate and educate. . . admittedly quirky . . . and free-spirited . . . if folks really want to know where broadband policy is headed, they should start with F2C."

Cynthia Brumfield, F2C 2006 participant, in IP Democracy.

". . . although I and [F2C producer David Isenberg] probably have quite divergent political beliefs, we're on common ground when it comes to "What is 'the network' for?" . . . [F2C] is unique in that it's not beholden to anyone's commercial interest, and comes nearest to being the forum for discussing the public interest."

Martin Geddes, F2C 2006 speaker in Telepocalypse

"The press was surprised by the net neutrality storm that struck Congress last Spring . . . F2C 2006 was a catalyst . . . there's no better venue to explore the issues."

Steve Crandall, F2C2006 participant, in Tingilinde

"David is a world-class human networker . . . If you're in the telecom business or you're an active telecom investor, you'll get a lot out of this meeting."

Porter Stansberry, F2C2006 participant, in Stansberry & Associates Digest, 2/13/07

"I had never before experienced a conversation taking place on this level or at this pace . . . most participants were actively contributing. It was exciting; it was overwhelming; it was nearly pure energy. I loved it!"

Mary Godwin, F2C 2006 participant, in her Body Electric blog

More participant observations here and here.

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Register Here 7Nov08

Registration opens soon. Watch this space.

Credit Cards Accepted: VISA, MasterCard, American Express
If you prefer to pay by check or bank transfer please write to isen@isen.com
No refunds after February 29, substitutions OK with written approval through 11:59 PM EDT March 26.

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Venue, Travel & Lodging updated 7Nov08

VENUE & LOCAL: F2C will convene at the AFI Silver Theatre, a short walk from the Silver Spring Metro station. The Silver Spring Metro is six stops from Washington, D.C., Union Station on the Red Line. Interactive Map of Washington Metro here. See driving and parking directions here. AFI Silver is the newly restored theatre complex of the American Film Institute.

GETTING THERE: Washington DC has Amtrak and three major airports. National (DCA) is the most convenient, and it is right on the Metro. Dulles (IAD) and Baltimore Washington (BWI) are each about 32 miles away, and less expensive to fly into because they are served by discounters like Ted (IAD) and Southwest (BWI). Dulles is best for international flights. There's a Hertz local office about four blocks from the F2C venue, and I've had good luck with one way rentals.

LODGING NEARBY: There are three hotels within walking distance of the F2C venue, a Hilton, a Crowne Plaza. and a Marriott Courtyard.

If you're after "budget," about 1.5 miles away there's a little cluster with a Day's Inn, a Ramada, and a Quality Inn. You can use hotels.com or similar to reserve a specific hotel. (I have had good luck using Priceline and Hotwire in the Washington DC area. These yield good accomodations at very deep discounts, but they do not let you choose specific hotels. In my experience hotwire/priceline hotels are often an easy walk from a Metro stop, and so is the F2C venue.)

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Musicians in Residence: TBD 7Nov08

Music is perhaps the oldest form of communications technology and an integral part of F2C: Freedom to Connect. Past F2C musicians include:

  • 2005: Andy Stein, a regular on Prairie Home Companion, founding member of Commander Cody's Lost Planet Airmen,
  • 2006: Joe Craven, the "utility infielder" of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's acoustic band, and
  • 2007: Howard Levy, founding member of The Flecktones and a regular on Prairie Home Companion.
  • 2008: Howard Levy and Chris Siebold of Acoustic Express

Sponsors: 7Nov08

Sponsors of F2C 2009 at this time include:

  • Alcatel Lucent
  • The Sunlight Foundation

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Special Thanks to . . . 7Nov08

Dewayne Hendricks, Tiffany Graham-Golden, John Summers, Ed Fineran, Tom Collins, Gary Arlen, Isabel Walcott Hilborn and Kim J. Ambler.

CMA, the fine print: While all of the above is presented in good faith, please take all of it as a best effort attempt rather than a guarantee. Everything here is subject to change without notice. Of course, if things change, I'll do my very best to let all interested parties know asap. All I'm saying is let's be reasonable; if you don't demand that I do the impossible, I will, in exchange, attempt it. David Isenberg

F2C is a production of isen.com, LLC

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