CONNECTED. IMMERSED. INSPIRED.

  •  CONNECTED: Expand your horizons. Collaborate with fellow gigabit city colleagues to gather insight and create a plan for your community.

  • IMMERSED: Go behind the scenes of a full-scale fiber build-out. Learn from those on the front lines how gigabit technology is powering the new economy.

  • INSPIRED: Learn from today's leading gigabit business and smart city innovators. Bring home insights for your community and your mis


 
 

Download Printable Agenda

MONDAY, JANUARY 12

4-10 pm: Early Arrivals Lounge & City Connection Dinners

Join us Monday before the conference for a cocktail hour at the Intercontinental Hotel, then break into dinner groups with people who share a similar discipline or job title.

Attn: Mayors, City Managers, Economic Development Officials, IT Managers, Urban Planners, etc.


 

TUESDAY,  JANUARY 13

Location: UMKC Henry W. Bloch Executive Hall for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

UMKC Henry W. Bloch Executive Hall
CONNECTED: NETWORKING & BREAKFAST

7:30-8:30 am: Conference Check In and Continental Breakfast at Bloch Executive Hall

IMMERSED: KC EXPERIENCE

8:30-8:45 am: Stories of Success

Community Testimonials on the transformative power of the gigabit.

IMMERSED: KC EXPERIENCE

8:45-9:15 am: Mayors’ Welcome 

Mayor Sly James (City of Kansas City, Missouri)

and Mayor Mark Holland (City of Kansas City, Kansas).

INSPIRED: BLAIR LEVIN KEYNOTE

9:15-10:00 am: The Early Adopter’s Dilemma

Keynote: Blair Levin (Communications & Society Fellow, The Aspen Institute) 

IMMERSED: KC EXPERIENCE

10:15-11:15 am: Laying a Community Foundation

Moderator: Alan Fitzpatrick (Charlotte Heats Gigabit) Panelists: Mike Brown (Brainzooming),

Herb Sih (Think Big Partners), Margaret May (Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council)

IMMERSED: KC EXPERIENCE

11:15 am-12:15 pm: Moving from Checklist to Playbook

Moderator: Yiaway Yeh (CIO of Nashville) Panelists: Mike Burke, Ray Daniels (KC Mayors Bistate Innovations Team), David Warm (Mid-America Regional Council), David Sandel (Sandel & Associates)

CONNECTED: NETWORK WITH BUSINESS INNOVATORS

12:15 - 1:45 pm: Lunch and Inspiration Theater / Connection Lounge

Grab lunch and learn from some of the most innovative companies providing services in the gigabit space.

CONNECTED: METRO WORKSHOPS

1:45-2:35 pm: Metro Area Workshop Breakout Session

Meet up with your metro or assigned delegation to start laying the groundwork for your community plan. 

Facilitator: The Brainzooming Group

IMMERSED: GOOGLE FIBER

2:35-3:05 pm: Google Fiber’s Checklist and You

Sponsored by Google Fiber

IMMERSED: CITY LEARNING

3:05-3:45 pm: The Red Tape: Where and How to Cut

Rick Usher (City of Kansas City, MO)

Rondella Hawkins (City of Austin, TX), 

CONNECTED: CITY BREAKOUTS

3:45-4:45: City Case Studies (Breakout Session)

Meet one-on-one with delegates from cities who have experienced fiber builds or reached an agreement with a provider.

INSPIRED: BOYD COHEN KEYNOTE

4:45-5:30 pm: From Gigabit City to Smart City

Keynote: Boyd Cohen (Professor and Urban Strategist, Universidad del Desarrollo)

CONNECTED: OPENING RECEPTION

5:30-7:30 pm: Opening Reception at Bloch Executive Hall

INSPIRED: JOE REARDON KEYNOTE

6:15-6:45 pm: Why the Gigabit Matters

Keynote: Joe Reardon (McAnany, VanCleave & Phillips, former mayor of Kansas City, KS)


WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14

Location: Kauffman Foundation

Kauffman Foundation
CONNECTED: BREAKFAST & NETWORKING

8-9:00 am: Breakfast at Kauffman Foundation

INSPIRED: GIGABIT ENTREPRENEURS

9:00-10:30 am: 1 Million Cups

Enjoy Pitches by Entrepreneurs Using the Gigabit

IMMERSED: CITY LEARNING

10:30-11:15 am: Scaling Networks Across the U.S.

Panelists: Catherine Bracy (Code for America), Chris Lawrence (Mozilla), Bill Wallace (US Ignite)

IMMERSED: CITY LEARNING

11:15 am-12:00 pm: Connecting Networks within Our Cities

Panel: Ken Hays (The Enterprise Center - Chattanooga, TN), Bradley Holt (FoundLine Burlington, VT), Aaron Deacon (KC Digital Drive)

CONNECTED: KAUFFMAN WORKSHOP

12:00-1:30 pm: Lunch and Kauffman Foundation Workshop

Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem 

IMMERSED: CITY LEARNING

Return to Bloch Executive Hall

2:00-2:50 pm: Making It Pay - How to Make a Gig a Powerful Economic Engine

Panelists: Drew Solomon(Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, MO) Andy Huckaba (City of Lenexa, KS)

IMMERSED: CITY LEARNING

2:50-3:40 pm: The Digitally Underserved in a Time of Broadband Abundance

Panelists: Deb Socia (Next Century Cities, formerly of Tech Goes Home- Boston, MA), Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner (Kansas City Public Library), Michael Liimatta (Connecting for Good-Kansas City)

IMMERSED: CITY LEARNING

4:00-4:50 pm: Building the Future with Gigabit Apps

Panelists: Will Barkis (Gigabit Developer Evangelist), Glenn Ricart (US Ignite)

INSPIRED: ANTHONY TOWNSEND KEYNOTE

4:50-5:30 pm: Life in the Second Machine Age

Keynote: Anthony Townsend (Author of “Smart Cities”, NYU Rudin Center)

CONNECTED: COMMUNITY EXHIBITS

4:50-5:30 pm: Gigabit Business & Community Exhibits

Learn and connect with entrepreneurs and community groups with gigabit pilot projects in the field.


THURSDAY, JANUARY 15

Location: Google Fiber Space

Google Fiber Space
CONNECTED: BREAKFAST & NETWORKING

7:30 - 8:30 am: Breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel

INSPIRED: SUSAN CRAWFORD KEYNOTE

8:00-8:30 am: Broadband as a Utility and the Responsive City

Keynote: Susan Crawford (Author of “The Responsive City”, Harvard Law School)

CONNECTED: CLOSING WORKSHOPS AND TOURS

9:00-10:00 am: Closing Workshops

10:00 am-1:00 pm: KC Tech Tours

Meet with members from your metro delegation to digest the conference and develop an action plan, then take a tour of KC’s tech hotspots: the Google Fiber Space, Kansas City Startup Village, Think Big Partners, OfficePort, and the Sprint Accelerator.