This week, Harrison Edwards' Executive VP for Broadband, Bob Knight, appeared on the national Community Broadband Bits Podcast to discuss the ever-important topic of political will and fiber projects.
Bob and Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities, were interviewed by ILSR's Christopher Mitchell on the importance of community engagement and how having political will helps drive broadband projects forward.
At September's Great Lakes Connect broadband conference, Bob says that political will is the one topic that kept coming up in nearly ever session. Bob, Deb, and Chris discussed the many reasons why. Some of the points made on the podcast are:
Broadband advocates who are successful tend to bring a lot of people on board with them;
90% of community broadband projects are derailed by insufficient political will, so start engaging the community early to earn support;
Mayors have a lot on their plate. They need partners to help drive support for broadband projects.
Plus, Bob made an important point on the most effective ways to collaborate with volunteer "champions" that you don't want to miss!