Yesterday we held the Broadband 2015 Community Forum which was sponsored by the Blacksburg Electronic Village, Inc. and the Town of Blacksburg.
Many people came out on a beautiful Saturday morning to discuss and help plan the next steps to move Blacksburg forward and increase broadband capacity not only in town, but in the region.
We heard from speakers who talked about the value to consumers and we heard from speakers who talked about the value to producers. It was good to be reminded of the economic impact of quality high speed broadband that will encourage and produce new jobs.
I was an original participant when the Community launched the Blacksburg Electronic Village. I witnessed the same excitement yesterday with a real desire to move ahead. As with the original BEV, the new BEV can move forward with citizen participation and town, university and business support.
Stay tuned, there are good things ahead!
Blacksburgmayor's Blog 
Those of us who benefited from BEV will probably also benefit from the Gigabyte by 2015. It was a good forum.
Is there any word on our application for Google’s fiber optic network?
Tina, No word yet, but we assume we are still in the running.
Mayor Rordam, thanks for posting this. Was the discussion video taped, or is there a recap somewhere online?
To ignore the global economy is the equivalent of believing the world if flat. Making sure our region has a suitable storefront, in terms of digital bandwidth, is the same as setting up a physical shop with an eye on location, location, location.
We know this to be true: it is not if, it is when. Then the decision becomes now or later? Indecision seems irresponsible if the goal is progress through connection. If the objective is isolation, then just keep sailing…for when the edge comes, it will then be too late to participate.
Chris, I do believe the world is round. So, the time is now. Thanks.
Jeremy, I believe it was recorded. Let me check or anyone out there want to respond. Thanks.\
Jeremy and Mayor Rordam,
The Blacksburg website has some of the audio files from the forum up now, and more will be uploaded by tomorrow. They will also be posting the powerpoint presentations. Take a look (or listen), at http://www.blacksburg.gov/Index.aspx?page=513. They should feed out to iTunes for a downloadable audio podcast which can be found at http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/town-blacksburg-wtob-channel/id303747666?i=49467761.
Jeremy and Mayor Rordam,
The forum was recorded and the audio files are available at http://www.blacksburg.gov/Index.aspx?page=513. They should feed out to iTunes for a downloadable audio podcast which can be found at http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/town-blacksburg-wtob-channel/id303747666?i=49467761. I believe they have some available now, and will upload more by tomorrow. They will also post the Powerpoint presentations. In addition, keep an eye on http://www.broadbad2015.bev.net for continuing updates on developments and new info.