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Your local partner is an advocate for your library. In most cases, your local partner may support the library by securing much needed funding (i.e. mayor, city council member, county commissioner, county judge, etc.). Regardless of the role, your local partner needs to be able to advocate for the needs of your library and be connected to those in the community who can support increased connectivity. In limited cases, your local partner is an active resource to your library (i.e. board trustee, friend of the library, etc.). In these instances, it is vitally important that this partner has existing relationships with decision-makers that they will contact and advocate on behalf of the library after the summit.

Suggested local partners include:

• Mayor
• Councilperson
• Commissioner
• Budget director
• Board trustee
• Friend of the library
• Local business leader
• Chamber of commerce representative
• Technology ambassador

If you are struggling to determine a local partner well suited to attend the summit, please call 1-866-882-3081 for assistance. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission and Connected Nation are always happy to help.

About the Local Partner

Travel to the summit may seem daunting. If you need any assistance to secure a flight, please call Gant Travel at 1-800-621-1083. More information on how to secure a flight can be found here.

For shuttle transportation to and from the airport to the summit please contact Paul's Shuttle Service. Email Paul your flight itinerary and he will transport you to and from the summit. This is at no cost to you.

Paul.Phillips@AlamoDMCandEvents.com

Please note that you are our guest to the upcoming Opportunity Online Summit in Texas. With that said, you are to attend this event at no charge to yourself or your library thanks to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All charges will be reimbursed to you shortly after you attend the summit. There are a few things you need to know:

1. Connected Nation will be responsible for your meals and accommodations while at the summit. Your completed registration ensures that you will have a room awaiting you at the hotel determined for the summit. You will also have meals and snacks available throughout the event.
2. When traveling to the summit by car, please print out a map of your trip from Map Quest or Google Maps. This map is mandatory for reimbursement of mileage. In the event that you do not print this map, Connected Nation staff will be on hand at the summit to assist you.
3. If you need to fly to the summit, Connected Nation will be happy to schedule your flight and pick-up from the airport to ensure the most affordable and timely trip. Connected Nation staff or a travel planner assigned by Connected Nation will be in touch with you regarding your flight.
4. Incidentals are a regular when traveling. Please account for them on your reimbursement form and we will do our best to reimburse you for all relevant incidentals.
5. Please download the Expense Reimbursement Form. This should be turned in at the summit or immediately following. Please allow a few weeks for your reimbursement check.

If you have any questions regarding the travel or reimbursement, please email txsummit@opportunityonline.org.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is paying for the Texas Opportunity Online Broadband Summit as part of its Opportunity Online program of support for our nation's public libraries. The Foundation has made grants to Connected Nation and to OITP to produce the summit and to assist with the development of a Texas sustainability plan.

Today, the Internet is a portal to vital information of all kinds. But almost 40 percent of Americans, often those with lower incomes and lower levels of education, still don’t have online access at home. For many of these people, their public library is the place to get connected. Today, millions of Americans use computers and the Internet at public libraries to find jobs, earn long‐distance learning degrees, start and grow small businesses, learn English, get e‐government information, and more. In fact, 70 percent of people who use computers and the Internet at libraries say it is their primary source of access to these technology tools.

In order to support public libraries serving patron needs, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is working with states on the Opportunity Online broadband grant program. To learn more about the grant program, click here.

OITP is the American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy. OITP has been engaged by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advise the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on the development of the sustainability plan that we will use to assure that adequate Internet bandwidth is available to all public libraries in Texas in the future.

Connected Nation, a national non-profit technology advocacy organization, that will partner with state library agencies participating in the Opportunity Online broadband grant program to produce state-level summits convening the leaders of library systems participating in the grant program as well as gather and activate local and state influencers with the power to support broadband in libraries, and inform strategies to improve and sustain connectivity.

The immediate objectives of these summits are to ensure high library participation in the Opportunity Online broadband grant program and to provide inspiration and education that informs the sustainability strategies created by each state library agency. The larger vision is to catalyze a lasting improvement in library Internet connectivity in each participating state.