Thanks for your interest in the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s Annual Meeting & Trade Show. We’re happy to provide this opportunity for you to submit a workshop proposal for the Annual Meeting scheduled for January 24-25, 2020, at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

Note: MMA members who would like to share suggestions for Annual Meeting workshop topics, but are not interested in conducting a workshop, may use our online suggestion form to submit ideas.

Our interactive workshop sessions are either 40, 75 or 90 minutes in length and typically feature a panel of one to three subject-matter experts – two is ideal – as well as a moderator to facilitate the discussion.

All workshops must:
• Be educational in nature (no sales pitches)
• Provide key takeaways for municipal officials to bring back to their communities.

Please make your proposal as specific as you can, which will help with the evaluation process.

Here’s a workshop example from last year’s Annual Meeting:

Public Right-of-Way Access: A Changing Regulatory Field
Presented by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors
Everyone wants public right-of-way access: cable companies, telephone companies, cellular companies and traditional utilities. Now, the Federal Communications Commission is changing the rules. Join an intensive tutorial discussing where municipalities throughout the Commonwealth stand in light of new federal changes to right-of-way access, the release of presumptively reasonable fees, and new Small Wireless Facility “shot clocks.” This workshop will also look at the latest proposed rule-making that threatens traditional cable fees.

PANELISTS
Sean Carroll is Deputy General Counsel for the Department of Telecommunications and Cable.
Gerard Lavery Lederer is a partner with the law firm Best, Best & Krieger.
Nancy L. Werner is general counsel for the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.
MODERATOR
Mike Lynch is director of broadband and cable at the Boston Department of Innovation and Technology and the president of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.

If you represent a business or organization and are looking for other ways to be involved in the MMA Annual Meeting & Trade Show, please contact Advertising and Trade Show Manager Karen LaPointe at klapointe@mma.org.

Workshop proposals are due by Friday, July 12, at 5 p.m.

What to expect next: Your proposal will go through a selection process conducted by the MMA staff. The MMA may combine workshops or revise workshop proposals in order to meet the needs of members and avoid overlapping topics. We will advise you, by email during the week of Aug. 12, whether your proposal has been accepted and the specific next steps.

All decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of workshop proposals will be made by the MMA at its sole discretion.