The StoryConnect Podcast

This episode is the audio from a WordSouth webinar on June 9 titled Back to School Promotions and Campaigns. To see other upcoming webinars visit wordsouth.com/webinar. The video version is available here: https://wordsouth.com/2020/06/wordsouth-webinar-back-to-school-promotions-and-campaigns/

This episode is the audio from a WordSouth webinar on May 14 titled Marketing Segmentation. To see other upcoming webinars visit wordsouth.com/webinar. The video version is available here: https://wordsouth.com/2020/05/missed-our-marketing-segmentation-webinar-heres-the-video/

Carrie Huckeby, who leads WordSouth's training program, discusses how CSRs and MSRs can focus on peak moments in the customer's journey to dramatically improve customer satisfaction.

Upgrading customers is always an important way to grow revenues, but many telcos have been flooded with upgrade requests with customers working from home and homeschooling. What do you need to do to be ready to keep up?

https://www.tennesseebroadband.com/category/lead-tennessee-radio/

https://www.tennesseebroadband.com/category/lead-tennessee-radio/

Lead Tennessee Radio:  https://www.tennesseebroadband.com/category/lead-tennessee-radio/

Norvado became one of the first — but likely not the last — cooperatives to hold its annual meeting virtually. How did they pull it off?

This episode is the audio from a WordSouth webinar on April 30 title Working (and Managing) Remotely. To see other upcoming webinars visit wordsouth.com/webinar.

WordSouth developed the industry's first COVID-19 resource kit for utility communicators. CEO Stephen V. Smith joins the show to discuss the free kit and strategies for communicating in this unprecedented time.

NTCA has rolled out it's brand new Smart Rural Communities Podcast. How is the association using podcasts to help tell the rural broadband story?

PRTC has received a fair share of media attention in recent years. CEO Keith Gabbard offers tips on being interviewed and discusses how telling stories can positively shape coverage.

The Tennessee Broadband Association has launched Lead Tennessee Radio as a tool to both communicate important policy issues with listeners and build relationships with legislators. Checkout Lead Tennessee Radio.

At Omnitel, storytelling is an important skill for all employees. CEO Ron Laudner tells us how and why it's important for everyone to be on the same page.

Telcos and Electric Cooperatives Working Together An Interview with Fred Johnson, CEO & General Manager at Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative in Rainsville, Alabama Transcripts have been lightly edited for clarity and readability. Episode Summary At RTIME, Fred Johnson was called on to articulate NTCA’s position on electrics getting into the broadband business. He joined the podcast after...

Scott Meyer of Innovative Systems shares insights from the 2020 Video and Internet Study, discussing DVR usage, streaming only households and an alarming decrease in customer satisfaction among rural telcos.

Tombigbee Electric Cooperative was early to the game on fiber optics. What can other electrics learn from Tombigbee’s Freedom Fiber service?

The demand for broadband was there, but Joe Wheeler EMC (Trinity, Alabama) needed approval from its membership to enter the business. In this episode, Director of Communications Michael Cornelison talks about the actions his electric cooperative took to inform members and hold an election to change the company bylaws.

In the summer of 2019, Director of Communications Patricia Contic and her team at Morristown (TN) Utility Systems were set to launch a company-wide rebranding effort. And then someone launched a DDoS attack on their network. In this episode, Patricia talks about how they managed the public backlash, deleted their Facebook page and started a new one, and came out the other side with a rebrand — and...

Appalachian Electric Cooperative in New Market, Tennessee, did its homework before deciding to enter the broadband business — what Director of Member Services Mitch Cain calls "the largest investment our cooperative had ever made." In this episode, Mitch talks about what led to AEC's decision to offer broadband, and how finding the right partner was key to making it happen.

If your company wants to reach its goals, improve its results and become more competitive, the Baldrige Framework provides a system for moving you toward excellence. In his presentation to on the conference main stage, Keiffer dove deep into the Customer Focus leg of the Leadership Triad, exploring how customer expectations, engagement and communication can inform your pursuit of overall leadershi...

Robocalling is a huge issue for all of us and continues to be the number-one complaint to the FCC and FTC. More than half the calls to all mobile phones in the US in 2019 will be robocalls. STIR-SHAKEN is a framework developed by the ATIS/SIP Forum NNI Task Force to reduce the number of illegally spoofed calls. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has demanded that service providers begin implementing STIR-SHAKE...

Shawn Arner is the USDA RUS Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Loan Origination and Approval Division. He spoke from the conference main stage about the many funding programs available through the Rural Utilities Service. To learn more, contact Shawn at shawn.arner@usda.gov.

Federal and state grant programs are providing another source of funding for many to expand their broadband buildout. Whether an outright grant, a low-interest loan, or funding through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunities Fund, there are several programs that can help fund your broadband project. Each program has detailed application requirements, but jumping through these hoops can be worth the...

How can we diversify services to create market resilience, reduce churn, and increase revenue? What innovative methods can we use to add to the value we provide to customers? To explore these and other questions, NeoNova conducted an industry survey and hosted a small-group discussion workshop at the 2019 NTCA Technology & Business conference. We review the lessons learned from the survey and...