A Message from Gary Kim, PTC Advisory Council Chair

PTC’s Advisory Council (AC) members and volunteers are hard at work on a number of important initiatives for the organization. Some of the projects are designed to improve internal governance; others are working on improving the mobile app, PTC messaging, or clarifying our election rules.

A great deal of effort has gone into the PTC Beyond initiative focused on young professionals within PTC Member organizations. And quite a few AC members are organizing content for the PTC’24 Annual Conference.

Not all of those working on these projects are elected or appointed AC members. Some are PTC Members who simply want to help us do our work. Sharon Nakama, for example, is leading a group working on onboarding and training materials for new AC members, as well as clarifying matters related to our elections process. Those members include Stephan Beckert, Robert Crinks, Lu Heng, Yali Liu, David Mba, Tricia Paoletta, Nakul Rege, and J.S. Solomon.

Several people, including Naaz Bax, Beatrice Filippi, Magdalena Georgieva, Nico Grove, Shannon McMann, Eduardo Perez,, Maxie Reynolds, and Felix Seda, continue to work on the PTC Beyond program. Notably, many of these are volunteers, not formal members of the AC.

Another group has been working on improving the mobile app. Led by Mark Dando, that group includes Brandon Amber, Naaz Bax, Nico Grove, and Diego Teot.

Brandon Amber has been working on PTC messaging with CEO Brian Moon, with Naaz Bax pitching in as well. Brandon also is working with others on the PTC’24 program committee.

J. Solomon will be taking a look at possible grant writing seeking support from Bloomberg and other foundations for PTC.

A number of members or volunteers are working on session proposals for PTC’24 on a variety of topics related to the new Digital Infrastructure Partners Program.

Gavin McMillan, Nakul Rege, and Andrew Tierney are working on content related to messaging and voice. Andrew further is working on a session examining ways service providers can modernize voice and messaging while minimized capital investment.

Mac McHale is organizing a session on fiber to the home valuation, while Shannon McMann is working up a session examining data center CxO pain points and possible solutions. Other AC members also are thinking about additional possible topics we might want to add.

Naaz also is working with me to intensify our training and onboarding of new AC members, 52% of whom have been on the AC for 12 months or less. The good news is that this rush of new AC members has caused us to reexamine our processes to familiarize new members and support their engagement with PTC.

In parallel, we are taking steps to encourage a robust pipeline of potential candidates for the Board of Governors and AC leadership. Many of the governance efforts will lead to them being as well equipped as we can make them for further service to PTC.

My apologies if I left somebody out. There are lots of busy people working on many fronts.