US Signal in Fox Valley

US Signal Announces Expansion in Northern WisconsinTuesday, February 24, 2009, 8:00:53 AM

Fusionary MediaGRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Feb. 24, 2009 –

US Signal, a leading provider of data bandwidth capacity in theMidwest, today announced its plans to add three additional points of presence (POPs) in NorthernWisconsin in March 2009. The Northern Wisconsin expansion will add 230 miles of long haul fiber to theUS Signal network, the largest in the Midwest.

US Signal’s expansion of its network introduces service access at the following locations:

• Green Bay, Wis. – GNBYWI01
• Appleton, Wis. – APPLWI01
• Oshkosh, Wis. – OSHKWI01

“US Signal’s network expansion will provide the customers in Northern Wisconsin’s Fox Valley regionwith more cost-effective connectivity options,” said Daniel Olrich, US Signal’s executive vice president ofoperations. “Customers will now have access to an expanded suite of Ethernet-based products, inaddition to seamless connections to US Signal’s fiber network across the Midwest.”

US Signal’s network includes more than 700 miles of fiber optic metro rings in 14 markets and more than4,500 route miles of long haul fiber connecting more than 100 on-off ramps, comprised of major carrierhotel locations and incumbent telephone company central offices.

Kansas farm wife

A Kansas farm wife called the local phone company to report her telephone failed to ring when her friends called - and that on the few occasions, when it did ring, her dog always moaned right before the phone rang.

The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this psychic dog or senile lady.

He climbed a telephone pole, hooked in his test set, and dialed the subscriber's house. The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned and the telephone began to ring.

Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found:

1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire with a steel chain and collar.

2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose.

3. The dog was receiving 90 volts of signaling current when the number was called.

4. After a couple of jolts, the dog would start moaning and then urinate.

5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing the phone to ring.

Which demonstrates that some problems CAN be fixed by pissing and moaning.

Thought you'd like to know.

Three kinds of meetings

Meetings are marketing in real time with real people. (A conference is not a meeting. A conference is a chance for a circle of people to interact).

There are only three kinds of classic meetings:

1. Information. This is a meeting where attendees are informed about what is happening (with or without their blessing). While there may be a facade of conversation, it's primarily designed to inform.



2. Discussion. This is a meeting where the leader actually wants feedback or direction or connections. You can use this meeting to come up with an action plan, or develop a new idea, for example.



3. Permission. This is a meeting where the other side is supposed to say yes but has the power to say no.

PLEASE don't confuse them. Confused meeting types are the number one source of meeting ennui. One source of confusion is that a meeting starts as one sort of meeting and then magically morphs into another kind. The reason this is frightening is that one side or the other might not realize that's actually occurring. If it does, stop and say, "Thanks for the discussion. Let me state what we've just agreed on and then we can go ahead and approve it, okay?"

While I'm at it, let me remind you that there are two kinds of questions.

1. Questions designed to honestly elicit more information.



2. Questions designed to demonstrate how much you know or your position on an issue and to put the answerer on the defensive.

There's room for both types of questions, particularly in a team preparing for a presentation or a pitch. Again, don't confuse them. I like to be sure that there's time for the first type, then, once everyone acknowledges that they know what's on the table, open it up for the second, more debate-oriented type of question.

Source: Seth Godin's blog
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/03/three-kinds-of-meetings.html