Conference Speakers

session format information

Speaker bios are currently being collected.  They will be added to the website as soon as they become available. 

Gene Crick is Executive Director of the TeleCommunity Resource Center (TCRC) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to develop community Internet tools and networks, especially in underserved areas. TCRC brought free public Internet access to twenty-five Texas towns and cities. TCRC's national program includes resources and outreach to support local CN builders, plus working to bring online network resources to communities throughout Texas. Described as one of the country's leading experts in community uses of Internet technology, he is advisor to the state's strategic plan for information technology, as well as an architect of Texas Community Network grant programs. Gene is also Executive Director of the Texas Internet Service Providers Association (TISPA), the country's largest regional ISP association, as well as Metropolitan Austin Interactive Network (MAIN), one of the country's oldest and most successful online community networks. Gene works with, and serves on several federal and international boards and commissions, and has won numerous awards for leadership in community networks, including a Presidential Medal in 2001 for Service in the Field of Telecommunications, the Susan B. Hadden Award for Public Service in Telecom, and was named by Texas Monthly as one of Texas's 25 most influential technology leaders. Gene is a past President of the Association for Community Networking (AFCN) and as a member on the CTCNet Advisory Council, Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) Program Committee, and Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Telecommunications Panel.

Joe DeLeon serves as General Field Representative (GFR) for USDA’s Rural Development Telecommunications Program, Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Formerly the Rural Electrification Administration, RUS provides Infrastructure, Distance Learning - Telemedicine, and Broadband loans and grants to rural entities to finance telecommunications projects to provide basic and advanced communications services to rural businesses and residents. He has nearly fifteen years of experience with RUS, starting out in the Washington, DC National Office, the last four as a GFR. 
As a GFR, he provides prospective and existing RUS borrowers assistance in building loan applications and implementing projects financed with RUS funds.  Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

Gabriel Garcia is an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection and Public Health Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. He has practiced administrative law in the areas of telecommunications and electric utility regulation for over 10 years, including a three year term with the Office of Public Utility Counsel. In his current post with the Texas Attorney General, Mr. Garcia represents state agencies before state and federal regulatory bodies and courts on telecommunications matters, including 911 issues. He has served as in-house regulatory counsel in the private sector, advising clients on telecommunications, cable, DSL and high-speed Internet services as well as regulatory compliance and transactional matters. Mr. Garcia has served on the advisory board of the TeleCommunity Resource Center since 1999. He is a 1988 graduate of the University of Texas, holds a master’s degree in public affairs (1992) from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1992.

Ted Green - CEO/Founder of Total Access Networks, Inc. Over the last 10 years Green has led Total Access Networks in developing, and deploying hundreds of ISP systems across the world. Green moved the firm from Austin Texas into Elgin Texas where it developed its own dialup access service system and grew the business to several communities with no Internet access. The company now sells dialup access in over 20,000 locations and offers virtual ISP and collocations services. As time progressed the need for higher speeds spawned the creation of a the first high speed wireless Internet system in Elgin Texas. As the demand grew, so did the wireless network and community response. The project has expanded over the last 5 years and now reaches 17 cities in Texas.  Green has contributed to several community networks over the years, and sits as a technology adviser on several panels and boards across the state.  Total Access Networks has been featured in several papers including the Round Rock Leader, Hutto News, Hutto Business Update, Taylor Tribune, Taylor Daily Press, Lexington Leader and Elgin Courier.

State Representative Phil King was elected to represent the 61st District of the Texas House in 1998. Prior to his election to office, King was with the Fort Worth Police Department where he resigned as a captain in 1989. In 1986, he earned a MBA from Dallas Baptist University and in 1993, he received a law degree from Texas Wesleyan University. Currently, he is a practicing attorney in Weatherford.   Representative King is a principle-driven leader in the Texas House of Representatives. He serves as Chairman of Regulated Industries, a new committee created in the 78th Legislature to address the telecommunications, electric power, and pipeline industries. King co-chairs the Electric Utility Restructuring Legislative Oversight Committee, a joint committee of the Texas House and Senate. Representative King also serves on the Civil Practices Committee and the Redistricting Committee. He is on the Board of Directors of the Texas Conservative Coalition, a bipartisan research organization. These positions allow King to play a major role in key issues affecting Texas.  As a first-term member of the Texas House of Representatives in 1999, his colleagues named King Freshman Legislator of the Year. He was also named Texas Monthly Magazine's 1999 Rookie Legislator of the Year. The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas selected King as the 1999 Crime Fighter of the Year.  During the 77th Legislature, Representative King was at the forefront of the redistricting process, offering an insightful constitutional perspective to the political debate. King received the Fighter for Free Enterprise Award by the Texas Association of Business for his work on pro-business issues. He was also recognized by the Tarrant County Fire and Arson Investigators Association for his support in stopping arson and criminal mischief. Lastly, King was honored by the Texas State Rifle Association for passage of legislation to implement a firearms safety program in public schools.  During the 78th Legislature and the following Special Sessions, King authored the congressional redistricting legislation. King was also recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Texas Association of Builders for his work on HB 730, which created the Residential Construction Commission. HB 730 serves as model legislation across the country in reducing litigation costs for homebuilders and buyers. King was also awarded as the Outstanding Legislator of the Year by Texas Alliance for Life, a statewide organization promoting respect for human life and dignity from the moment of conception until natural death.  Additionally, King has been awarded the Freedom and Family Award by Texas Eagle Forum and has been recognized by the Free Market Foundation for his support of pro-family legislation throughout his tenure. Representative King and his family are active members of Trinity Bible Church, where he serves on the Board of Elders. Phil and his wife, Terry, reside in Weatherford with their six children.

Michael Linberg is the Director of Business Development for Internet America. His responsibilities include strategic planning for the company's Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) initiatives, mergers & acquisitions, and technology commercializations. Prior to joining Internet America, Mr. Linberg was employed with Reliant Energy in Houston, TX as the company's Director of Online Customer Care. He had responsibility over the company's online customer care applications, services, and support including the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for their call centers. For ten years prior to joining Reliant Energy, Mr. Linberg served as the Operations Director for PDQ.net, a Houston Internet Service provider, and as the Managing Director of Operations for ARGUS Financial Software in Houston, TX.  Internet America, Inc. is a leading regional Internet Service Provider in the southwestern United States, with operations based in Dallas, Texas. Internet America has evolved into one of the most technologically sophisticated ISPs in the country. The company offers a wide array of Internet services tailored to meet the needs of both individual and business subscribers. Our primary products include Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL), wireless broadband internet access, DSL, dial-up access, web hosting, parental control software, Internet relay chat (IRC), Usenet News services, personal web sites and other related services. Our popular services and our 24x7 customer care staff provide our customers with an easy and enjoyable Internet experience.

Scott McCollough's focus of practice is on public law, including consumer; civil and voting rights; procurement; telecommunications, electric and gas utilities; administrative law; economic regulation; consulting; governmental relations; and, instruction and training in those areas to individuals, groups, companies and governmental agencies. Clients include several competitive telecommunications
companies and internet service providers. Contract Consumer Advocate (representing residential and small business consumers) with City of Austin Electric Utility (1994-1999). Regulatory Counsel for Texas ISDN Users Group and Texas Internet Service Providers Association.  Shareholder Stumpf, Craddock, Massey & Pulman, April 2000 to June, 2004. Scott graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Government/Pre-Law in 1978 (with Honors), University of Texas School of Law J.D., August, 1982 (with Honors) was licensed in May 1983, and was Board Certified in Administrative Law in 1989. Scott was born October 30, 1954, in San Antonio, Texas. He served in U.S.M.C. discharged as Grade E-5, Anti-Tank Assault; Legal Clerk, Administrative Law Section, Staff Judge Advocate Office; Disabled Veteran; Honorable Discharge January 1976.

Sascha Meinrath is an internationally renowned expert on Community Wireless Networks (CWNs). Sascha is the co-founder and Project Coordinator of the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN), one of the world's leading open-source, ad-hoc mesh network research and development projects. He is a spectrum policy analyst for Free Press, a Washington, DC-based think-tank, and regularly briefs Federal Communications Commission and Congressional staff on issues related to CWNs. Leading news sources, including The Economist, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Wi-Fi Networking News, and Muni Wireless, often cite Sascha's work in covering issues related to CWNs. In 2004, Sascha organized the First National Summit for Community Wireless Networks, helping to launch what has now become known as the Community/Municipal Wireless Networking Movement. Sascha completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University and finished a Masters degree in Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Sascha recently began a PhD program at the University of Illinois, Institute for Communications Research, where he is currently a Telecommunications Fellow. As a community organizer, Sascha has overseen logistical support for numerous media projects worldwide -- often working closely with people in many of the world's "hot-spots" in his role as the treasurer for the Global Indymedia Network. Sascha is the co-founder of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center Foundation and created many of the groups and projects that are its hallmarks today. In addition, he is a co-founder of the Tactical Media Fund, an international non-profit organization that engages in strategic funding disbursements to grassroots media producers; and he is the President of the Acorn Active Media Foundation, which engages in open-source software, website, and technical development in support of the Global Justice Movement. Finally, Sascha serves on the Board of Directors of his local community radio station, WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign and is active with the initiative to build a Low-Power FM radio station, WRFU 104.5 LPFM -- Radio Free Urbana, in his hometown.

Gareth Shearman is an educator and community network practitioner.  He is a founder and the current President of Telecommunities Canada, the Canadian Community Network organization.  He is a founder and the current president of the Victoria Free-Net Association. The association has operated the Victoria TeleCommunity Network, serving the citizens of Greater Victoria, since 1992. Gareth is the founding president and a current Board member of the Pacific Community Networks Association, which serves British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.  Gareth has been involved in computing related activities since 1967. He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Science in Education from Simon Fraser University where he conducted research in Computer Assisted Instruction.