StoryConnect features interviews with marketers, communicators, CEOs and other leaders at cooperative and independent broadband companies, electric cooperatives and municipal power providers. The goal of the podcast is to help listeners discover ideas to shape their stories and connect with their customers. It is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources.
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“Ruralite The Podcast” jumps off our magazine pages and into your ears, amplifying the storytelling and bringing characters and topics to life in fresh ways. It’s an audio journey you won’t want to miss. Season 2, entitled “The Learning Curve,” goes beyond the headlines to share the story of education through the frontline heroes and helpers in rural communities navigating challenges and making a difference.
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Rural Broadband Today is a new podcast focused on one of the most important issues facing Rural America. It tells the stories of those working to bring broadband internet access within reach of every citizen. This interview-style show presents conversations with elected officials, industry experts and business leaders at the forefront of America’s efforts to solve the rural broadband challenge.
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Fostering Success Through Surveys, With Cameron Daline
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Clark Public Utilities has been surveying its customers since the 1960s. How have the valuable insights gleaned from surveys helped the utility successfully serve its community? Customer Experience Manager Cameron Daline tells us on this podcast episode.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Raising Your Community’s Story with a Business Summit, With Paige Witham
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Hear how Power Eastern Oregon—an economic development summit bringing together regional legislators, nationally known speakers and rural Oregon's business community—has become a way for Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative to strengthen its community's story.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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How to Make a Splash with Hydromania Summer Science Camp!, With Weston Putman
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Hydromania may sound like a music festival in the Gorge, but it’s a free summer camp for fourth and fifth graders from Umatilla Electric Cooperative. Weston Putman shares the camp's origin story and how it is building the next generation of co-op members.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Get Out of Gotcha Moments, With Ryan Hall
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How much of the publicly-shared interactions with utility staff is trolling versus investigative reporting by concerned citizens who have a right to hold the utility accountable? We're talking to Ryan Hall about “Getting Out of the Gotcha Moments” at NWPPA’s Northwest Innovations Conference in Idaho.…
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Building on Broadband: Utilizing Personal, Targeted Stories for Sales, With Erin McKnight
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How do you boost your take rates and cut churn after you've built broadband? OEC Fiber’s Erin McKnight shares her storytelling tactics, including a three-tiered marketing approach by zone and her subscriber stories series. Tune in for fresh ideas!By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Happy Employees, Happy Customers, With Dr. Trish Holliday and Brent Baker
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It's difficult to have happy customers if you have unhappy staff. Dr. Trish Holliday and Brent Baker of NES talk about the connection between the two and how to improve both.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Getting Ready for 'The Year of the Co-op’ in 2025, With Adam Schwartz
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We’re gearing up to celebrate the United Nations’ International Year of Cooperatives in 2025, so we’ve invited co-op cheerleader Adam Schwartz onto the podcast to help Utility Pioneers brainstorm how to tell our co-op stories in fresh, engaging ways.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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A Scavenger Hunt and Livestream for World Wi-Fi Day, With Lisa Fannin
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Mountain Rural Telephone wanted to educate members about Wi-Fi, broadband and the capabilities they provide. So working with local businesses, they built a campaign around World Wi-Fi Day in June.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Are you an Explorer, Creator or Servant? Use Brand Archetypes to Strengthen Campaign Strategies, With Sarah Lancaster
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Dig into the psychology of marketing with Pioneer’s Sarah Lancaster to learn how using archetypes can help your marketing create more meaningful connections with your target audiences.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Is Nextdoor a Good Social Media Option for You?, With Adam Spencer
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EWEB is one year into trying out Nextdoor as a communication tool, and they are seeing good results due to the platform’s focus on geographic filters.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Broadband Labels Deadline Insights, With Dounia Chikhoune
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With about two months to go before the Oct. 10 broadband label deadline, Dounia Chikhoune, from JSI, shares insights about on what she's seen big and small ISPs do to be ready.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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SEO's Not Dead in North Carolina, With Edward Hinson
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SkyLine/SkyBest doesn't let the fact that they are a member-owned telephone cooperative in the North Carolina mountains stop them from fighting hard against big competitors in the search rankings. Edward Hinson shares examples of what they’ve done to move up in the rankings and why it’s worth it.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Putting Pets to Work in the Office, With Scott Peters
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Employees at Columbia REA are allowed to bring their pets to work. CEO Scott Peters says it’s a beneficial policy as long as you “paws” to think about the guidelines first.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Broadband and Bigfoot: Building Engagement into Your Service Strategy, With Kelly Burns
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Storytelling is a HUGE component of broadband marketing. But how can you make a technical subject engaging and memorable for your community? Kelly Burns, marketing manager at CTC in Minnesota, tells us how Bigfoot and its own Gig A. Byte monster keep people interested and engaged in broadband services.…
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Harnessing Your Personal Experiences to Improve Broadband Programs, With Naylor Gray
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Speed is so 2020. To connect with today’s broadband subscribers you need data-driven storytelling, persona-based service tiers and the know-how to read digital body language. Calix's Naylor Gray shares insights from the 2024 update of Calix’s e-book, “The Definitive Guide to Subscriber Experience.” Link to the e-book: www.calix.com/forms/marketer/d…
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The 'Rural Mural' Program, With Marian McLemore
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Flint Energies has started a matching grant program with artists and community groups to paint murals in towns around its service territory. In addition to adding beauty to the community, they’re seeing positive economic impacts.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Cram the Van — A Community Fundraiser Becomes a Storytelling Powerhouse, With Alli Conine
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Hear how a Kansas utility delivered 159 TONS of food with a branded van, school competitions and coordinated, consistent messaging over the last 10 years.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Line Life – Giving Students a 40-foot View of Utility Careers, With Jessica Parr
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Want more people to apply for lineworker jobs? Show your story to high school seniors! Learn how Community Electric Co-op’s “Day in the Life of a Lineworker” student experience raises awareness of utility career paths and lineworker scholarships every spring.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Boosting Member Engagement with Youth Programs, With Tory Tedder-Loffland
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Starting in kindergarten, the team at Oklahoma Electric Co-op offers educational programs to students throughout their school experience. Hear how the programs developed and why engaging children became a strategic focus for the utility over the last decade.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Telling Timeless Stories in Engaging Ways, With David Latona
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Energy efficiency is a story that can feel stale. Hear how Louisiana Utility Pioneers rebranded existing resources with an owl mascot and cohesive storytelling to help both staff and members be Power Smart.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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2024 Rural Broadband Streaming and Social Media Study, With Scott Meyer
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For the second year in a row, price was not the No. 1 concern for respondents in Innovative Systems’ annual broadband survey. What is it that matters most? This episode also includes notes on bundling, social media platform usage, streaming options and communication preferences. Special: Recorded LIVE at StoryConnect 2024!…
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Unlocking Staff Strengths to Harness Your Internal Storytelling Potential, With Katie Haby
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Internal communications is a critical part of storytelling, but one we often forget. At Medina Electric, Katie Haby's using the CliftonStrengths training program to help staff focus on strengths to build cross-department teams and happier, more engaged employees. Hear how the program’s helping the co-op strengthen its internal storytelling approach…
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Using an Internal Newsletter and Intranet to Engage Employees, With Allison Young
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Allison Young and the Kauai team just won an NRECA Spotlight award for their internal newsletter and intranet. What's their secret for engaging internal communications? Special: Recorded LIVE at StoryConnect 2024!By Pioneer Utility Resources
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How Can Empowered Youth Build Your Brand Story?, With Chinelle Christensen
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Icebreakers, scholarships and character building — meet EmPOWER, a youth leadership program for high school juniors in South Dakota and Minnesota. Learn about Sioux Valley Energy’s long-term investment to build future leaders in its community.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Weaving the Co-op Difference into Economic Development and Staff Storytelling, With Marty Walsh
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Do you have a local network of cooperative storytellers? From his dual roles as an economic development manager at People's Energy and board member for Cooperative Development Services, Marty Walsh’s has a unique take on co-op education and how Utility Pioneers can turn the cooperative difference into shared storytelling opportunities to foster mem…
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In under three years, Central Rural Electric Co-op moved from breaking ground to 85% buildout of their broadband service, CentraNet, in Oklahoma. During a break from the Calix event, Larry Mattox shares how the small team managed this growth, a new brand and evolving member expectations.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Persona Based Marketing, With Chris Lovell
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In an effort to move beyond features like speed, CL Tel has begun discussing its broadband based on what their service can do for specific customer profiles of personas like gamers, remote workers and families. Special: Recorded LIVE at NTCABy Pioneer Utility Resources
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Broadband Labels Rules and Regulations, With Dereck DeVries
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Now that the rules have been finalized, Dereck DeVries, of Vantage Point, shares the latest on what marketers, communicators and executives need to know about the where, what and when of broadband labels.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Staff Leadership Programs to Grow Future Leaders, With Chinelle Christensen
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Sioux Valley Energy's staff LEAD program builds a culture of cooperation across the utility, creating a competitive edge when recruiting talent. Learn how projects from the leadership program improved volunteerism programs, removed silos and strengthened the co-op's internal communications.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Working with Different Kinds of Co-ops to Build Our Shared Story, With Cathy Statz
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Food co-ops, credit unions, utilities and other types of co-ops may serve different needs, but we share many of the same stories. Cooperative educator Cathy Statz talks about the power of sharing the cross-sector co-op story with young people, then offers advice for building your local cooperative community.…
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Photo Tips to Tell Better Stories, With Chris Pietsch
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Chris Pietsch, director of photography for Gannett Newspapers in Oregon, shares tips on "making — not taking" better photos while previewing the sessions he will lead at StoryConnect in April.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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How Self-Editing Can Make You A Better Writer, With Teddy Feinberg
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Teddy Feinberg, managing editor at the Idaho Press, gives us a preview of his sessions at StoryConnect 2024, where he will be the writing instructor. In this episode, Teddy focuses on the value of concise writing and gives tips on how to improve your writing by self-editing.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Questions to Ask Before You Start Market Research, With John Marling
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John Marling has been conducting market research for almost four decades. In this episode, he shares insights on what marketers and communicators need to think about in order to get meaningful, actionable data from their research. Learn more at pioneer.coop/surveys.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Recruitications: Using Communications to Recruit Staff, With Weston Putman
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Today's jobseekers are watching your utility's communications to see what kind of organization you are. And while your primary audience will almost always be your members or customers, Weston Putman says it's crucial to signal to potential new hires that your organization is a place they would want to work.…
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Storytelling Tactics From Different Types of Cooperatives, With Mary Miller
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With a story-packed career spanning three different types of co-ops, WCTEL’s Mary Miller shares ideas for co-op culture-building, effective campaigns and co-opportunities for growth.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Preparing Your Co-op to Launch Fiber in a Competitive Area, With Lindsay Brinker
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Communicating in a competitive community? Prepare yourself by learning who you're up against — and know your differences — focus on your community, get peer support and strengthen your story.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Finding Staff Who Champion Your Story, With Gregg Hunter and Peter Davies
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How can you get an engineer excited about telling your utility story? Gregg Hunter, one of Nemont’s storytellers, sits down to talk culture and the value of story with network engineer Peter Davies.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Transforming Communication Skills into Broadband Marketing Tactics, With Bonnie Baty
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Like many broadband storytellers, Bonnie Baty began working on the electric utility side. She offers advice for communicators making the switch and shares her take on how broadband communications will evolve over the next 5 years.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Connecting With Your Community Through a New Brand, With Elizabeth Kuhns
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Launching or refreshing a brand? Get storytelling tips and tactics from Elizabeth Kuhns, who partnered with Pioneer to create the Ignite Broadband brand.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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What Do You Need to Know Before Starting a Podcast?, With Michael Rovito
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Thinking about creating a podcast? Michael Rovito, host of “Alaska Powerline,” explains how he prepared to launch the podcast, built a content strategy and measures success.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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How Can Culture Get Your Team Through The 'Great Transition’, With Ed Wolff
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Ed Wolff says trust, urgency, empowerment and other elements of strong organizational culture can be the keys for telcos and utilities having to reinvent themselves due to changing demands. Special: Recorded Live at the KYRBA/TNBA Fall ConferenceBy Pioneer Utility Resources
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Achieving a 4.8 out of 5 on Online Review, With Anne Tetamore and Michael Wynschenk
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How can your utility achieve a 4.8 out of 5 stars on Google reviews? Hunter Communication’s Anne Tetamore, VP of marketing, and CEO Michael Wynschenk tell us how valuing both customers and employees plays a key role into achieving success.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Making Your Marketing Campaigns Work, With Lynn Hall
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Calix Marketing Giant Award winner Lynn Hall shares her utility's Go to Market campaign strategy, with tips to prepare staff for action when marketing is successful.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Building Your Story Into the Communities You Serve, With James Ratterree
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From community coffee chats to branded coolers for football teams, the WAVE Rural Connect shares fresh ways they build the broadband story into their Arkansas community.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Making Boring Stories Interesting, With Geni Whitehouse
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Geni Whitehouse left a career in an accounting firm to help people tell their stories in a more interesting way. She says one key to making your stories more interesting is to understand the four types of personalities in your audience. Recorded live: at the NWPPA's NICBy Pioneer Utility Resources
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Activating Your Members for Advocacy, With Garrett Hylton
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Wells Rural Electric Cooperative is taking a multichannel approach to motivate members to take action on hydropower regulatory issues. Special: Recorded live at the NWPPA NICBy Pioneer Utility Resources
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How Do You Know What People Think About You?, With Kelly Burns
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Want to track consumer sentiment but not sure where to start? CTC's Kelly Burns shares her telco's experience with the net promoter score and how the utility lets the voice of the consumer guide its marketing strategy.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Everything Coming Together to Give You a Competitive Advantage, With Tom Williams
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From harnessing net promoter scores to refining your strategic marketing plan, Schurz CEO Tom Williams shares highlights from his speech at Calix ConneXions 2023.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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Delivering an Excellent Customer Experience, With Josh Wehe and Jordan Wehe
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Wi-Fi wizards and tour guides are part of how the Jade Communications team powers up the customer experience. Get takaways from the team's session at Calix ConneXions 2023.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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What Are Some of the Major Takeaways From the 2023 Calix ConneXions Conference?
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Make subscribers heroes, find foggy-night scenarios and focus on service, not speed. Those are a few of the broadband storytelling ideas “StoryConnect” hosts Andy and Megan share from the annual Calix software conference.By Pioneer Utility Resources
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