I'm looking forward to spending Halloween in Minneapolis at OPASTCO's Annual Technical and Marketing Symposium where I will moderate a panel discussion on the topic "Differentiating Broadband Services." We all know that our industry is experiencing unprecedented change and growth. In this program, we'll talk with executives of a few companies that are successfully evolving to compete in this environment.

Xanboo offers an end-to-end technology solution that allows telecom companies to offer sophisticated home networking options to their customers. Monitor and control home appliances from your web browser or mobile device. The last time you saw this stuff was on The Jetsons! Now it can be the feature that sets your service offerings apart from the pack.

In a blast from the past, Nex-Tech has launched a service called the "Brainy Bunch" where they depend on old-fashioned one-on-one customer service to help their customers implement new technology offerings. They'll even come out to your house to fix your computer!

Integra5 lets you offer an IPTV package which you can integrate with other services, like Caller ID and email. By combining the array of services offered, you can distinguish your broadband product.

The panel discussion will illuminate some of the most pressing issues in the telecom industry today. And here at Watershed Networks, we're spot-on focussed on this paradigm shift. After all, the quality and availability of training will determine which small telecom companies will thrive in the global market, and which ones just won't be able to adapt fast enough. We've launched a line of courses driven by our customizable, new software designed to deliver training quickly and economically, directly to your employees and customers. I'm happy to tell you more about it if I see you in Minneapolis. If you are attending VON in Boston, our new Director of Sales, Renee Lane, will be happy to provide details about the new features we've developed.