Fiber Connect 2025 Hot Seat with Evann Freeman and Rich Williams 

Fiber Connect 2025 Hot Seat with Evann and Rich 

In this week’s Fiber for Breakfast episode, Evann Freeman, Vice President, Government and Community Relations EPB, FBA Board Member and Rich Williams, CEO of Connect2 Communications and the Fiber Connect Conference Program Director, sit down with Gary Bolton live while in Philadelphia at FBA’s Regional Fiber Connect Conference. Evann, Gary and Rich provide a sneak peek to the highlights you can expect to see when you attend Fiber Connect 2025  taking place June 1-4, 2025 in Nashville, TN.

Light it Up!
Focusing on industry trends and the ongoing conversations and implementations this year, the conference committee agreed that funding wasn’t the primary focus. Instead, they aimed to generate excitement and buzz around the capital investments our members and participants are making to expand fiber networks nationwide. “This year is going to be significant, for networks that are being lit up in rural areas that have never been covered and served in a meaningful way, and I’m really excited about that,” said Freeman.

Building Successful Conferences
One of the reasons that Fiber Connect has continually gotten better year after year is the conference team strategizes and thinks about how to create innovative and timely sessions rather than the status quo. With over 275 speakers – 85 of them network operators, and over 20 State Broadband Officers, Fiber Connect is not a place where you’ll find speakers doing product pitches on stage. “You’ll hear what they’re experiencing, what their plans are to build out and how they’re approaching deploying their fiber in different ways,” said Williams. “Fiber Connect topics are relevant and meaningful so our attendees come away with new information, ideas and networking connections every time.” Offering 10 different content tracks, Fiber Connect has something for everyone. Here’s some highlights: 

• The State Broadband Summit  

• The C-Suite Summit with C-Suite lounge 

• Tribal Broadband Network and lounge 

• SmartHome Expo 

• OpticPath Rodeo; focused on workforce development 

• Pre-Conference Workshops 

• 50,000 square foot Expo Hall with over 300 exhibitors 

Books, Reading and the Chance to Give Back
You can’t visit Nashville without mentioning Dolly Parton—not just for her music, but for the incredible legacy she’s built through her philanthropy and unwavering commitment to giving back to the community. This year, Fiber Connect is promoting her Imagination Library which is a program dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children through funding shared by Dolly and local community partners in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and Republic of Ireland. Freeman said, “literacy scores have gone up not just for the kids, but for the parents.” He also went on to say that Nell McCauley with the Dollywood Foundation is going to speak at the Women In Fiber luncheon, where a portion of the ticket sale proceeds of the luncheon ticket sales proceeds will be donated to the foundation.   

Star Power Attending Fiber Connect 2025
What’s a great conference without some star power pull? There’s going to be a kickoff with a welcome party on Sunday, June 1st featuring singer/entertainer, Sophia Scott who is a rising star in Nashville. Sophia Scott who is a rising star in Nashville. There’s going to be an amazing dive bar karaoke party on Monday, June 2nd and a “Light it Up” party on Tuesday evening, June 3rd. There will be an exclusive first look at the Thought Waves documentary and even a “Hot Ones” live on stage moderated by the famous YouTuber, Sean Evans. Sean will ask hot questions to two execs. while eating progressively hotter wings. Don’t miss out — this is going to be a great time!

Click here to listen to the full episode or find previous episodes of Fiber for Breakfast.