Brian Thomason, CEO of BVTC, has been invited to speak to hundreds of telecommunications professionals at an event in Indianapolis later this summer. Thomason will team up with Andy Brown, vice president of industry and client relations for ANPI – a Springfield, Ill. based telecommunications service company with facilities in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, and New York City.

Thomason’s participation on the panel comes as a direct request from Brown, who said, “BVTC is a nationally recognized company in the rural telecommunications industry. It is well known for its high quality of service and Brian is quickly emerging as an industry leader. I will cite his role as chairman of NTCA’s Innovation Task Force. Brian is constantly looking at new ways for developing business opportunities for rural telecommunications companies. So essentially, he and BVTC are tasked with an important initiative by NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association – and that is to be a focal point for those discussions and new opportunities.”

The event, which is sponsored by NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, will host industry leaders from 21 states across the central and northeast part of the country. When asked why he selected Thomason to share the stage, Brown commented, “One of the prefixes of this meeting is to compare best practices and to learn from each other - so Blue Valley’s new initiatives will be of interest to the market.”

Thomason will discuss the relevance of innovation in the industry. Passionate about the subject, he commented, “We can no longer see [innovation] only about technology. Innovation in our industry has to be a concept associated with partnerships and collaboration. Change is never easy. However the best way to deal with it is to lead it. That is exactly what we will accomplish when we broaden how we perceive the term [innovation] in rural telecommunications.”