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The BLC Connection Podcast is a fun and informative show from Ben Lomand Connect that answers your questions about the internet, Wi-Fi, home security and more, and brings you information on the stories and events in “Ben Lomand Country.” Bryan, Karen and Micah take you behind the scenes of Ben Lomand Connect, where the cooperative connects Middle Tennessee with the latest in communications technology and with businesses that are making a difference in our service territory. The BLC Connection Podcast also offers tips for business marketing and residential/workplace technology.
Bryan Kell:
Welcome to the BLC Connection Podcast.
I'm Bryan Kell.
Karen Wilson:
I'm Karen Wilson.
Micah Lawrence:
And I'm Micah Lawrence.
All Hosts:
Let's get connected.
Bryan Kell:
Through blazing sun, heavy rain and inches of snow, all within
the last 24 hours, we bring you the start of an era in
Ben Lomand Connect history — the BLC Connection Podcast.
Welcome in everybody.
Gang, we're finally here.
Karen Wilson:
We are.
Micah Lawrence:
Glad to be here.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah, it took some planning.
We've been working on this for quite some time now.
Bryan Kell:
We really have, and we probably need to throw in too, besides the
rain, besides the sun, besides the snow, that literally almost
was within 24 hours.
A pandemic on top of that, as things continue to still be kind
of crazy.
Supply chain issues that we'll talk about a little bit later on
Micah.
Micah Lawrence:
Yep.
Bryan Kell:
But we are here, and it has been quite some time, Karen as you've
said, that we've been planning this.
Karen Wilson:
It is. We started this at least last fall, and then we've kind of
amped it up over the past six weeks or so.
But so happy to be here and doing this.
This is a dream of ours for quite some time now.
Bryan Kell:
I'll never forget the day that I came over to Channel 6, and you
looked at me and you said, "I'm thinking about a podcast," and I
said, "That's exactly what I was going to talk to you about
today." So that was, it's wild how that happened.
And I think both of us said, you know what, there's no better
person for us to be able to get in here to help us co-host this
than Micah Lawrence. And so before we get to going, we need to,
we've said our names, but maybe some folks don't know a whole lot
about us. Micah, I was already kind of talking about you.
Tell us about Micah Lawrence.
Micah Lawrence:
So I am the Managed IT Supervisor here at Ben Lomand.
We take care of all of our customers that need all the different
kinds of IT needs, anything from networking to servers to
software. So I love to take care of them, and I'm enjoying what
I'm doing.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, you guys have got to hopping a little department over there
that we'll be talking more about in this episode and many other
episodes. She's no stranger to TV but Karen Wilson, tell us
about you.
Karen Wilson:
Well, I am the Public Relations and Channel 6 Supervisor here at
Ben Lomand Connect.
If it has to do with the public or the community, I usually like
to be a part of that.
And I enjoy my job and love it and am just thrilled to be here.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, we're going to be talking a whole lot about community and a
whole lot about things that are going on in the communities we
serve. So that is something that will be a big part of this
podcast.
I'm Brian Kell. What is my title?
(laughs) No, Marketing and Public Relations Manager.
And so I've been at Ben Lomand for seven years.
I don't know if we talked about how many years we've been here
with.
Seven (years for me). Micah?
Micah Lawrence:
I'm going on my 17th (year).
Karen Wilson:
It'll be 25 in July.
Yeah, and then some, because I actually telemarketed for a few
years back in the day of calling cards for a couple of years
before I actually was on the official payroll.
So yeah, I've gotten a few wrinkles and a few gray hairs since
starting, and three kids.
I only had one child when I started, and now I have three.
So life has changed.
Bryan Kell:
You hide your — you talked about wrinkling — you hide it well.
You hide it well.
Karen Wilson:
Thank you.
Bryan Kell:
Ok, so this podcast, which we've been having percolated for some
time, and we got to thinking, well, if we have to
summarize this very shortly into just maybe a couple of
different words, I think we all decided that those couple of
words were "technology" and "community." Micah, "technology?"
What can folks expect on the Ben Lomand Connection Podcast?
Micah Lawrence:
Well, we want to make sure everybody's up to date with the latest
and greatest technology.
And, you know, more than anything, the technology that can help
them and improve their lives or their business.
You know, we just want to make sure everybody knows what's going
on.
Bryan Kell:
And there are so many different things to it from education
standpoint to just, I mean, so much terminology that gets thrown
around. And so sometimes people are afraid to say, "I don't know
exactly what that is." So we're going to try to help them with
some of that.
Micah Lawrence:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Bryan Kell:
Karen, the other word that kind of we talked about is
"community," and it's a word, you know well.
But what can folks expect from a community standpoint here with
the podcast?
Karen Wilson:
Well, we're going to try to touch base with small businesses in
our area.
Some things that they're doing great and sharing those tips with
other people.
Just also about how Ben Lomand Connect contributes to the
community.
Sometimes we have food drives, toiletry drives, things like that
that we ask our customers to help out with.
Local events, sometimes we take our Wi-Fi van to things.
Brian, you're a big part of that.
A lot of times we have to work on getting the Wi-Fi van at
community events.
Bryan Kell:
That is one thing, actually, that all of us have shared in as far
as from the creation of the Wi-Fi van.
Michael played a big part in that, and Karen and I find
ourselves running around all over the place with it.
So Wi-Fi van has been a pretty cool thing.
We've got some new news coming out in 2022 about Wi-Fi vans that
we'll be talking about more in
further podcasts.
Yeah, and so lots to talk about that, and so much more, and
we're going to be asking for your alls feedback, too.
As far as the many things that we can talk about and subject
matter on this podcast.
So you, all the listener, play a big part in where we go with
this podcast, but we'll have more information on that later on in
this episode. Also, other things that will be popping up on this
particular, the inaugural episode, of the BLC Connection
Podcast, we're going to talk about fiber impact.
Its usage, builds that are going on, all the stuff that is
fiber, that will be popping up later on in this episode, and
also the latest in the Connection magazine and Channel 6.
We'll be talking about that.
It's chock full of a lot of stuff, both in print version and in
the video versions of what Ben Lomand Connect is
putting out there for folks to be able to help inform and maybe
even educate in some ways.
But up next, gang, we're going to talk about network support,
and we're going to just
spend a little time digging in on that department.
One that we've all, some more than others, spent some time with
and in.
But all that and more coming up on the Connection Podcast here
with the BLC.
Network support is up next.
We are now Inside BLC on this very first podcast.
And we've slid, right Micah, slid, not slidden — slid.
Micah Lawrence:
Slid.
Bryan Kell:
We have slid Karen Wilson out and have slid in at this time — and
that is slid in at this time
— the Network Support Center Supervisor, extraordinaire, the
pride of Grundy County, Donette
Freeman. Donette, welcome to the BLC Connection Podcast.
Donette Freeman:
Thank you.
Bryan Kell:
That's all we get, right there on that one.
Donette Freeman:
That's all you get.
Bryan Kell:
This is the very first podcast.
You're our very first guest.
Donette Freeman:
Yeah, thank you. I'm very honored.
Bryan Kell:
Ok, well, listen.
Network Support Center has seen just in the past week or two, or
definitely over the last month, a lot of
stuff, a lot of focus on it with weather and all that good
stuff.
So tell us a little bit about, you know, kind of what you do and
the Network Support Center in general, what do folks need to
understand about the Network Support Center?
Donette Freeman:
Everyone that we have is local.
We are 24/7, 365 support center.
The weather is a huge impact along with anything else that's
going on in the community, such as the pandemic that's going on.
We do have to work schedules around that and make sure that we
keep everyone safe and taken care of.
And, you know, just filling those spots so that the customers
that call in, we have to take care of them because they are our
main concern.
Bryan Kell:
And you guys, you all are around the clock like you said.
How many shifts that you guys end up running in a given day?
Donette Freeman:
Three shifts.
Bryan Kell:
Ok.
Micah Lawrence:
So, and you guys haven't always been known as the Network Support
Center.
You've had another name previously, right?
Donette Freeman:
Yes.
Micah Lawrence:
And what was that?
Bryan Kell:
Being asked by somebody who came out of that department.
I mean, come on.
Micah Lawrence:
I'm just saying, you know, some people might know you from
another name.
Donette Freeman:
Customer Response Center.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, the Customer Response Center.
That's right.
Bryan Kell:
But since you've come on board, it's only been Network Support,
right?
Donette Freeman:
Right.
Bryan Kell:
Ok. Yeah. So I mean, but Micah, you came you came out of that.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, I came out of the CRC.
I helped start it in the very beginning.
Of course, before..
Bryan Kell:
Way back in the day.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, but before then it was just really the internet department.
That was about all what we had.
So we just said we felt the need for a, you know, more tech
support and things of that nature as our services grew.
So it grew into the CRC and then now the Network Support
Service.
Bryan Kell:
I've got one quick question for you while we've got you here.
Could you have ever seen a time where especially back then first
getting started in the CRC to what it is today?
And that's a 24-hour round the clock kind of support that Ben
Lomand offers?
Micah Lawrence:
I would say it was definitely looking like it was going in that
direction because when I first helped start it, I was doing the
second shift where we kind of ended about 11:00 p.m., and then
we rolled over to some after-hour support.
And, you know, looking at it, you could tell it was eventually
going that way because we were adding more services, new stuff.
You could tell it was going that way, but it just wasn't quite
there yet.
And definitely here recently, we can see the need for it, for
sure.
Bryan Kell:
Yes, very much so.
Micah Lawrence:
So Donette, what kind of problems does people call in for in the
Network Support Services?
What kind of problems do you guys face a lot?
Donette Freeman:
They call in with like voice problems, if they're having any kind
of issues with their telephones.
Broadband, video, security, any of those calls, we will receive
and take care of.
Bryan Kell:
The top — I know that you kind of talked about different services
there — but are there, I guess whether it's video.
Let's take video because, you know, I know in talking with you
guys over the years and stuff, quite a few come there.
What's the most common types of calls that come in on video, and
I guess just anything else.
Donette Freeman:
Probably be freeze-framing or a channel outage.
Bryan Kell:
And I would dare say, and I think I've heard you all talk about
this, too, as fiber has become more and more prevalent, maybe
it's safe to say a little less freeze framing issues coming from
those copper customers.
I used to experience that, I know back when I just had copper,
so some of those may be getting taken care of as people advance
more and more to fiber.
Donette Freeman:
Definitely.
Micah Lawrence:
Good deal. Ben Lomand is coming out with a lot of new products
and things like that.
One of the newest things that we've came out with, you know,
past fiber here is this idea of Ben Lomand Home where, you know,
we can put in this device that allows you to support these gig
connections and do all kinds of, you know, neat things where you
can kind of control the Wi-Fi yourself in your own home.
When some people have issues with configuration and things like
that, can people call in to the NSC and get help with this?
Donette Freeman:
Yes, all the techs know how to walk the customers through setting
up the Ben Lomand Home app and explain how to use it.
Bryan Kell:
That has been a, I know me and you've talked a lot about this
just because it's been one of the services like Micah said within
the past year or so, it definitely can cut down on calls coming
into you all as well from that.
If folks can learn how to manage things at Ben Lomand Home, that
helps you guys take control from yourselves, I guess, and give it
to the customer.
Donette Freeman:
The most calls that we would receive, probably on the internet
would be wanting their password changed.
So if they can do that themselves and change it any time they
want to, then that helps.
It's in their control.
Bryan Kell:
And you guys also are able to, if somebody needing help with a
device, like Micah said with a device, you guys can
look deeper into their network than ever before through Ben
Lomand Home, right?
Donette Freeman:
Yes.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah. So that's really, really cool to be able to help somebody
out, I guess, where they're struggling with something, and you
guys can dig on in on that.
Tell me a little bit about some of the different ways that you
and your techs round the clock, I guess can talk to customers and
help them.
Donette Freeman:
Of course, they can call in, and we can help them that way.
And then we also have the feature to chat through our website.
Bryan Kell:
That's been. I know that. What was it?
I think that you said close to maybe 10, and I'm going to get
this wrong.
Multiple chats a day, I guess go on average of like maybe 10 and
growing something like that, right?
Donette Freeman:
Yes.
Bryan Kell:
A lot of folks might also not know that you all not only handle
Ben Lomand Connect
customers, but it doesn't stop there at the Network Support
Center.
Tell us a little about some of these other companies you guys
are helping out.
Donette Freeman:
Right now we have one other electric company and then four other
telecom companies that we provide support for after hours as
well.
Bryan Kell:
So all these calls, you've got to have a staff that can be kind
of really flexible, I guess, and know what's going on
with each call that comes in, I guess, right?
Donette Freeman:
Yeah, they're very well-rounded, I guess you can say.
They can jump from one call to the next.
Micah Lawrence:
So what are some of the challenges that you see with with running
a tech support center, you know, where you're having to answer
not only Ben Lomand calls, but you know, other telcos things
like that?
What's some struggles you see, you know, on a day-to-day basis
that you have to deal with when it comes to managing a department
like this?
Donette Freeman:
You just have to keep an eye on the weather.
Staffing, of course, is one of the big things.
And just keeping up to date with the changes, not only we make
at Ben Lomand, but that the other companies make as well.
Micah Lawrence:
Gotcha. So if somebody wanted to be a part of this, if they
wanted to be a part of the NSC and, you know, try to
go this route as a career, you know, what kind of education
would they have to have?
And you know, how would they apply for something like that?
Donette Freeman:
High school diploma or an equivalent.
They can have a certificate if they have that as well, like an
A+, Network+, Security+.
They're beneficial, but not required.
But the thing that stands out the most is customer service
skills.
Bryan Kell:
Donette, I know another thing that comes — it's kind of a — it's
a pleasant problem.
There's probably nothing pleasant about it, but your department
over the years has become almost like a breeding
ground for new and talented folks.
Kind of move into it, sometimes other departments.
I know that's a challenge sometimes to keep really good talent.
And, you know, Micah, from way back, he started out at the CRC,
and it's kind of always in some cases, always been like that.
But not that we make promises to folks, I guess, when they come
in, but the stories of people starting at the Network Support
Center and going on to other departments and finding great
success is pretty prevalent around here.
Donette Freeman:
Yeah, I give everybody a hard time about it, but it's honestly, I
guess, you know, some pride there
to know that they start out there, but they can also end up, you
know, growing and moving on to doing something that they really
want to do. You know, inside a company and, you know, there's
endless possibilities for them.
They can be wherever they want to go.
Micah Lawrence:
Well, I want to know if someone brought you the biggest coffee
from C & K Donuts, would they
possibly get the job?
Donette Freeman:
Absolutely.
Micah Lawrence:
I mean, I'm just I'm pretty sure that might help a little bit.
Bryan Kell:
You think, bribing in a lot of ways.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, I'll tell you what, she loves that coffee.
You know, we've got offices next door.
You can hear her bouncing off the walls over there.
You know, see, you know, it's either that, or she just enjoys
the people she works with.
Bryan Kell:
If they also brought her a new space heater, they would probably
be right in on getting a job, too.
Because, yeah.
Donette Freeman:
Jif peanut butter.
Bryan Kell:
That might work as well.
Micah Lawrence:
All right. Peanut butter and coffee.
You heard it here, folks.
Don't worry about the application.
Bryan Kell:
And a nice space heater because Donette's office.
And I think Sherri McGinnis's, offices are the hottest offices
in these, and I've always said that they need to be rooming
together in a lot of ways because they they keep it cranking and
everything.
Ms. Donette Freeman, thank you so much for being our first guest
on the The BLC Connection Podcast.
You can't hear it because you're not wearing headphones, but a
round of applause is playing right now for Ms.
Donette. So thanks so much, Donette.
Donette Freeman:
Thank you.
Karen Wilson:
Great segment there with Bryan Kell, Micah Lawrence and Ms.
Donette Freeman from the Network Support Center.
Very informative. Donette is always a wealth of information
about the Network Support Center, and she does a great job with
that. So now I'm going to go back to Bryan and Micah, and we're
going to talk about a segment that we call
Connected Home. Today's topic is going to begin at the beginning
with how most all 21st century connections are made,
and that's with fiber. Micah, you are a fiber expert.
Tell us, kick us off with how fiber works.
Micah Lawrence:
Absolutely. So, you know, we do pass that term around quite a
bit.
Most people don't really understand what that is and what it
consists of.
So when we talk about fiber, we're actually talking about a
replacement for copper that's up on the poles and things of that
nature. And what it's made out of is instead of copper, it's
actually made of glass.
And then we transmit a light down the glass at high speeds and,
you know, not to get technical in it or anything.
But you know, it allows us to get faster speeds, and the biggest
thing about it is, you know, where used to, I remember the
days of going out and helping people with dial-up.
People's electric fences would cause problems.
It would be popping on the line and things of that nature.
You know, it's not susceptible to those type of things because
it's just light going down a piece of glass.
So it does allow us to offer fast speeds, one of those speeds
being gigabit.
For those that don't understand what gigabit is, you know, we
used to measure our old copper speeds in megabits.
So this gig is a thousand megabits where, you know, we used to
sell 5, 10 and 15 megs.
So you can tell that that's a lot faster speeds.
So you know, we can do that.
We can get this into the homes.
I will tell you, it's an interesting fact of talking to some
people outside of the company and some businesses in different
cities. They are blown away that here in, you know, all the
counties that Ben Lomand serves, that we actually have
this fast internet, and they're in some of these really big
cities in which you would kind of expect them to have those
speeds. They just don't have it.
It's not available to them.
So, you know, I think our serving territory and where we're
deploying fiber at, it's, you know, it's a great thing for them.
Bryan Kell:
I was going to say, too, is that speaking of being blown away, I
think that, and Micah can probably talk to this more than any of
us here at this table, not only are they thrown back by the
download speed of a
gig — a thousand megabits — but when they hear that we're
offering synchronous speeds, and that they've got the capability
of doing a thousand megabits upload.
That's just not being offered by anybody else.
Micah Lawrence:
That's right. And what a lot of people don't understand is, you
know, at one point in time, you know, download was what you
wanted. You know, you wanted to download this information off
the internet.
But as time has gone along, technology has improved and
different services have came out where, you know, upload is
important. Especially for those people that are working at home
with their needing to upload files back to the office, or even if
it's just someone recording a video and wanting to upload it to,
let's say, Facebook, YouTube, something of that nature.
So, you know, being able to have these speeds in both
directions, you know, it is unheard of.
You know, this is something we're doing to step into the future
here, you know, to improve upon our services.
Karen Wilson:
So I'll throw this out there as kind of the customer who is
sitting back and thinks, you know, I've had
this computer on my desk for years now.
What's the big deal about speed?
Why do I need speed?
Micah Lawrence:
Absolutely. So a lot of people don't understand they want all
these services that they hear everybody else has.
And the biggest one I always use for a lot of people is Netflix.
You know, everybody's heard of Netflix.
Everybody's using Netflix, you know, Disney+, Hulu.
Any of these services that you hear people use.
Well at one point in time, you know, to watch an HD stream of
Netflix, it takes about five megs.
Well, when we were providing DSL, you know, that was pretty
decent.
You know, that worked really well.
But you know, now we're in the 4K and beyond type era, and it
takes a lot more data.
One stream of 4K data is about 25 megs, so you can see where
that can eat up your bandwidth really
fast, especially if you got, you know, two people watching a
movie in different rooms, you got your kid playing games, you
know, things of that nature. You know, it can eat up the
bandwidth really fast.
So you know, the speed is important and the amount of speed that
you can get is important because people don't realize it's — if
you think of a big piece of pie being your internet connection,
every time somebody gets on there, they're taking out another
slice of that pie.
And so they don't really realize how all that works, where you
can eat it up really fast.
Bryan Kell:
I was going to say too, and Micah brings up some great points on
some of the large bandwidth hogs, maybe or the ones that can do
that. But so many people, I think from hearing stories in
network support and Ben Lomand Connect folks going into folk's
houses and assessing situations, I think people are blown away
how many types of smaller devices eat up bandwidth.
Whether it's phones, whether it's Alexa, you know, whether...
Karen Wilson:
I even have a new oven and I can, you know, it'll use the Wi-Fi,
and I can turn it on and off, and I'm sure that's taking some of
my bandwidth.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah. And what a lot of people don't realize is, you know, from
my perspective, when we go out, and let's say we go to a
business, and they're wanting us to provide them with a Wi-Fi
solution, you know, the first question I asked them is, "How many
devices do you have?" You know, and I also, you know, some of
our businesses being churches and things of that nature.
You know, I ask them, you know, how many members do you have on
your biggest days?
And, you know, are you seeing people with phones?
You seeing people with tablets, things of that nature.
Because, for example, it's like when when I walk into church,
I've got my Apple Watch, my iPhone, my iPad.
That's already three devices.
Now, whether I touch any of those and get them out of my pocket,
they're still doing stuff in the background, ever so many minutes
or seconds, and then if you multiply that by, you know, multiple
members, you know, you're eating up a lot of bandwidth.
The other thing you're also looking at is a lot of people like
to go to Walmart or some of these other stores and buy some,
let's say, lower-end equipment that does not support that many
devices.
Which is, you know, one of the reasons why Ben Lomand came up
with Ben Lomand Home is, you know, we wanted a device that sits
in the home that can support multiple devices.
It can support that, you know, fast internet that we can provide
to it, and then you'll be able to monitor it and take care of it.
Bryan Kell:
One of the things real quick that Micah and I were both at this
situation, speaking of hit "hidden devices," and that is we were
at a customer's house.
It was me and you and many others that were there.
And the question was asked, "Do they have a gaming system here
in this house?" And the person that answered said, "Yeah,
there's one up there, but it's, you know, it's just one," and
all that.
I think me and you went upstairs at this particular home, three
gaming systems.
I think at least one or two were on.
But Micah, even if folks have gaming systems that are turned
off, they're still updates.
And there's all kinds of stuff happening that folks would maybe
not know that are going on there.
Micah Lawrence:
That's right. And what a lot of people don't realize is most
modern-day technology, you know, like gaming systems and things
of that nature, they don't actually truly shut down.
And you know, that's, you know, we've had in our mind that they
shut down or because they used to.
But now they stay online because if they don't stay online, they
can't get the system updates that they need.
Of course security is a big risk.
We need these security updates to protect ourselves and things
of that nature.
So, you know, even though they're, you know, closed, shut off or
whatever you call it, they're still on
to a certain degree. So, you know, it still can be doing things
in the background, and you not know it.
Karen Wilson:
So you've sold me. I know I need fiber.
Let's talk about all the capabilities of fiber.
Let's just start with the home, and then we can go on over to
the business.
Micah Lawrence:
Sure. So, you know, with home, you know, we mentioned gaming.
Gaming is a big thing.
You know, if you've got any young kids, grandkids, whatever and
they start talking about gaming, they want to talk about lag.
You know, they're like, "I'm lagging," or something of that
nature.
What we call that is we call that "latency." And if you can
imagine taking a tennis ball and you're throwing it up against
the wall and then it bouncing back to you, we measure that time
and obviously it's measured in milliseconds.
And the longer it takes for that tennis ball to come back to
you, the slower it is for the servers or the game
to pick up that you've done something.
And some of these games that these kids play are very fast
paced.
They need to be as quick as possible.
And so, you know, if they have high lag or high latency, that's
a bad thing.
So they need the fastest speed possible when playing their
games.
You know, it's also good for the fact of downloading files.
We know a lot of people are in the medical field.
Sometimes they're working from home.
They could be architects, you know, people downloading drawings,
CAD drawings, things of that nature.
They can be really, really large files.
And so they need the speed and bandwidth to, you know, obviously
increase efficiency.
You know, time is money.
Bryan Kell:
So I was talking to somebody last night, and I'll tell you one
industry, or type of job, that I've never
thought of until just now when you were talking about working
from home, the lady I talked to last night is handling a large
HR position. And I'm thinking just when you're talking about
that, I thought, yeah, HR.
Think of how much stuff are in people's files or that need to be
moved here and there.
And so more and more people working from home, the pandemic has
caused a lot of that to happen and some maybe aren't going to be
changing anytime soon.
But the types of jobs that are increasing, we used to always
throw out medical.
We would kind of throw out all these, all these ones that were,
like I said, from an engineering standpoint and everything.
But those jobs are getting more and more prevalent at home, and
more and more files need to be moved.
And Ben Lomand can help with that.
Micah Lawrence:
That's right. And you got to also think that a lot of the social
networking services that you know, adults and kids alike, use
nowadays is, you know, just it's inundated with video.
You know, something that is of a large amount of, you know, data
that needs to be downloaded.
So, you know, when you're scrolling through there, it's
downloading really fast.
You know, obviously people used to get very familiar with the
buffering or the little wheel that sits there and spins, and
nobody likes that.
So, you know, speed is very important there, and we think fiber
definitely helps them out.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah. I think, you know, with so many kids being at home, they're
watching videos.
They may be taking a music class online through Motlow or an
arts class.
They're watching plays and things like that.
And it's very frustrating when you're trying to get your work
done, and you can't download or upload assignments and things
like that. So the world has changed because of the pandemic, and
it has truly become digital.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, I mean, I think me and you both have had kids that whether
it's high school or college, they have had to do some amount of
work in a virtual environment.
And you start combining that with somebody who also is working
from home for a short period of time.
You did a little bit of that, you know, for a period.
So you got more, and not just one person at home that's doing
that at one time.
You've got multiple people that are doing that and wanting to
have and they've got to have a great experience: work, education
and even during play as well.
So to have that, to have that speed and to have that gig
connection, Micah, I'm just assuming that that does wonders.
Micah Lawrence:
Yes, absolutely. That's, you know, like I said, when we were
using the example of Netflix, that was the hardest part.
When, you know, having people on copper is getting them to
understand that your bandwidth is gone.
You know, you are using it.
You know, there's not an actual problem there.
So now it's not an issue because there's plenty of it to go
around at that point.
Karen Wilson:
Bryan, let's jump into the businesses and what fiber can do just
economically to a business, such a
boost that they can get from fiber.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, I mean, we have been lucky enough to be able to be around
enough businesses — small, medium and
large — that have given us just some glowing words.
You know that on the difference that that gig speed that Ben
Lomand Connect fiber is making in their lives.
And so I think that more and more people are trying to be able
to have an experience for
someone that technology has got to be incorporated into that.
And whether it's a coffee shop or a factory, we have seen people
be able to be really
excited about being able to start a business or move a business
into our service territory area, learning that gig fiber is
available. So and the thing I think that this podcast hopefully
will help some people understand — and we'll be
talking more about some of the businesses and community leaders
that will be coming on board with this podcast — is there's so
many stories out there on when it comes down to business
development.
We'll brag on our boss.
Greg has played a big part in being able to help out when it
comes down to IDB boards and being able to get information back
to these places for future growth potential.
And we've been able to see some of those things happen.
So yeah, whether it's a small business, a medium business or
large business, Ben Lomand has been able to play a
part in helping retain and or attract businesses to our area.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, and I would also say that one thing that we're seeing as
kind of a trend is some of these business customers, they're
moving their infrastructure to, you know, the buzzword cloud.
You know, at that point in time, they don't have servers living
on site.
They don't have, you know, equipment there on site.
It's all living up in somebody's data center, in the cloud.
And when you do things like that, you know, you have to have
good, reliable, fast internet to be able to access this stuff.
You know, we also utilize this fast speed for backups for
businesses.
You know, when a business is large enough that, you know, their
data that they have is very critical, they need to be able to
back that up offsite.
We call that disaster recovery.
You know, they need to be able to back it up offsite.
And you know, if we're talking gigs and gigs and gigs of data,
you know, slow internet, it's just not going to cut it.
Bryan Kell:
Karen, another thing too, real quick, is that more and more
people, more and more businesses, are transitioning over to voice
over IP phones. And so when you start combining just general use
of businesses and start mixing in IP phones on
top of that — especially if you're looking at medium size and
large businesses — you have got to be able to have.
Micah has worked on so many different projects involving that.
But you've got to be able to have that bandwidth to be able to
handle both the calls coming in and the calls going out right,
Micah?
Micah Lawrence:
Yes, absolutely.
It's, you know, and it's got to be pristine, too.
It's, you know, we want to make sure all those voice packets get
out and come back in.
You know, if it doesn't, you're going to have that jitter on the
phone that nobody likes.
Karen Wilson:
And you talked about, you know, the cloud and that crossed my
mind many times as we look back in
retrospect at the tornadoes that happened in Kentucky.
And even these small mom and pop businesses would benefit from
uploading their files and storing things
offsite, where if you wake up the next morning and your business
is no longer standing, you're not out of
business.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, that's right. We want to make sure we impress upon them
that, you know, anything can happen.
You know, we obviously don't want it to, but we want to prepare
ourselves.
And, you know, some of this could be critical data.
You know, everything from an inventory list to, you know,
payroll to just about anything.
And with cloud backup and things of that nature, we can, you
know, recover you pretty fast and, you know, ensure that your
stuff that you use to take care of your business is protected.
Karen Wilson:
So we've talked about fiber for homes and businesses.
Let's talk about availability.
Fiber isn't something that just is magically connected on these
existing phone lines.
Where are we working right now?
Bryan Kell:
All right. So I had a chance to get with our operations manager.
I don't think he's even a manager.
I think he's like operations guru.
We'll call him that. Chad Dees and I got some information from
him on kind of what 2022 is shaping up to be.
So Tracy City, that exchange, we are finishing up fiber
construction
there. And he said first, second quarter.
So it seemed to be leaning right now a little bit more towards
first.
But, you know, just in case Mother Nature rears its head for,
you know, any number of different things that can pop up, should
be finished up in Tracy City in the first or second quarter here
of 2022.
The two other items that are kind of sitting out there, or
exchanges I should say, first up will be Centertown, and there's
been a lot of work already being done there, but even more work
that will be taking place there this year, this new year.
And then also after Centertown moving into Dibrell.
And so those two areas, we'll see a lot of activity in 2022.
What seems amazing, though, is that we are right here on the
cusp of wrapping up that massive five year
fiber deployment that our board of directors and management
team, really our board of directors, guided starting
in 2017.
It all kind of started way back with the Hillsboro build, which
was the first one, and we actually did that in-house.
And so from a combination of our folks and lots of contractors
and different types of entities working on that,
we have seen 2018, 19, 20, 21, and now 22 in this massive five
year fiber build.
Micah Lawrence:
So, Bryan, you know, lots of times I get asked about, you know,
where we're going next and things like that.
And you know, we give them, you know, to our best ability, you
know, Quarter One, Quarter Two.
What are some things that you know could hold up a schedule?
You know, what are some things that Ben Lomand is confronted
with that might slow some of these projects down?
Bryan Kell:
Well, and Karen and I see this a lot through the Facebook
messaging that comes in because more and more people are reaching
out to us in so many different ways, asking those questions —
whether it's by phone or whether it's by message or calling in or
website chat and all those kind of things.
But that is one of our most frequent questions.
Weather can play a big part in that.
As far as us being able to get into areas to be able to work, we
know that the more rain that falls on areas, the more that we
don't want to be taken big trucks and big machinery into to make
a rough situation on being able to get some construction,
underground especially, making that even a bigger mess for
somebody on their property.
Another thing that we'll probably talk about next segment is
supply chain issues.
And that has played a part over the past few months and being
able to get in some certain
items that are needed, whether it's fiber casings or whether
it's pedestals or any number of things that can really kind of
put a crimp on being able to deploy our fiber as quickly as
possible.
Yeah, so like I said, those things and yeah, just I mean, it
takes a lot of manpower, you all have seen it.
We've all seen it to be able to go into these areas.
And so, you know, you start throwing grants on top of that too
and going, OK, we're going to get these areas and then, OK,
here's an area in Cumberland County.
Here's an area in Coffee County that we also have a timetable to
get done too.
Just talking about this, it's really amazing to be able to be so
close to being on schedule with this five year plan.
And then all these grants, the state, federal, even some small
areas that we have also expanded areas
into, Suwannee.
It's pretty amazing the amount of fiber that has been laid over
the last five years.
Karen Wilson:
I have been amazed with the fiber process.
It just learning and understanding how many departments and the
timeframe it takes to get someone
installed. You know, you see trucks out in your neighborhood and
you think, "Woo-hoo, I'm getting fiber." And even as someone that
works here, sometimes I don't understand the full process of
every department that that has to go through.
It's not just a matter of just doing the construction because
there are so many phases that go even after that.
Micah Lawrence:
Well, and I'd like to give props to our fiber crew.
You know, they do a fantastic job of, you know, installing.
But what a lot of people don't realize is, it's also the
trouble, you know, that comes in.
You know, one of our biggest components of this that we have to
deal with is Barney the Squirrel.
You know, they tend to like to chew on things.
We've also got, you know, people that drive big trucks that tear
things down.
And, you know, these guys are having to load up, you know, ship
out there and fix it as fast as possible to get services back up.
And then, you know, go off to the install job.
So it's, you know, they're doing a great job.
Doing it, you know, in a speedy amount of time.
And it's tough sometimes.
Bryan Kell:
And you take those instances like that that pop up quite a bit,
throw ice, snow,
wind, rain, all that stuff on top of it that we have experienced
here in just the past few weeks or at least over the last month
or two. And it's just, I mean, it can be a battle.
I mean, just keeping up with things that are constantly thrown
at our construction crews or trying to be able to get things
fixed with fiber splicing teams and things like that.
Micah Lawrence:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Karen Wilson:
Well, thank you guys so much for stepping back in and talking to
me and educating myself.
Even though I'm a long time employee, there's always something
to be learned at Ben Lomand Connect.
And I think we know just a little bit more now about the
importance of fiber: why we need it and the capabilities of
fiber. And so that's your Connected Home segment of our podcast.
We're going to talk about Connected Home and Businesses in the
future.
Micah Lawrence:
All right, so we come to our next segment called Connect with
BLC, and, you know, as we were talking earlier about
how fiber works, there's some more information about it in, you
know, this month's Connect magazine or Connection magazine.
Bryan, can you tell us what else to expect in there?
Bryan Kell:
Micah, I can. And so, yeah, in fact, some of the stuff that you
talked about earlier in this podcast can be found
on, I think, page two of the magazine.
Just how fiber works and how intricate it can be.
But then also its uses and can also be found on page nine.
And so just some really, really cool stuff as far as how fiber
can work and what's the expectation level.
Also two, how to be able to contact us the many different ways,
even though Donette has told us about that on the network support
side. So yeah, lots of cool stuff with fiber.
Also, there's some, if you grab the magazine, you're going to
see quail properties.
That's also going to end up being in there.
A great story of how they're utilizing property up in Monteagle.
So there's a cool little not only a human interest type story
there, but also just how, again, how Ben Lomand
Connect and fiber and you know what even Managed IT is helping
make a difference with those folks.
Micah, have you had a chance to work on that project a little
bit from time to time?
Micah Lawrence:
Absolutely. We help them with multiple properties that they might
have.
And, you know, if they need cameras or network support or
whatever, that's we help them out with that.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, they seem like good folks and everything.
And that's the Trahans.
I think Katie and Tim that are doing that.
Also, you can find in the Connection magazine supply chain
issues story.
A story that we spent a whole lot of time kind of just making
sure that we had as much information in there to explain kind of
what's happening when some of our departments that that utilize
product.
And we've already talked a little bit about what that can mean
when it's coming down to fiber distribution and being able to get
that out to folks. But Micah, your department, Managed IT, I ask
usually every couple of weeks with either you or
Chris as far as hey, supply chain, when it comes down to all the
things that you all deal with, computers and and cameras and
stuff. You all have felt the squeeze of supply chain as well.
Micah Lawrence:
That's right. It's been quite rough.
I would say anything with a computer chip, it's probably back
ordered right now.
You can find it just about on any website, whether it's an, you
know, expensive carrier grade type piece of equipment, or it's
the low end consumer grade.
It's just really tough.
And you know, I will tell you from talking to some, even our
customers, you know, we have a couple of customers that are car
dealerships, they're feeling the strain too.
You know, talking about telling us how there's thousands of
vehicles out in the field just sitting there waiting for computer
chips. So supply chain, you know, getting that equipment in.
And also we're finding out that they said they've had a truck
down in Texas for like three weeks.
They just can't find anybody to drive it up here.
So, you know, it tends to be a big issue, not just for, you
know, our industry, but just about everything.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, it's definitely been something that I think in talking with
someone like Greg, who's been at Ben Lomand, he's at 40 years,
right at it, very close to 40 years.
He said, "I've never seen anything like this," and so that says
a lot.
Karen Wilson:
I'll started with the great toilet paper shortage of 2020, didn't
it?
And then who would have thought it would have come down to all
the services and things even beyond that that we use?
Bryan Kell:
It's crazy. Also, Lifeline service information.
You can find that on page five.
That is something that Ben Lomand, at least since I've been here
and I'm sure well before, has been able to offer folks some
savings. Karen, I think you've even kind of worked on that a
little bit, but some savings when it comes down to their phone
bill and a chance to be able to help lighten the load a little
bit, I guess.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah, that's a great program.
It all is based upon income and help you receive already.
There are some qualifications that you have to meet, but it's
been a great program.
We've had it for years.
And if you need some help with your phone bill, I urge you to,
you know, call in and inquire about that.
Bryan Kell:
Absolutely. Also, to something that Karen and I have both had a
blast being a part of is more information
on a trip to Washington, D.C.
So FRS has opened back up their ability for folks to be able to
take part in
a trip to Washington, D.C.
And Karen, you're kind of the queen of that, but it's exciting
for us.
We started that back up about five or six years ago.
Karen Wilson:
Yes. Yes, we've participated in that for many years and then
stepped away from it for a few years.
I think about five years ago picked it up again.
We send two students in our service territory on an all-expense
paid trip to Washington, D.C.
for five days.
They get to see all the sights, learn about and visit the FCC,
learn about legislation and meet hundreds of other
teenagers from rural America just like they are.
And talk about, you know, issues and figure out how much alike
we all are.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah. And when we're talking about all over, we're talking about
from Maine to Alaska is the kids come in from all over the 50
states, just about every one of them.
So it's a great learning experience.
We've seen kids from all over our service territory area be able
to take part in that, but got to get in your information.
You got to get in that...
Karen Wilson:
Yeah, there's an essay that is due.
It's due April 1, 2022.
All of that information is on our website, benlomandconnect.com.
I think it's under the about us and then FRS Youth Tour Trip.
If you'll click on that, you'll get all the information about
the essay and the qualifications for attending.
Bryan Kell:
Yes, and also FRS Scholarship.
Some information in the magazine on that as well.
Those can be found on page 5, so some very, very good
opportunities for kids to enrich their,
I guess, enrich their experience and then also enrich their
ability for schooling and education too as well.
So be sure and check that out.
Also too, just some information on regional and statewide
history science museums, which is pretty cool that you can find
in the magazine. And everything from information on locator app
streaming services, how to make something called roux, which I
had never heard of before in my life.
Karen Wilson:
Not from New Orleans, are you?
Bryan Kell:
I'm not from New Orleans.
But yeah, I learned that roux is a mixture of fat, especially
butter, and flour used to make sauces, and so I learned a little
something there from the magazine itself.
It's used as a basis for dishes.
Also avoiding back and neck pain from working, and so much more
that Micah is the Connection magazine for January and February.
Micah Lawrence:
Awesome. Great. So I know I like to watch Channel 6, and I also
know that a lot of our customers enjoy the content that we put on
Channel 6. But what are some new things, Karen, that we can see
coming out on Channel 6?
Karen Wilson:
Well, I'm going to drop my terrible New Orleans accent for that
and jump into [it].
It is basketball season at Channel 6.
Our big thing, you know for January and February is always live
ball games at White County and Van Buren County.
We have a great set of students that assist us and really take
on the production themselves.
So if you attend one of those games and you see one of those
students with a Warrior Media or Eagle Media shirt on, give them
a pat on the back for all that they do.
Those games mean a lot to people that can't get out and attend,
grandparents and people that live out of our service territory,
so that's a great service that they do.
We're also in the middle of filming "Soul of Warren County" with
our host Mickey Guinn, a local boy who
right now we're working on a great documentary on William
Houchin.
I've learned a lot about Mr.
Houchin, businessman from the early or late 1800s and just lots
of
history going to come out in that show.
Bryan Kell:
I think he was involved in a theater here, right?
Karen Wilson:
Yes. Yes, he had the first, I guess opera house is what it was,
here in our service territory.
And just an interesting story about his family moving here from
other areas and how they were treated and dealt with
that, but very reputable man in the history of Warren County.
So we're going to try to shed some light on him.
Of course, we're always filming Table Talks and Reels to Rental.
And also we have a YouTube channel.
We've had it for quite some time, but we're loading more and
more content on there.
We know we have more people that live outside of our service
territory.
Or maybe you're wanting to see a particular show or parade or a
fair pageant or something that's not airing
right now on Channel 6 or 306.
You can always look up Ben Lomand Connect on YouTube.
Just put that in the search area, and it should come up, and
you'll get a playlist of all the content that we have.
Bryan Kell:
And if you subscribe to it and also turn the alarms on for that,
then every time Karen and Tammy Vinson and Kelvin Bond load new
material, by golly, they're on your smartphone, you can go,
"Hey, I want to check out that new latest Soul of Warren County"
or a Christmas parade, and you can be able to know that it's
there waiting for you.
Karen Wilson:
Yes, and it stays there for perpetuity.
We do not take those down.
So it's a great way to house some of our content that if you've
been dying to see something or maybe you're even a new subscriber
to BL TV, and you want to catch some of our older content,
that's a great way to view it.
Micah Lawrence:
Awesome. Great. Thanks, Karen.
So Bryan.
Bryan Kell:
Yes.
Micah Lawrence:
I want you to participate in something with me.
Bryan Kell:
Oh, no, this is off-script.
Here we go.
Micah Lawrence:
It is called the "Ye Olde Dictionary Game."
Bryan Kell:
"Ye Olde Dictionary."
It is where...
Karen Wilson:
I love trivia. Let's see how he does.
Micah Lawrence:
Where Bryan Kell gets to define, which by the way, Bryan Kell is
an old fogy in case you guys were wondering.
Bryan Kell:
Yes, very much so.
Micah Lawrence:
I want him to define some modern day words that some young
whippersnappers use.
Bryan Kell:
Ok.
Micah Lawrence:
So for our audience, I'd like for you to define the word "yeet."
Y-E-E-T.
Bryan Kell:
Y-E-E-T. By the way, folks, this is totally off, you know, this
is not planned, so I have no
idea what he's doing here.
Karen Wilson:
Was not on our script.
Bryan Kell:
Was not on the script at all. Ok, so yeet, I would say that, what
does the word mean?
Micah Lawrence:
Yes.
Bryan Kell:
The word yeet means "you want to eat?"
Micah Lawrence:
No.
Bryan Kell:
Okay.
Micah Lawrence:
To "yeet" something is to throw something with some awesome
force.
Bryan Kell:
And that's a real word?
No way.
Micah Lawrence:
Yes, these modern day kids are raising yeet.
They say, "well, why don't you just yeet that thing over there?"
Bryan Kell:
Really?
Micah Lawrence:
Yes.
Karen Wilson:
Wow, I thought it was like a thumbs up or a pump, you know, like,
"yay, go, yeet."
Bryan Kell:
Yeah. Or are you getting that confused with "urt?" Maybe over in
White county, because that's kind of their little thing that
they've got going on.
Karen Wilson:
Oh, I bet that is.
Bryan Kell:
OK, I've got one more for you, Bryan.
All right. Got you.
Micah Lawrence:
If something is "OG," what does that mean?
Karen Wilson:
You know, I've seen this, and I don't know what it is.
Micah Lawrence:
Have you have you heard it Bryan?
Bryan Kell:
Yes, and at times I've even looked it up, and it's gone in one
brain cell and out the other.
The "OG," this is awful.
"OG" means that you are the old guy.
Micah Lawrence:
No. Okay, what is it?
I forgot. Stands for "original gangster."
Bryan Kell:
That's it! Yes!
Micah Lawrence:
So basically, if someone is, it's nostalgic.
If it's, you know, the old school way of doing it, it's "OG."
Karen Wilson:
So we might be OG, or you might be OG if...
Micah Lawrence:
That's right.
That's the end of "Ye Olde Dictionary."
Karen Wilson:
Well, Ye Olde is getting older and older.
Micah Lawrence:
Yeah, very much so.
Karen Wilson:
Oh me, these kids.
I have said many times that they are recreating the English
language on a daily basis.
The terminology that we use for things.
Take my name, for instance.
"Karen," you know, it's got a whole other meaning out there now.
And I'm like, "How, the heck, does this stuff get started?" But
I don't know if we can thank rap songs or what, but
it's hard to keep up with.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, it is. So okay, you got OG, yeet, we've learned something
new today, or at least I have.
So there's your what Connect with BLC Moment there and Ye Olde
Dictionary.
Ok, gang, we have reached the end of our first episode of the BLC
Connection Podcast.
Karen Wilson:
A lot of fun, and I hope everybody felt that it was worthwhile
content.
That's our goal.
Bryan Kell:
But, and you know what?
Perfect segue, Karen.
We want your feedback.
We want to know what you want out of the BLC Connection Podcast
because we're only one episode in, and we're still trying to find
a rhythm and still trying to find what topics maybe people want
more information on, less on, all those things.
So Micah, how can folks reach us?
Micah Lawrence:
Absolutely. The best way to reach us is you can go to Ben Lomond
Connect's Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter or our LinkedIn
accounts. You can submit those questions there, or you can email
us at
blcpodcast@benlomand.net.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, so feel free to message us with on any of those platforms.
We do take a look at those, and we do respond.
And so, but again, one of the easiest ways is just email us, and
we'll all three get that email and be able to take it,
incorporate it into our thought patterns for future episodes.
And also, again, we want your feedback: good, bad, indifferent.
Just like Ben Lomand Connect, we get better as you all give us
feedback, so we're looking for more.
But Karen, even though we're doing these episodes, what I think
and what we think will be once a month, there's
more.
Karen Wilson:
There is. There's always something else to talk about.
And of course, right now with weather and things like that on
our mind, so much with it being in the middle of the winter, I'm
going to have a mini episode with Caney Fork's General Manager
Bill Rogers and the
new manager coming up later on, which is going to be Ben Newman.
They're going to be my first guess on a BLC Connection
mini-episode on businesses, and we're going to be talking about
just customer support during major outages.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, that has been, when you came in with that, I thought man
that is just perfect.
Because of what we've come through with some kind of some
surprise winter storms, a little bit more snow than we're
normally used to getting and some ice mixed in.
And who better to talk to about dealing with all that than Caney
Fork?
So fantastic.
So we need to be on the lookout for that mini-episode that Karen
will be bringing to us here in the weeks to come.
Also, too, we'll go ahead and tease our February 2022 episode
number two on the BLC Connection Podcast.
Our guest will be Mr.
Greg Smart, GM/CEO of Ben Lomand Connect.
He'll be getting very close when we talk to him on wrapping up
his first year as GM and CEO of Ben Lomand Connect.
We're going to talk — I was just able to give you a little bit
about fiber builds.
Greg's got all kinds of information about, not only 2022, but
about 2023 and maybe even a little bit
beyond that. So we'll be able to really get involved on,
especially if you're into wondering where we're
going and where we're going to be bringing Ben Lomand fiber to,
this next episode of the BLC Connection podcast is going to be
one you're not going to want to miss.
Also, kind of a state of the company where he, you know, the
accomplishments of the past year, kind of where we're going
because annual meeting time is right around the corner.
Karen's been through about 25 or 26 of those.
Karen Wilson:
Yeah, they've changed a lot over the years.
That's true. But we always look forward to seeing our customers
at that time.
We used to shake hands and kiss babies.
We kind of do that from afar these days, but we show the love of
our customers.
We always have some great prizes and giveaways and things like
that and just enjoy touching base and giving a
report. It's our small State of the Union.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, and so Greg will give us all kinds of information on what's
all both happened and in store for Ben Lomand Connect
in 2022 and like we said, kind of taking a look back at 2021.
And again, if you guys will give us some feedback on different
topics, then we can even work that in to different segments and
stuff on what questions you may have, whether it's technology or
whatever.
Get those over to us and that can help shape the next BLC
Connection Podcast.
We've got some thanks that we want to say, not only for Donette
Freeman, for joining us in the segment with Network Support, but
also two folks that are not a part of the stuff that you see
here, but they have been a very important part of bringing this
to light and also helping us on the post-production side.
And that's the gang at WordSouth.
And so Stephen V.
Smith and also Sarah Wootten from WordSouth, their help and
guidance have been tremendous in getting us to this point.
Karen Wilson:
They have, and they've been a great resource for many years here
at Ben Lomand, helping us with our magazine.
They kind of helped us get started on that road, and now into
the podcast.
Bryan Kell:
Yeah, and I think somebody in Micah's case who was maybe a little
leery about the whole podcast thing, I think when we started
breaking out these Shure mics and really having some stuff to
play with here.
Micah, you're like, "Man, I think I'm a fan of this now."
Micah Lawrence:
Oh, yeah, I'm totally a fan.
Absolutely
Bryan Kell:
So we want to thank Stephen, and we want to thank Sarah for being
able to help us get to this point.
And gang, it's been a fun first episode.
For those that are listening, we hope, like Karen said, that you
had some fun listening to it and maybe a little bit more
information. We promise we'll get better, and we'll work at
this.
But for all of those that took the time out to be able to listen
this, we thank you and tell you what.
Until next time, stay well, stay safe and stay connected.