Joel and Dave asked me to attend a "Pandemic Preparedness Summit" having to do with communications, held last week at the FCC building in Washington, DC. There was a last-minute date change for the conference that prevented Dennis Dura from going. The attachment is my report on the trip. Two points I didn't cover in the report: Commissioner McDowell and Commissioner Tate made opening remarks. Although Commissioner McDowell said he looked forward to learning from the presentations, both he and Commissioner Tate left before the panel discussions began. Make of that what you can! An insert in the conference handout was about the digital TV transition. Commissioner Tate asked attendees to help the FCC publicize the transition and mentioned the Wilmington, NC, run-through. She did not mention how that went. I don't know how the broadcasters in my area could do anything more to publicize the change. If they were to run any more DTV announcements than they are already putting on the air, I might start thinking more kindly of the ambulance-chaser spiels, car title loan ads, and partisan political jabs that we also have to endure between blips of entertainment. 73 - Kay N3KN