How do you reach a national audience of utilities? For starters, take part in “Greet the Smart Grid” with us and Google (News - Alert)!

Things are really coming along now on all fronts for our upcoming Smart Grid Summit. We’ve just added a new session, and I wanted to tell you about it here. One of the challenges that all events face in this market is reaching the broadest utility audience possible. As strong as our program is, it’s just not practical or feasible for all of them to attend in person. Just like with telecom, the base of the pyramid is wide, and many utilities are quite small and very locally focused. We recognize that traveling to Los Angeles just isn’t in the cards for most of them.

To address that, we’ve created a unique session, and it’s just being launched now. We’re calling it “Greet the Smart Grid,” and it will be accessible as a live, interactive webcast for utilities who cannot attend the summit.

This session will run at the end of the first day – Monday, Oct. 4 and all summit attendees will be invited to participate. I’ll be hosting the session, and it has two components.

First will be an opening address by Harry Wingo of Google. Harry is their Policy Counsel, and is actively involved is smart grid issues, especially around cybersecurity – a key topic we’ll be addressing at the summit. We all know that Google is one of the leading disruptors from outside the traditional energy industry, and his perspective on the Internet’s role in smart grid makes this a must-see session.

Following Harry’s talk, we’ll have a series of short presentations and demos from leading smart grid solutions providers. It’s not quite Dragon’s Den – although we may evolve to that in future events – but this is a unique opportunity for both sides of the coin to engage. There are eight presenter spots available, and each will get a chance to showcase their smart grid solutions/offerings, and get direct feedback from the audience. We’re expecting a full room of utilities and telcos, along with everyone else attending the summit.

What makes this session different is the video feed that will allow utilities to participate remotely. We’re in the process of doing outreach to the utility sector to make them aware of this opportunity, which is free, and allows them to be part of a live event. Of course, they’ll be missing out on all the paid sessions, onsite networking and the smart grid exhibit pavilion, but this is the next best thing. Flipping the coin, this also means that presenting companies will be in front of a larger group than those in the room, and I can’t think of a better way for them to reach a national audience in real time.

More news will be coming soon, and if you don’t hear from us, and would like to participate, drop me a line any time. For reference, here are the complete details, along with Kevin Lake’s contact information for smart grid companies interested in presenting and sponsoring.