Blog Posts by Mignon Clyburn

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Last week, following my trip to Boston, I had the honor of traveling to Orlando to speak at the Women in Public Safety Communications Leadership Conference, hosted by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International. This event is of course near and dear to my heart, as it combines two of my passions: promoting public safety and empowering women. Women face unique challenges in the workplace, so I always jump at the opportunity to share my experiences in arriving at where I am today.

The most important lesson I attempted to impart at the Conference was to understand and embrace the fact that there are many paths to becoming a leader in this industry. Over the years, I have spoken with a number of women who have conveyed their discouragement in the fact that they are unable to advance into leadership positions in their respective fields. I always stress, however, that there is a big difference between being a leader and having the title of leader – the ability to take charge and to be a model for others to follow is what defines a leader, not necessarily the position one holds.

I spend a lot of time at the FCC’s main building in southwest DC. Days can pass with me not even venturing across the street at lunch time for a sandwich. So, when my schedule offered me the opportunity to travel outside of this fine city to see what my FCC colleagues are doing in one of our field offices, I jumped at the chance and headed north.

The 200+ dedicated FCC workers in the Gettysburg, PA office deal with a variety of subject matter, all of it being crucial to the FCC’s mission and operations. Many bureaus are represented, from the Office of Managing Director to Wireless to Media. All are in constant communication with our DC headquarters and the other field offices around the country.

While there, I visited their spectrum auction room, which is used to monitor those transactions that the Commission conducts annually. Equipped with state of the art technology and security, the auctions are run smoothly and effectively, all under the watchful eyes of my FCC colleagues.

But the highlight of my visit was being able to observe our staff take calls from the general public. The Gettysburg office serves as the primary intake center for all FCC inquiries and complaints, and my colleagues tirelessly attempt to address any issue that is brought up during a consumer call. Some calls, as one might expect, are livelier and more animated than others, but it is a vital part of our mission to hear what everyday consumers and technology users think about the changing media and telecommunications landscape and how the Commission is regulating it. As I so often note, we are charged with the protection of consumers and whether certain decisions that we contemplate are in the public’s interest, and it’s a mission I take very seriously.

I want to again thank all of my FCC colleagues in Gettysburg for their gracious hospitality. Please keep doing what you do, and I hope you will invite me back soon.

I recently experienced my second visit to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Across the many acres of displays, demonstrations, lectures, and booths, I found myself almost unable to comprehend how much technology has advanced in only one year. From tablets, tablets and more tablets to clean energy concepts, interactive gaming and the ever-growing concept of “TV everywhere,” the new and innovative offerings are awe-inspiring. You literally need a half dozen days to take it all in. I had two…

Every other article in the tech trade press devotes a lot of attention to the emergence and ever-growing use of Internet-enabled television sets. I’ve read about them and have seen a few “in action,” but I felt it necessary to experience GoogleTV on my own. I stopped by their display to witness a test run, and what I saw made me further understand what all the fuss is about. The ability to match a viewing screen with endless content on the web is an exciting opportunity for consumers to enhance their home enjoyment, and we should all be excited about the further evolution of this user interface.

I also spent a good amount of time at Panasonic’s display, learning about the company’s green technologies and energy initiatives. I learned more about the use of lithium ion batteries in hybrid electric vehicles, and the new uses of solar power generators and household fuel cells. Panasonic intends to invest $1 billion toward the development of green technologies between now and 2012, and from an environmental standpoint, that is exciting.

I just returned from a 36-hour trip to Georgia, during which I visited a great group of folk at the FCC’s field office in Duluth (which is overseen by our Enforcement Bureau). It was my first experience with one of our field offices, but interacting with our people on the ground – my hard-working colleagues outside of the bubble of Washington – was an invaluable experience for me…and one I intend to replicate soon.

Upon my arrival, I was picked up by Doug Miller, the District Director of the field office, in one of the FCC’s Mobile Direction Finding (MDF) vehicles. While it looks like a run-of-the-mill SUV on the outside, it contains state-of-the-art detection equipment that Doug and his team use to detect illegal (“pirated”) radio broadcasts. Armed with technology and experience, innumerable unauthorized radio broadcasts, which trespass into the airwaves of licensed programming as well as airplane/airport transmissions, have been located and shut down by the FCC’s Duluth team.

The field team also walked me through the technology and labor needed to detect and stop illegal cell phone jamming. This practice is increasingly prevalent throughout our prisons and schools, and my FCC colleagues showed me how jamming devices operate and how small and inconspicuous they can be.

Later in the evening, I met and spoke to the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Atlanta chapter. I saw some old friends and met many new ones, and listened to their feedback regarding what we’re doing in DC and what they’re doing in and around metropolitan Atlanta. I truly enjoy chatting with communications practitioners and attorneys throughout the country, as they offer so many insights that I don’t regularly hear in Washington.