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Plenary SessionPlenary session to be held Monday, October 11, 09:00 - 11:00 in Empire State Ballroom A/E
Plenary Speaker 1: Reporting in the DarkDavid Kestenbaum, National Public Radio, Washington DC On August 14 last year, the New York bureau of National Public Radio went dark along with just about everything else in that city. We had only phone lines and a few flashlights, no ability to file full stories. A producer and I packed up a satellite phone, jumper cables, laptops and started driving from Washington DC to the darkened NYC. But really that was the easy part. In the following weeks NPR and the rest of the news media groped around trying to understand what had happened and what could have been done to prevent it. David Kestenbaum of National Public Radio will look back at how well NPR did. David Kestenbaum is a science correspondent for National Public Radio in Washington. His job allows him to combine his extensive background in physics with his love of broadcast journalism. Kestenbaum's desire to join NPR began long before that day in 1999 when he was offered his current position. Before coming to NPR, he worked as a reporter for Science magazine, a job that brought him from Chicago to Washington with nothing but "a fork, a spoon and some clothes." David recently returned to Chicago for a spell to fill in as a producer on the show This American Life. In 1997, Kestenbaum worked at radio station WOSU in Columbus, Ohio, as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Mass Media Fellowship program. He holds a bachelor's of science degree in physics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from Harvard University. In 2001, David Kestenbaum was awarded the IEEE-USA award for furthering public understanding of the profession. Plenary Speaker 2: Balancing the Needs of Competitive Markets with Confidentiality and System SecurityGarry Brown, Vice President – Strategic Development, New York Independent System Operator Garry will talk about balancing the needs of competitive markets with confidentiality and system security. Garry Brown has served as Vice President – Strategic Development for the New York State Independent System Operator since July 2003. In that position, he is responsible for the strategic, business and electric system planning functions at the NYISO. Mr. Brown has been directly involved in the electric industry for over 25 years. Prior to the NYISO, he was Manager of Governmental and Market Relations at Sithe Energies, a large independent power producer. Previous to that, Mr. Brown spent 17 years with the New York State Energy Office and was actively involved in the initial stages of the introduction of competition in the electricity industry. Mr. Brown has served as Chair of the NYISO’s Management Committee and Business Issues Committee. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Independent Power Producers of New York and Independent Energy Producers of New Jersey. Mr. Brown has a Masters of Public Administration from the Rockefeller School of Public Affairs at SUNY-Albany and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. |