Welcome to the “Cut The Cord”
Support & Information Page
for Host Towns & Libraries

"Cut the Cord" is a community presentation meant to help you get rid of the cost and limits of "cable TV" and replace it with the endless options available from online streaming.

The original sessions were presented in 2016 and 2017 at library and town events all over CT.

New! “Better Net” is a new, companion presentation that focuses on the key and complicated issue of getting great, secure, low-cost internet service and wifi in your home or small business! Click Here for Details!

Current Schedule

Note that fall/winter bookings have begun: grab your session slot now!

Date	Day	Time	Town	Notes
11/7/2020	Saturday	3 pm	Waterford	–
1/6/2021	Wednesday	6:30 pm	Southington	Postponed
1/9/2021	Saturday	3 pm	Terryville	–
1/13/2021	Wednesday	6 pm	New Milford	–
1/20/2021	Wednesday	7 pm	Darien	–
1/25/2021	Monday	6 pm	Cheshire	–
1/30/2021	Saturday	4 pm	Salisbury	–
2/4/2021	Thursday	4 pm	Goshen	–
2/9/2021	Tuesday	6 pm	Glastonbury	–
2/10/2021	Wednesday	7 pm	Kent	–
2/16/2021	Tuesday	TBA	Southington	–
2/23/2021	Tuesday	6:30 pm	Tolland	–
2/24/2021	Wednesday	6:30 pm	Trumbull	–
3/10/2021	Wednesday	—	Bethel	Canceled
4/10/2021	Saturday	TBA	Tolland II	–
4/17/2021	Saturday	3 pm	Cheshire II	–
5/1/2021	Saturday	2 pm	Lyme	–
5/15/2021	Saturday	3 pm	Weston	–
6/12/2021	Saturday	2 pm	Derby	–
9/18/2021	Saturday	2 pm	North Haven	–
10/23/2021	Saturday	4 pm	North Stonington	Postponed - TBA
10/30/2021	Saturday	2 pm	Essex	–
11/10/2021	Wednesday	6:30pm	Mansfield	–
11/13/2021	Saturday	2 pm	Essex II	50th Session!
— Happy New Year! —
1/6/2022	Thursday	6 pm	Glastonbury	–
2/15/2022	Tuesday	7 pm	Wilton

5/25/2022	Wednesday	6 pm	Guilford/SSILL

Any day not taken is available for scheduling.

I am not planning to publicize this presentation as a whole; I am leaving it to each library or town to attract its own audience without losing any to other sessions. Please do keep up the word-of-mouth among CT and regional libraries and towns, though — I'd love to do as many of these as there is interest.

Please feel free to work out scheduling differences and exchanges with each other!

The 2020/2021 Presentation Series

This presentation was originally given in person at nearly thirty sessions all over Connecticut, from October 2016 until August 2017. Attendance was often the highest the library or town had seen that season (into the hundreds more than once), the response was enthusiastic and the inquiries continued long after I relocated to Colorado.

The COVID situation has made remote/virtual presentations more acceptable to a wider range of people and is likely to get even more popular this winter as we remain stay-home, locked-in and struggling to find connection, community and entertainment. (Not to mention ways to pinch pennies!) So while travel back to CT to give more sessions of this presentation wasn't a workable idea, using online meeting tools certainly is. And I'm glad to be available to continue this popular event! The first part of the year saw some 18 sessions; and the fall and winter are open for booking!

Details

WHAT: "Cut the Cord: How to tell your cable company to take a hike (mostly) and get TV, movies and phone service for a fraction of the cost!"
WHO: James Gifford, writer, editor & publisher; 30 years in tech and telecommunications; writer and consultant on consumer issues; former CT (Tolland) resident. (Now living in exotic and somewhat dusty Denver, Colorado.)
WHY: Explaining the process, options and advantages of replacing cable television and bundled services with simpler, lower-cost options that are completely under the control of the consumer. Only modest technical knowledge is needed and the options are very much presented for do-it-yourselfers. And the situation has only gotten better since the last sessions over three years ago!
WHEN: Available any evening, or any weekend afternoon. (But please remember that I am -2 hours, Mountain Time!) Scheduling is first-confirmed, first serve and I hope not to have to do two shows a day. A continually-updated schedule is below. You're of course free to arm-wrestle among yourselves if there are any scheduling conflicts.
HOW: Any acceptable virtual-meeting app or service. Zoom is preferred but I can work with any system as long as you can provide a log-in and "speaker" or "leader" privileges so I can share screens, answer questions, etc. A test session earlier in the day or a day before is strongly recommended!
FORMAT: A 60-90 minute presentation with slides and some brief breaks for immediate questions; a Q&A session to follow at any reasonable length needed to answer all questions. Followup information and useful links on the web site for convenience.
TERMS: $100 per session. I may ask somewhat more if the presentation involves unusual circumstances or requirements (e.g. very large audience, over 100). Invoice and W-9 available on request, and feel free to send your own invoice or booking form.
MISCELLANY: Recording the session for use by that library's patrons is allowed. No redistribution or wider sharing of the recording, please. There is also a shelf-life to some of the information. Up to three months should e no problem; at six months, there might be significant changes to some of the specifics about programs, equipment and services; at a year, we should probably do it over again.
QUESTIONS: If this page doesn't answer your questions, send email or call the number on the main site page.
PROMO MATERIALS: Below, and ask if anything else is needed.
CONTACT: The email address cordcutter@nitropress.net and the short web link http://www.nitropress.net/CTC, or just nitropress.net/CTC, can be publicly distributed. Please do not distribute any other email address you may receive.

Thanks for your town's interest!

Promo Materials

Please ask if you need anything else for your announcement and publicity needs. All permissions for use and reasonable modification granted.

Program Description

"Cut the Cord" is an entertaining community presentation meant to help cable-TV customers break the expensive and often frustrating cable service cycle and gain lower costs, greater control and a vastly expanded selection of entertainment and communication choices. Attendees will learn how to get out of a cable service agreement, find and negotiate the best internet/broadband access deal, and get started with streaming services for a vast range of entertainment options... many of which are free!

The presentation covers the details of streaming equipment (some of which attendees may already own) and how to explore the ever-expanding list of channels and services that streaming—as well as the "forgotten" free resource of broadcast TV—can bring to your living room. Support issues such as quality home WiFi and low-cost home phone service are covered as well. You don't need advanced technical expertise... just the right information! If you're tired of endless rate increases and shell games with service and programming terms, cut your expense and take control... come learn how to Cut the Cord!

About the Presenter

James Gifford is uniquely qualified to present this seminar. He has been a writer, editor and publisher for 30 years, focusing on bringing complex subjects to introductory and novice audiences. He has been in the tech and consumer electronics industry for about that long as well, much of it at the engineering level in business and personal communications and telecom. And he has spent much of the last decade writing about consumer economics and advocating for consumer rights. He is a completely independent speaker with no ties or interests to any cable, communications, online, entertainment or equipment companies. He was a resident of Tolland for six years and now connects to these sessions from Denver, Colorado.