FirstLight Fiber, a leading provider of digital infrastructure services, will host the Rochester Cloud Connect Summit on October 2, 2025, at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. Announced on September 11, 2025, this premier IT event will bring together experts in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing for insights, discussions, and high-level networking, with FirstLight as the title sponsor alongside Veeam and Ciena.
Event Date and Venue: October 2, 2025, George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY.
Sponsors: FirstLight (title), Veeam, Ciena.
Speakers: Colonel Craig E. Frank (Space Systems Command), Matthew Wright, PhD (RIT), Rick Vanover (Veeam), Erich Kron (KnowBe4).
Focus Areas: Cybersecurity, AI, cloud computing trends with actionable takeaways.
Registration: Free with code "FirstLight" at www.cloudconnectsummit.com.
FirstLight Network: 25,000+ route miles, serving 125,000+ locations.
The Cloud Connect Summit is a leading regional IT event, fostering innovation through dynamic presentations, interactive discussions, and networking opportunities. The program concludes with cocktails, enabling connections among industry peers. “This is more than an event—it's a forum for sparking ideas, sharing strategies, and connecting with the people shaping the future of AI and Cybersecurity,” said Lorenzo Leuzzi, Chief Revenue Officer at FirstLight.
The summit features a lineup of renowned thought leaders:
Colonel Craig E. Frank: Director of S-6 (Communications) at Space Systems Command, leading 85 specialists in cybersecurity, digital engineering, and technology strategy.
Matthew Wright, PhD: Kevin O'Sullivan Endowed Professor and Chair of Cybersecurity at Rochester Institute of Technology, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications on cybersecurity and networks.
Rick Vanover: Senior Director of Product Strategy at Veeam, sharing ransomware resilience insights from a 1,000-company survey.
Erich Kron: KnowBe4 cybersecurity expert with decades of experience in security and leadership.
As title sponsor, FirstLight underscores its role as a key provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud, unified communications, and managed services. Serving enterprises and carriers across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, FirstLight’s network spans over 25,000 route miles, connecting 125,000+ locations in industries like healthcare, finance, education, and government.
Headquartered in Albany, NY, FirstLight delivers advanced telecommunications solutions, including Ethernet, wavelength, dark fiber, dedicated Internet, data centers, cloud, and voice services. Its clientele includes national carriers and enterprises in high-tech, healthcare, finance, education, and government sectors, supported by a robust 25,000+ route mile fiber network.
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