Over the past year, The Quilt has run a series of workshops focused on the issues associated with using optical networking infrastructure as a basic building block for metro and regional aggregation. The Quilt, a consortium of over 20 non-profit, advanced regional network organizations focused on providing a broad range of advanced networking services to their constituents as well as the national networking community as a whole. Hudnall Croasdale, Mark Johnson, George Loftus, Steven Wallace cover lessons and observations of trends and issues in optical networking, as well as some of the next steps in optical networking for regional aggregators. Specific topics addressed include: Quilt optical networking projects; optical network testing and test kits; RON fiber builds and current trends in optical networking, as well as information regarding the next Quilt Fiber Workshop.