A Big THANK YOU to our 2015 Sponsors and Donors
The Lorac Communications team in the Exhibit Hall.
The CCTA extends its gratitude to the companies that sponsored events or provided items for the 2015 Annual Meeting. These generous corporate friends are:
Platinum Sponsor:
Cable Bahamas
Gold Sponsors:
Lorac Communications
Caribbean Cable Cooperative Ltd.
GulfCom
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
Fox Networks
HBO
HBO Latin America Group
Revolt Media & TV
Silver Sponsors
A+E Networks
Quality Cable & Electronics
Harmonic Inc.
TBS Latin America
Turner Network Sales
Cable Technologies International
CommScope
Ion Media Networks
Bronze Sponsors
TVC Communications
Incospec Communications
Toner Cable Equipment, Inc.
Congratulations to the new Board of Directors
New Board of Directors members were elected during the meeting: Chair Terry Roberson of Bermuda CableVision; Vice Chair and Chair Elect Gaby Palerm of Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico; Past Chair David Burrows of Cable Bahamas; Director and Treasurer Mike Carrosquilla of Choice Cable TV (Puerto Rico); Director Andrew Greene of Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (Barbados); Director Beulah Jonis of St. Maarten Cable TV; Director Raul Ponson of SETAR N.V. (Aruba); Associate Director Patrick Harrell of Align Broadcasting; and Associate Director John T. Kurpinski, Sr. of Tarpon Communications.
Mark your calendars now for the 2016 Annual Meeting!
Next year's Annual Meeting will be held at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino from January 25 to 27. More details will be forthcoming in future editions of the Wavelengths Newsletter.
Irie! (everyt'ing good!)
We Got Together to Feel All Right (CCTA Jamaican Style)!
The 32nd Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Cable & Telecommunications Association, held in lovely Montego Bay, Jamaica, is now a fond memory for the 323 individuals who participated. The setting was spectacular, the hospitality of the staffs of both the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Montego Bay Convention Centre was second to none, and business buzzed in the Exhibit Hall and during all networking opportunities. The Welcome Cocktail Party and Banquet on the Beach, featuring steel pan and reggae music respectively, took place on beautiful, clear evenings with a full moon shining overhead. Who will ever forget those breathtaking moments? Admittedly there were some hiccups and a few logistical challenges, but all in all the 2015 Annual Meeting can be considered a rousing success. Take a look at Will Yan's blog post on the Annual Meeting for an attendee's perspective on the event. COLUMN HERE
One Caribbean Television's festive exhibitor booth.
Participants represented 163 different companies or organizations from 27 distinct nations or jurisdictions in North America, South America, Europe and the Caribbean. There were 50 cable and telecommunications companies on hand to talk with programmers and hardware and software vendors, and many were first-time attendees at an Annual Meeting.
WWE pro wrestler Kofi Kingston poses with admirers at the CCTA Annual Meeting in Jamaica.
The Exhibit Hall featured 82 companies and included a special appearance by WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, courtesy of Fox International. If you would like a complete list of the 323 participants at the 2015 Caribbean Show, please send a request to CCTA Executive Director Andrea Martin at info@cctanet.com.
2015 Educational Sessions Inspire and Enlighten
The educational sessions had much to do with the success of the Annual Meeting. From individual speakers to panel discussions, each one presented innovative, educational, and enlightening information during the presentations. Keynote speaker, the Honourable Sandrea Falconer, Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Jamaican Prime Minister, discussed "Globalized Communication and National Values: Opportunities and Challenges of the Converged World" to an appreciative audience.
Marketing Session 1, moderated by Jeff Kreger, was a lively discussion on "Managing the VOD and SVOD Storefront." The panel included Mike Curran of Vubiquity, Andreina Kock of SETAR N.V., and Teneile Simmons of Cable Bahamas. Marketing Session 2, "Excellence in Marketing and Advertising Strategies," featured outstanding presentations by Fernando Alcazar of SGA: “CCTA 2015”, “Chuito Discovers the Internet” and “Chuito Me Gusta La De Casi”; and one by Erik Russell of Keen i Media Ltd. (view Erik's talk here).
Not to be outdone, the two Technical Sessions were also well-received. Tom Gorman of opXL, Inc. discussed "Installing and Maintaining a Digital Headend" in Session 1 (click to download his PowerPoint presentation. Please note: this is a large file).
Quality Cable & Electronics presents its products and services in the Exhibit Hall during the 2015 Annual Meeting.
Bryan Grimm of Metaswitch covered "Bringing Hosted Business Services to Market" (click here to download his .pptx discussion; also a large file) in Technical Session 2.
We are very grateful to these speakers for their contributions to the Annual Meeting's educational sessions.