CCTA Wavelengths: Issue 7 - Summer 2014

More Details on the 2015 Annual Meeting

Since the CCTA announced that the 2015 Annual Meeting will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, interest in the meeting and venue has skyrocketed. The board of directors recently approved the schedule for the three-day meeting, which will be held in two locations - Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Montego Bay Convention Centre.

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You are the first to know this info!

Here is a brief synopsis of the schedule:

Monday, February 2

• Registration

• Board of Directors' Meeting

• Tuesday, February 3

• Golf Tournament

• Tennis Tournament

• Exhibit Hall Set-up

• Welcome Cocktail Party

  Wednesday, February 4

• Programming and Technical Highlights Sessions

• Marketing/Management Topic 1

• Technical Topic 1

• Luncheon with Keynote Speaker

• Exhibit Hall

• Banquet on the Beach

  Thursday, February 5

• Associate Members' Meeting

• Annual Membership Meeting including Reports from Cable Operators

• Marketing/Management Topic 2

• Technical Topic 2

• Luncheon in Exhibit Hall

• Exhibit Hall, Farewell Cocktail Party and Auction
  

  Friday, February 6

• Exhibit Hall Breakdown

As more information becomes available, we will be sharing it in upcoming e-mail announcements!

The Jamaica Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa

2014 Technical Training Session Announced
July 15th through 17th

The CCTA has just released the registration materials for its annual Technical Training, which will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on three days - Tuesday, July 15; Wednesday, July 16; and Thursday, July 17. This very popular training usually attracts more than 100 installers, technicians, engineers, supervisory staff and managers from the association's Active Members (cable operators) in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

The Technical Training is available at no cost to employees of the association's Active Members. The CCTA will provide the training and daytime meals (breakfast, morning break, lunch and afternoon break) for each participant, but transportation, dinner and hotel expenses are the responsibility of each attendee. For other individuals wishing to attend the training, there will be a reasonable daily fee to cover meal and administrative expenses. For representatives of Associate Members, the daily fee is $100. For representatives of non-member companies, the daily fee is $140.

Associate Director John T. Kurpinski, Sr., is busy finalizing details of the schedule, which will include three full days of training modules presented by experts in cable industry technology and engineering. Some of the topics to be covered are WiFi 101 and Implementing WiFi over HFC Networks; Home Installation Process and Certification; Troubleshooting Techniques; Cable Staff Training; CLI/LTE Interference; TDR Event Analysis; Code Error Rate; and From HFC to FTTH - How to migrate from the current HFC networks to a FTTH architecture. A full schedule will be released shortly.

The 2014 training will take place at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino located at 200 Convention Boulevard in San Juan. The hotel has provided a rate of $135 per night, single or double occupancy, plus 11% tax and a $15 hotel fee. There is also a $1.00 per room, per day, maid gratuity and $5.00 per person, one-time bellman gratuity. This special rate will be available from July 12 through July 20, based on availability. Reservations can be made here. You may also call the hotel's Central Reservations office at 1-866-932-7269 to reserve a room. You must mention the "2014 CCTA Technical Training" to be eligible for the special rate, which expires on July 3.

If you are interested in attending the 2014 Technical Training, or having your company sponsor a social event, please contact Executive Director Andrea L. Martin at info@cctanet.com or at 1-864-836-8954. She can send you full details of the training, plus the pertinent registration forms. Registrations for the training must be made by Wednesday, July 9.

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Lisa Burke of Weststar TV presents a check for $1,000 from the CCTA's Community Charities Program to athletes involved in Special Olympics Cayman Islands.

2014 Community Charities Program

Twelve exceptional charities will benefit from the CCTA's Community Charities Program this year. The board of directors unanimously agreed to award $1,000 to each organization that was nominated by a cable system member of the CCTA.

David Burrows, CCTA chair and head of marketing for Cable Bahamas, stated, "The missions of these 12 nominees range from health services to education, from senior care to humane care. All nominees provide vital services to their communities and we are pleased to be able to help each one." The board made the decision to provide all 2014 nominees with $1,000 at their meeting on May 22.

The 12 grant recipients and their sponsoring companies are: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bermuda nominated by Bermuda CableVision Ltd.; Bregado Flax Primary School nominated by BVI Cable TV; Go Gogo Foundation Corp. nominated by Choice Cable TV of Puerto Rico; Clarendon Infirmary nominated by General Satelite Network Company Ltd. of Jamaica; Queen Louise Home nominated by Innovative Cable TV St. Croix; Nana Baby Children's Home, Inc. nominated by Innovative Cable TV St. Thomas-St. John; Colegio de Educacion Especial y Rehabilitacion Integral nominated by Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico; St. Maarten Animal Welfare Foundation nominated by St. Maarten Cable TV; Warriors for Christ Pathfinder Club nominated by The Cable of St. Kitts; Fundashon Pro Bista nominated by T.V. Distribution Systems of Curacao; Special Olympics Cayman Islands nominated by WestStar TV Limited; and Home Away From Home nominated by Wireless Telecommunication Network of St. Maarten.

The Community Charities Program was established by the CCTA in 1993. Since then, the program has distributed over $293,000 in grants to more than 120 charities in the region.

The CCTA extends its appreciation to Broadband Library (Mobile) for its continuing support of the cable and telecommunications community and for its coverage of the CCTA Annual Meetings. Be sure to check out BBL’s great quarterly publications for informative cable industry news and updates.

CCTA Wavelengths: Issue 6 - Spring 2014

And the answer to the big question is...Jamaica!

That's right, the 2015 Annual Meeting will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, next February! The Board of Directors recently made the decision to head to Jamaica for the first time in the CCTA's history. The site hotel will be the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa (located right on the beach), while the Exhibit Hall and several sessions will be held at the beautiful Montego Bay Convention Centre just down the road. The exact dates of the three-day Annual Meeting are February 3, 4 and 5, 2015. So Save Those Dates. The host cable system will be General Satellite Network, so be prepared to enjoy some great Jamaican hospitality. More details on the 2015 Annual Meeting will be available later this year.

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More great training just around the corner

Here are more dates to save on your calendar: July 15, 16 and 17! That's when the highly-successful Technical Training will take place, once again at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino in San Juan. Associate Director John T. Kurpinski, Sr., will be developing the agenda and he is asking for suggestions for topics from the association's cable operators. For all you Active Members out there, you know what your staffs need in the way of education. So send your ideas to info@cctanet.com and they will be forwarded to John. Whenever possible, John sources speakers from among our Associate Members. Registration and information on booking rooms at the Sheraton will be released closer to the dates.

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2014 Community Charities Program underway

The 2014 Community Charities Program recently opened for nominations. Since 1993, the CCTA has contributed more than $281,000 to charitable organizations in the region. The charities are nominated by the Active Members and then reviewed by the members of the Board of Directors who make the final selection. Nominations for this year's program must be submitted by May 15, 2014. Over the years, the grants have ranged between $750 and $1,000 each. Active Members are urged to use the presentation of the checks to their nominated charities to promote their companies, the association, and the cable television industry in the Caribbean.

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Lignum Vitae blossoms; the national flower of Jamaica

Did You Know...

... that Montego Bay is the capital of St. James parish, located on the northwest side of the island of Jamaica? Frequently called Mobay, the city is situated on the ocean and surrounded by majestic hills. The city has its own airport, Sangster International Airport (MBJ). Don't make the mistake of flying into Kingston, because then you'll have to rent a car and drive for hours before glimpsing enchanting Montego Bay.

CCTA 2014 Annual Meeting Another Resounding Success

Much of the success of the 2014 Annual Meeting can be attributed to the five dynamic speakers who presented innovative, educational, and enlightening information during their presentations.

Keynote Speaker Cheng Wu of Azuki Systems fascinated the audience with his vision of "Surviving the Cloud TV Tsunami". Andres Capdevila of Harmonic Inc. presented an abstract on "Ultra High Definition TV". Daniel Howard of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers discussed "HFC Network Readiness for DOCSIS 3.1".

Noted author and speaker Barry Mahergave invaluable advice on "Slicing through the Noise: Powerful Communication for Leadership and Professional Success", and Aaron Wesley Means of Activate Business Solutions led a lively session on "Growing Your Business with Engagement Marketing".

We are very grateful for each individual's contribution to the 2014 Annual Meeting.

A very big THANK YOU to the companies that sponsored events or provided items for the 2014 Annual Meeting. These generous corporate friends are:

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GOLD SPONSORS
•  BBC Worldwide
•  HBO Latin America Group
•  MAXXIAN
•  Caribbean Cable Cooperative Ltd.

SILVER SPONSORS
•  A+E Networks
•  HBO
•  Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP
•  Lorac Communications
•  Cycle30
•  GulfCom
•  Turner Network Sales
•  TVC Communications
•  Choice Cable TV
•  Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico
•  Fox Networks

BRONZE SPONSORS
•  Cable Technologies International
•  Scripps Networks Interactive
•  Univision Communications
•  Crown Media Family Networks
•  Digicomm International
•  Incospec Communications
•  Spectrum Engineering Corporation
•  CommScope
•  Toner Cable Equipment, Inc.

Thanks to Sandi Kruger of GLS and Aaron Wesley Means of Activate Business Solutions for the use of their photographs from the 2014 Meeting in this issue.

What a way to end January! If you were lucky enough to attend the CCTA's 2014 Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, AND avoid the record-setting U.S. blizzard, then you can be considered a strategic and planning genius! You were one of the 381 wise individuals who traveled to the Caribbean from January 27 to 29 to participate in the CCTA's 31st Annual Meeting, which was the second largest in the organization's history. Way to go!

From beginning to end, the "Caribbean Show" was crammed with top-notch speakers, exhibitions, and social events designed for networking. There were 183 companies or organizations in attendance, representing 28 distinct nations or jurisdictions in North America, South America, Europe and the Caribbean. The vibe was upbeat and non-stop, just like the lively Puerto Rican salsa that played throughout the meeting.

The only sad moment came during the Annual Membership Meeting, when it was announced that Bill Ewing, Managing Director of The Cable St. Kitts, was retiring from the CCTA Board of Directors. After Bill's farewell comments, Alan Smith of Bermuda CableVision said, "There isn't a dry eye in the house", and that was exactly right.

Bill has been active in the CCTA for more than 20 years and has served as Chair four times. He has been dedicated to the association, and the cable industry in the Caribbean. He will definitely be missed by everyone associated with the CCTA. In tribute to Bill, Mike Carrosquilla of Choice Cable TV sang "My Way" at the Farewell Cocktail Party.

Congratulations to members of the new Board of Directors, who were elected during the meeting: Chair David Burrows of Cable Bahamas; Vice Chair and Chair Elect Terry Roberson of Bermuda CableVision; Past Chair Beulah Jonis of St. Maarten Cable TV; Director and Treasurer Mike Carrosquilla of Choice Cable TV (Puerto Rico); Director Andrew Greene of Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (Barbados); Director Gaby Palerm of Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico; 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.

Of course, the big question is “Where will the 2015 Annual Meeting be held?” And the answer is, we still don't know. We're soliciting proposals from hotels throughout the region and will make an announcement on the 2015 site as soon as we can. Keep posted, monitor our website at www.cctanet.com, and continue to read the CCTA Wavelengths newsletters for the latest about the association and its activities. Oh, and for those of you who don't happen to live in the Caribbean, keep warm!

Looking for the latest CCTA "Who's Who"?
A spreadsheet of 2014 Annual Meeting attendees is available to any representative of a CCTA member company, and to non-members who attended the 2014 Annual Meeting. To obtain a copy, please send an e-mailto Executive Director Andrea L. Martin.