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Chapter of the
Year
Cascade Receives SCTE's Blue Ribbon
The SCTE has named the Cascade
Range Chapter of northwestern Oregon
the 2007 Chapter of the Year.
Although Cascade shared the title
with perennial powerhouse New
England in 2002, and is usually at
the top of the pack (SCTE ranks
first through seventh), this is the
first time it is the sole recipient
of the honor.
"We just got tired of being
No. 2 ... I have to give credit to
New England. They have raised the
bar for us to succeed .... It is a
lot of fun to go out and compete to
be the best chapter out there,"
said Keith Grunberg, SCTE Region 3
director.
"We were kind of speechless
and super surprised. It felt good to
see all of our hard work and
dedication pay off," said Alan
Williams, Cascade president.
Both leaders credit the support
their chapter receives from MSOs for
making it a strong group year after
year. "If we need something
from the MSOs, they are right on top
of it helping us out," Williams
said.
Testing, training, and tech
days
As for what might have put
Cascade over the top, Williams
mentioned the chapter's emphasis on
testing. Proctors are available at
least every Wednesday and other days
if requested. "We never had
someone want to test that
couldn't."
In addition, Cascade has
increased the amount of training it
offers. "We really reach out to
our MSOs and ask them what are the
hot topics they are working on so we
can focus the training on their
needs. By doing that, we find we
have been successful at getting
attendees at our training
(sessions)," Williams said.
A return to the basics in
training also has proven popular.
"You still need to understand
RF before going to advanced
services," Williams added.
A monthly newsletter and
frequently updated Web site,
complete with seminar presentations,
kept every member in the loop last
year. "At least they are
emailed so they know what is going
on," Grunberg said.
Helping each other
In 2007, the Cascade chapter
reached out to one of its brethren,
helping the Mid-Colombia chapter run
its first Cable Games. "They
had a huge amount of success with
it. They got people engaged who have
never been exposed to (SCTE),"
Grunberg said.
Conversely, by helping the Mount
Rainier Chapter with a vendor show
next month, Cascade hopes also to
pick up some new ideas for its own
fall show. "We want to tweak
our vendor show a little bit, but we
haven't yet defined what those
changes will be," Williams
said.
The SCTE also presented Cascade
with the 2007 Professional
Development Award and named chapter
secretary Amanda Walton Chapter
Member of the Year. She's profiled
at right.
Along with the Professional
Development Award, the SCTE presents
chapter awards on Compliance,
Striving for Excellence and
Recruitment. Combing the points
earned for those four awards
determines the ranking for the
Chapter of the Year awards. A
nomination process determines the
Chapter Member of the Year Award.
- Monta Monaco Hernon |
