Many cable industry national events will re-align around a “spring” week in Washington, D.C, and a “fall” week in Denver next year, a template for future event scheduling and the product of months of talks between the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and leaders of various industry associations.
The NCTA said Monday the destination city for each week under the plan probably will change annually – but it’s envisioned the 2009 scheduling will be “the template for years beyond 2009.”
A standing committee of representatives from several of the affected groups has been created to continue working with the NCTA board of directors to “advance the success of the new plan and help manage its operational requirements.”
The spring events in Washington during the week of April 2, 2009, include The Cable Show, the NCTA’s annual convention, scheduled this year for May 16-18 in New Orleans; the CableLabs Conference; SCTE's Emerging Technologies Conference; the CAB's annual conference (already integrated into The Cable Show); NAMIC's Annual Awards Breakfast; the Cable Positive Power Awards Dinner (this year’s edition is tomorrow night in New York City) and the Cable Pioneers annual dinner.
The spring events also include the WICT Leadership Conference & Gala. The gala had been a fall event in Washington: this year’s is scheduled for Nov. 20.
The fall events in Denver during the week of Oct. 25 include: the CTAM Summit (shifting to the fall for the first time this year, in Boston); the CableLabs seminar; the SCTE CableTEC Expo; the NCTA Board of Directors meeting, including joint meetings with the national boards of directors of NAMIC and WICT; the Walter Kaitz Foundation Annual Dinner (traditionally held in New York City); the NAMIC Annual Conference; the Cable Center Hall of Fame Dinner and the ACC Forum.
Talks aimed at clustering events around a couple of weeks per year, instead of spread across the calendar, got going last fall, instigated by cable operator executives eager to minimize the amount of time executives spend out of the office at industry events.
Executives who played major roles in the effort include Comcast COO Steve Burke and Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Glenn Britt. Others in key roles were Fox Networks Group CEO Tony Vinciquerra, Landmark Communications president Decker Anstrom and Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent.
"I want to thank each of the association heads for working so constructively together to develop a new strategy," NCTA CEO Kyle McSlarrow said in a release. "Ours is a dynamic industry with many vibrant organizations that provide great benefits to all of us, and this strategy respects the value their programs and projects provide. The realigned schedule allows member companies, participants, and exhibitors to allocate time and resources more efficiently to better support these organizations and events and to enhance the value of the shared experience of our incredibly collaborative industry."
