September 9, 2011

9/11 Remembrances

Insight CEO Michael Willner

"It was the beginning of Diversity Week and my office became the decision center for the whole week's activities. It was Tuesday and several thousand industry people were already arriving in NYC. The gravity of the events of the day took a while to sink in.  Decker Anstrom and Robert Sachs were in my office and, as we looked out my window and watched the buildings burn from afar, we were actually trying to decide if we should cancel the Kaitz dinner the following night.  It didn't take us long to realize that this was no ordinary day.  The decision was made and Diversity Week was canceled. Our attention then turned to the safety of our colleagues. We knew John Malone and Brian Roberts were downtown at the Bank of New York. We frantically called everyone we could to confirm they were okay but it took hours to find that out. My most vivid memory was after the buildings fell. Although they were a number of miles from my office, they were very present in the view out my window. They towered over all of the the other buildings, in clear sight. And in an instant, they were gone. Every day for years to come, I would look out that window and remember that day. Others in my office saw the buildings fall. We hired grief counselors and created a company match fund for the firefighters and police families who lost loved ones. The outpouring of generosity from all of our employees from all over the country was simply overwhelming." -Michael Willner

If you would like to share your own reflections, please email CableFAX Community Editor Kaylee Hultgren at khultgren@accessintel.com or tweet them using #CableFAX.