April 29, 2008

Chapter of the Year

Cascade Receives SCTE's Blue Ribbon

By Monta Monaco Hernon

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