Pipeline Profile: Randy Love

New Region 3 Director

SCTE member since 1986

Title: Project manager, Comcast

Broadband Background: Randy Love is the SCTE's newly elected Region 3 director, representing Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. In his "day job," he is a project manager for Comcast.

How did you first get involved in cable and the SCTE?

I was looking for a part-time job while attending high school to make extra spending money, and was tired of mowing lawns and didn't care for picking strawberries. Our neighbor happened to be the plant manager for the local cable company, and upon returning from vacation, he found the shop in disarray, so he fired the warehouse person, and I got a work permit. This was in 1971, and I immediately fell in love with the business and the potential for technical growth. In 1986, my position involved writing and administering technical training classes, so it was natural to get involved with the SCTE, and here I found others with the same passion.

What prompted you to run for a seat on the board?

After serving on our chapter board for 22 years, I thought it might be time to seek a higher post. With technical training and personal networking being so paramount to our success, there need to be vehicles for such along with ways to complement the in-house training programs. Aligned with this effort, I want to do what I can to keep the SCTE visible, accessible and important to our technical people.

What do you see as the key issues in your region?

Region 3 covers many square miles of beautiful country, but this can create a sense of isolation and challenges to maintaining training-hour requirements. Locating the best (and available) technical speakers for chapter meetings and vendor shows can be a challenge at times.

What do you see as the key issues for the SCTE and the industry as a whole?

I think a key issue for SCTE is very close to its mission: supporting the industry technically with training for the installers, service and maintenance techs, construction techs, headend techs, design engineers, network engineers, and LMC/ATS personnel. These are the bread and butter of our technical operations as cable providers and stand to benefit the most from SCTE programs. The industry as a whole needs to remain nimble and quick to respond and deploy new services and enhancements to remain competitive. This requires timely, effective and relevant training.

Can you share any memorable experiences from your time in the industry?

Many inappropriate ones come to mind, but more recently, one early morning a few years ago, we achieved dial tone on our brand new "VoIP" platform, and it was so exciting to make the first phone call. It was too early to wake anyone up, so I called my cell phone and congratulated myself. I knew the real fun was about to begin.