• Attendence Tops 1000
  The Independent Show Draws A Crowd In Monterey

Monterey, California welcomed NCTC and ACA members with cool breezes and hazy days, but The Independent Show proved to be a clear hit with members. 1,001 members, programmers, vendors and family members attended the second Independent Show, which features an integrated agenda of business and political panel presentations.

One of the key presentations this year almost didn’t happen. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, who had committed in person early in 2007 to both ACA President and CEO Matt Polka and NCTC President and CEO Jeff Abbas that he would speak in Monterey, was forced to cancel his appearance just days before the conference. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had scheduled a last-minute hearing that conflicted with The Independent Show, so Adelstein was forced to back out of his commitment.

Being true to his word, however, was important to the Commissioner and while he couldn’t be there in person, he provided taped comments for the ACA and NCTC members. Following his taped comments, Adelstein joined members by phone to take their questions. Matt Polka commented that “It was an extremely generous commitment of Commissioner Adelstein’s time that he could provide both taped comments and be available to do a live-via-telephone Q&A. We are very grateful that he took these efforts to be a part of our meeting.”

In addition to a serious discussion of the FCC issues, members also got insight from several well-known speakers. CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider spoke about the 2008 election and assessed the multitude of candidates already in the running, though he humorously declined early on in his comments to predict the next President though he thinks he knows “who she’ll be….”

Meagan Johnson spoke about how to “Zap the Gap” or easing generational tensions in the workforce. She noted that despite the many differences in the new generations now seeking work, there are many similarities to the opinions of “Baby Boomers” when they first entered the workforce in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.

Older workers often label the newest generation—no matter what the era—as unmotivated, lazy, hard to please and willing to leave for a few cents difference in pay. Johnson has shared her insights with many large companies and brought her presentation to The Independent Show’s Monday luncheon.

Comedian and impressionist Fred Travelena spoke at the Christians in Cable breakfast, bringing his trademark impressions to the early crowd and sharing some of his faith beliefs with those at the well-attended optional event on Monday morning.

The focal point of the ACA and NCTC meeting, however, was the members who took the stage to share their successes with other members. The opening panel discussion drew on the expertise of both ACA and NCTC Board members. Kay Monigold of Buford Media, Steve Weed of Wave Broadband, Bill Severn of NPG Cable and Jeff Ross of Armstrong all shared their vision of the challenges and opportunities faced by the independent operator. Steve Effros, President of Effros Communications and a columnist for CableFax, moderated the opening panel.

Severn spoke about concerns with the entrance of large phone companies into video, noting that for some of his larger markets that threat was more pressing than DBS competition. Monigold noted DBS is still Buford’s biggest competitive threat, though the triple play offerings have helped them fight off encroachment from the dish companies. Weed noted the race was on for providing HD, and that HD and VOD are key components of Wave’s competitive strategy. Ross also saw HD as a key to growth, noting cable is winning the HD race now, but DirecTV’s planned launch of “HD tonnage” could sway some consumers.

Additional member companies that presented included Atlantic Broadband; Bresnan Communications; Buckeye Cable; Cable One; Comporium Communications; Eagle Communications; GCI; Longview Communications; Massillon Cable TV; Millennium Digital Media; New Wave Communications and Sunflower Broadband. NCTC members can see PowerPoint presentations from the meeting at www.nctconline.org; they are under the Member Services and Programming section of the web site and are available by clicking on the “meetings” tab.

The far western location for the meeting drew virtually the same number of members that attended the 2006 meeting in Chicago. NCTC and ACA choose a variety of locations across the country for the meeting so as to bring the meeting close to a different group of companies each year. In true coast-to-coast fashion, the 2008 Independent Show will return to a member-favorite location: Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.