SCTE honors Stottler

Just before the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo show floor officially opened on Wednesday, several industry executives were recognized at the 2008 Annual Awards Luncheon.

The SCTE granted Brenda Stottler of Arris with the 2008 SCTE Member of the Year Award, which goes to an individual whose efforts during the past year have advanced the success of the society.

This past year, Stottler’s work on the SCTE No Chapter Left Behind Subcommittee helped the SCTE Alaska Chapter restore its effectiveness as an SCTE chapter.

Stottler is VP of three SCTE chapters – the Great Plains Chapter, the Iowa Heartland Chapter and the Heart of America Chapter. She is also involved with other SCTE chapters, and she “challenges the directors from different chapters to work together in planning and conducting events,” according to the society.

“ . . . Being a part of the SCTE, you learn from the best of the best, so I owe this to all of you,” Stottler told the Awards Luncheon attendants.

Eugene M. White was inducted into the SCTE Hall of Fame, which recognizes SCTE members who have made notable contributions to the professional development, ideals and goals of the society and the cable industry.

White began his cable career as an installer with Tele-Communications Inc. in 1973 in Pueblo, Colo., and became an SCTE member in 1977. Before retiring last fall, White served as Bright House Networks’ VP of engineering for the company’s Tampa Bay division. He was responsible for the overall planning and direction of the division’s technical operations.

And the 2008 SCTE Gold and Silver Safety Awards were handed out. For the Gold Safety Awards, Charter Communications led the way with 98 systems, followed by Suddenlink Communications with 73.

Charter, with 14 systems, also led the way for the Silver Safety Awards, and Suddenlink Communications followed with 12.

The awards identify and recognize technical operations centers that have achieved an outstanding level of safety. Only individual technical operations centers are eligible for the awards.

Additionally, Tom Gorman honored Frank Drendel, chairman and CEO of CommScope, and Robert Stanzione, chairman of the board and president and CEO of Arris, with the 2008 SCTE Chairman’s Award, which honors individuals and organizations that have demonstrated significant support for the society and its mission.

Drendel and Stanzione provided “critical support and direction during the past year to my fellow SCTE leaders and me as we responded to the groundbreaking industry initiative calling for consolidation of the industry’s trade shows,” Gorman said. “The arduous change process successfully resulted in aligning the industry’s annual events beginning in 2009 into a spring week and a fall week.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell keynoted the event and displayed his stand-up abilities by noting that the way to make a real Philadelphia cheese steak is to use stringy meat, cheese whiz and grilled onions with the grease intact. Other cities that try to replicate the Philly favorite get it all wrong by using good meat and real cheese, and by draining the grease from the grilled onions, he said.

Rendell continued on, praising the cable industry for its perseverance and innovation. What’s on the horizon, Rendell said, is astounding, and the industry is always pushing the edge and looking for new ways to make technology better, to advance the entire state of the industry.

“Innovation in cable has been spectacular over the past five years, and all of you deserve tremendous credit for that,” Rendell told the attendants. “You help to drive an industry that is not content to rest on its laurels. You are succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.”

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