NAMIC, WICT, SCTE and Kaitz Foundation
Part of Diversity Events at This Year's Show
Washington, D.C. – A series of events promoting diversity in the cable workforce and marketplace will be featured at this year’s The National Show, the 52nd Annual Conference & Exhibition of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), June 8 – 11 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Several organizations that have made diversity a focus – the Walter Kaitz Foundation, Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT), the National Association of Minorities in Communications (NAMIC), and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) – have scheduled meaningful events at the Show aimed at strengthening the cable industry’s commitment to diversity.
The Supplier & Employment Diversity Connection
In past years, NCTA and the Walter Kaitz Foundation have co-sponsored at the Show a Supplier Diversity Program, designed to facilitate stronger relationships among women- and minority-owned vendors, and cable industry companies that utilize outside contractors. For 2003, the program has been expanded and renamed the Supplier & Employment Diversity Connection, reflecting the addition of an employment diversity element in co-sponsorship with Cable & Telecommunications Human Resources Association (CTHRA).
The components of Cable 2003’s Supplier & Employment Diversity Connection program include:
- The Cable & Telecommunications Human Resources Association (CTHRA) will sponsor a two-hour session entitled, Diverse Talent: Moving Up or Off the Ladder?, on Tuesday, June 10, at 2:45 p.m. The session is specifically designed for all member company executives who make decisions in hiring personnel within their companies.
- The Walter Kaitz Foundation will sponsor the supplier diversity component of the program, designed for women and minority business owners and representatives from regional diversity-focused trade councils and chambers of commerce that specialize in offering products and services used by the cable industry.
- Both the supplier and employment diversity components of the program will culminate in a combined Supplier & Employment Diversity Networking reception on Tuesday evening, June 10.
“These important events provide cable industry employers and suppliers the opportunity to exchange best practices, generate new ideas and learn from each other successful ways of expanding diversity throughout the industry,” said Robert Sachs, President & CEO, NCTA.
Other diversity-related events at The National Show include:
The 2003 NAMIC Annual Awards Breakfast
The NAMIC Annual Awards Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11. The 2003 Honorary Chair is Steve Burke, President, Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. Herman Boone, motivator/football coach and inspiration for the hit film “Remember the Titans” will serve as keynote speaker. This year’s NAMIC honorees are:
- Stanley B. Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award:
- Jamie Howard, COO, Big Band Network
- Winston “Tony” Cox - Executive Achievement Award:
- Sandra K. Mitchell, SVP & GM of Operations, HBO
- L. Patrick Mellon Mentorship Award:
- Decker Anstrom, Chairman & CEO, Landmark Communications
- Friend of NAMIC Awards:
- Matthew C. Blank, Chairman & CEO, Showtime Networks, Inc.
- Nickolas Davatzes, President & CEO, A&E Television Networks
- Kathleen A. Dore, President, IFC Companies
Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT)
WICT will host an Executive Member Reception on Monday, June 9, for presentation of the 2003 Bernice Coe Award. This award is presented annually to a young woman who exhibits leadership potential, and it covers registration and travel expenses to the WICT Forum 2003 in Orlando, FL, June 25 – 27.
In addition, some specific breakout sessions will address workplace and marketplace diversity issues as they relate to the cable industry. Those sessions are:
- Operación Español: The Sunday technology session presented by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) will be entirely in Spanish and will feature updates on video on demand, high-definition television and high-speed data.
- The Whole World is Watching: This Sunday panel, moderated by NAMIC President Jenny Alonzo of Lifetime Television, will highlight how cable networks are reaching out to rapidly changing and growing ethnicities in the United States.
To obtain a meeting agenda for these and other programs during The National Show, please visit the official web site (www.thenationalshow.com) or contact the NCTA Department of Communications and Public Affairs (202/775-3680).
NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States. NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry.