Board Taps Foote for Chair

On Tuesday, the SCTE Board of Directors elected Bob Foote as its chairman for the 2009-2010 term.

Foote serves as the SCTE’s Region 12 director, representing Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Foote began his cable career in 1980 as a technician in his hometown of Ipswich, MA. Most recently, he was account vice president for ARRIS for more than 20 years where he managed major account sales to cable operators throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest in the United States, plus Eastern Canada.

Foote first joined the SCTE in 1989 with the New England Chapter and has held many chapter leadership positions, including president. The SCTE has recognized the New England Chapter on numerous occasions for its top performance.

In 2008, Foote returned to the Region 12 seat on the national board. He had previously held that seat for three consecutive terms, the number of terms limited by SCTE rules.

In June 2008, when asked to share memorable experiences from his several decades in the industry, he said, “Hands down, my most memorable and proudest experience was receiving the SCTE Member of the year award in 2005.”

“The people involved in surprising me with this honor pulled it off?flawlessly,” he said. “It was very humbling and very gratifying.”

CT caught up with Foote after the Board of Directors’ meeting. He said the SCTE is focusing on a number of issues, looking at its “value in the industry.”

As for the yearly SCTE conferences, which have been merged with other cable meetings, he affirmed that the Conference on Emerging Technologies would again be held during the spring Cable Show.

For this year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, he said the hottest focus was the Green Pavilion, where exhibitors are showing off energy-efficient products for the cable industry.

Following the election of its leaders, the new SCTE Board of Directors conducted its first board meeting in the Colorado Convention Center.

At the general membership meeting Tuesday afternoon, outgoing SCTE Chair Tom Gorman reflected on his tenure.

“This past year has been quite a ride,” he said. “The industry event consolidation that¹s gone on is not a small task for the industry to get through.”

In that regard, with the SCTE having Cable-Tec Expo in Denver in late October – and a big snowstorm forecast for later in the week – Gorman said, “I hope you brought your snow shovels.”

During committee reports, SCTE Secretary Frank Eichenlaub shared membership numbers. “If you look at our membership, it’s tough times,” he said. The association’s membership numbers are down, but still exceed 12,000, he said. But on a bright note, the SCTE held its first Canadian summit in Toronto in 2009. “The summit was a huge success,” said Director-At-Large, Canada, Dermot O’Carroll. “The income from the summit exceeded our expectations by something like $86,000.”

The SCTE passed its 40th anniversary milestone in 2009 and will be celebrating at Expo with a party on Thursday.

-Linda Hardesty