Hometown: Tuscaloosa, AL
Favorite Sports Team: Any team within the University of Alabama Athletic Department
I want 30 seconds in an elevator with: Past/Deceased: Steve Jobs; Present/Living: Ted Turner
If I bought Twitter, the first thing I’d do is… Remove the bots/phony accounts.
Pickleball or tennis? Neither. I’m a golf guy.
My biggest irrational phobia: Orange…. I just can’t take anything orange. No oranges, no carrots, no orange highlighters, Post-it pads…. nothing orange. It makes me cringe.
Last TV series watched: “The Last of Us”
Where do you work most frequently—home, office, road? Yes. I think most executives integrate Work/Life balance into whatever location they tend to be in at the moment. I will take a personal call from my wife in the office or review potential personal business decisions just as I take business calls at home or away on holiday. Most specific to the question though, most frequently I work from the office.
What impact could AI have on the industry’s future? I believe AI will provide dramatic improvements to the customers experience whether it is in technological advances such as circuit routing to reduce latency or through customer interaction to solve problems or answer questions without the need of human intervention.
Biggest roadblock in fiber expansions? Skilled labor availability
Industry Top Priority for 2023: With regards to broadband data, I believe we need to continue our efforts not to turn this service into a simple commodity while doubling down on our efforts to improve digital literacy. Enhancing the education levels of all members of our communities to better understand and embrace the opportunities Broadband Data provide to improve our communities quality of life whether it is baseline educational opportunities, improved and faster access to physical healthcare and mental healthcare, as well as other opportunities within our communities for additional areas of support.
How do you personally give back to your community? At Buckeye Broadband, we’ve developed a well-defined community support structure within our company. I grew up within a family structure where it was regularly reinforced that community service is the price we paid for our place on earth. I seldom miss an opportunity to get involved with our community support partners: Our Area Foodbank where we build meal kits for community members in need, Habitat, Red Cross, and additional support of our United Way both in financial support as well as any additional service need.
Streaming app I use the most: Our own IPTV service, STREAMTV, followed by Netflix.
My best ideas come when… our teams collaborate IN PERSON. In my opinion, in person collaboration heightens the engagement levels of all members and creates a more dynamic environment for innovation and iteration.
My prediction for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube: The easy answer is I think it’s going to dramatically enhance YouTube subscription levels while negatively impacting DirectTV. From a Broadband perspective, it will place added focus and pressure on our networks as it will take a robust data connection to facilitate the type of experience viewers have come to expect.
Which website or app do you visit most when procrastinating? Amazon
Favorite place you’ve ever visited? St. Andrews, Scotland followed closely by Ephesus, Turkey
What energy efficient technology do you think the industry would most benefit from? As an industry we utilize heavy electrical power usage to deliver our services so generally speaking, greater development in Solar applications could reduce our dependency on fossil fueled sources and reduce our carbon footprint. From a consumer perspective, I think greater development, education and ease of use with regards to smart hubs and all the “things” that could be utilized within private residences to create greater energy efficiency while improving consumer comfort.
Podcast, radio or audiobook? Satellite Radio
Biggest misconception about fixed wireless solutions? In my opinion, the biggest misconception about “fixed wireless” solutions is that they are as robust and provides equal bandwidth availability with reduced latency connectivity as Broadband connections.
TV intro you won’t skip? NFL REDZONE
Slack or Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams.