In all my years attending CTAM, I've never seen so many people arrive for a session so early! We were crammed into the front rows of seats like wannabe groupies at a concert--but all for a good cause.

If you've ever been to CTAM (Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing's annual summit, held this year in Philly) you know that it's filled with great sessions and speakers designed to spark the intellect in all attendees—to give you something to take back to the office after sweating it out to get to the front row to see Jon Bon Jovi up close and personal. Oh wait, that was just me and about 150 other professional women pushing to get up close and personal with the platinum haired, white-toothed rock god. In all my years attending CTAM, I've never seen so many people arrive for a session so early! We were crammed into the front rows of seats like wannabe groupies at a concert—but all for a good cause. If you could get past his good looks and the uninformed interviewer, JBJ had some interesting things to say about the cable industry and what should be important to all of us. What stuck out most to me was his charge to "Make volunteerism fashionable—make it the new black." We all know that chocolate brown is the new black this season, but you get his point. Philanthropy and community involvement are more important than ever and only CABLE can touch the communities we serve in a way that is most meaningful. But we don't do a great job sometimes of touting just how much we give back to our communities. Maybe we feel like it would be taboo to discuss the millions of dollars donated in cash and in-kind to various organizations. Or maybe we don't feel it's newsworthy enough to draw attention to all of the employees who donate their time volunteering in their local communities. But why? Cable has such a great story to tell when it comes to volunteering and community involvement. We live, work and play in the communities we serve. Can the DBS giants claim the same? I don't think so. Do you think employees from DirecTV or Dish have ever shown up to paint the walls of a local Boys and Girls Club? Or when was the last time they sponsored a Hispanic Business Association luncheon? Only cable is positioned to be active members in the communities we serve. So while we can bring you a great bundle of products at a great value, we can also do something that DBS can't—and that's be a part of the communities we love. Now who's going to give love a bad name...

Read Staci Kramer's Comprehensive blog on the sights, sounds and take-aways from CTAM.

< back