March 8, 2008 --The CCTA’s 2008 Annual Meeting held at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from January 28 to 31, was a great three-day event.  A total of 355 representatives of 158 companies attended the conference, making it the largest to date!  The attendees traveled from 32 different countries and territories to participate.  There were 100 exhibitors, another new record for the Annual Meeting. 

Much of the success of our Annual Meeting was due to this year’s speakers who covered a good mix of topics for the region.  It’s A Digital World panel discussion featured Jose Alegria of Liberty Cablevision of P.R.; Jay Cox of RGB Networks; Michael Hochman of EGT, Inc.; and Pablo Kagioglu of Advanced Media Technologies. Piracy – Fighting Theft in Your Community  highlighted the efforts of the Puerto Rican cable operators in conjunction with satellite service providers to combat piracy in the Commonwealth. Speakers for this panel included John Conrad and Gaby Palerm of Liberty Cablevision of P.R, and Jorge Hernandez of OneLink Communications. The Seven Keys to Marketing Anything…Including Yourself was very well-received. Marketing expert John Zamoiski of NMA Entertainment and Marketing gave this presentation to a rapt audience.  Special thanks go to John Kurpinski and the CTAM Caribbean chapter for coordinating the speaking sessions.  You can find the presentations by Jay Cox of RGB Networks, Michael Hochman of EGT, Inc., and Pablo Kagioglu of Advanced Media Technologies under Applications and Downloads on this web site.

At the Annual Membership Meeting held on Wednesday, January 30, new officers and directors of the association were elected.  For the 2008 year, the Board of Directors includes Chair Beulah Jonis of St. Maarten Cable TV; Vice Chair & Chair-Elect Terry Roberson of Bermuda Cablevision; Past Chair Bill Ewing of The Cable; Director and Treasurer Jose Alegria of Liberty Communications of P.R.; Director Tony Butler of Cable Bahamas; Director Brendan Paddick of Columbus Communications; and Director Roderich Pietersz of T.V. Distribution Systems. The Associate Membership elected John Kurpinski of Mainstream Innovations to serve as one of two Associate Directors; Amy Bennett of QVC/ASM will continue as the second Associate Director. 

Sponsorships of the various activities associated with the Annual Meeting were outstanding, and for that the Board of Directors is extremely grateful.  The Auction and Raffle to raise funds for the Community Charities Program did well, bringing in over $9,638.78 for this worthwhile activity benefiting non-profit organizations throughout the region.  Much of the credit for this success goes to our outstanding auctioneer Patrick Harrell of the Outdoor Channel, who was most ably assisted by Cheryl Reno of Rainbow Networks and Beverly Kurpinski.  The CCTA is most grateful to the companies and individuals who provided such great items for the auction and raffle.

The annual Golf Tournament attracted only 29 players this year, but the competition was fierce.  The first place team winners of the Golf Tournament were Tim Aden, Jose Alegria, Brandi Bilyeu, and John Kurpinski.  The second place team included David Adcock, Hyun Berglund, Bill McCall, and Bernie Segura.  The third place team was made up of Rick Anderson, Daniel Otaola, Vince Soleto, and Edwin Stevenson.   Jose Alegria and Cliff Radziewicz were closest to the pin, while Jose Alegria and Alan Smith had the longest drives.

The site for the 2009 Annual Meeting has not yet been selected, but potential host hotels on Aruba, New Providence in the Bahamas, and Trinidad are being considered.  As soon as the dates and site have been determined, the CCTA’s membership will be informed and a notice will be posted on the web site.