Tomorrow at 1 PM ET, marks the beginning of this year’s 3-day Independent Show. With bite-size blocks of two-hour sessions, featuring speakers such as Representative Mike Doyle, economist, Marci Rossell, and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, this year’s event is, as suggested in the show’s tagline, reimagined. Although the gathering will be virtual with sessions that are somewhat compressed, the speakers are sure to deliver content that is useful for broadband operators and the associated ecosystem. To get a flavor for the type of content that can be expected, watch the following videos from TIS19 that are as relevant today as they were when filmed in Chicago.
Cable Expansion by Serving the Underserved #TIS19

“They are kind of the new cable cowboys,” exclaims Kathrine Gessner, president of MCTV, in the above interview. Gessner is referring to the excitement of the MCTV crews in rebuilding a cable system that they acquired. Growth by acquisition is relatively new for MCTV and their first target came via the classifieds. MCTV is actively looking for areas in Ohio that are underserved by video and, by extension, broadband.
Social Customer Support #TIS19

Moving from customer service to customer experience is the change in approach that Misty Tuttle, Sales and Marketing Manager for Horizon, describes. She speaks about the importance of meeting the customer where they are and providing support when needed. She is skeptical of the ability of automated bots as replacement of the human connection that Horizon’s agents provide.
Lumpy or Squishy Gets a Response – #TIS19

A 6% return on a direct mailer is an example of an outstanding result that Suzanne St. Pierre, Marketing & PR Specialist for All West Communications, saw in a targeted marketing campaign. St. Pierre explains that direct mail is a way for a company’s message to rise above the digital media chatter. Her recommendation is to mail something that is lumpy or squishy to encourage people to open the mailer.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts
- @ffishkin “With so many turning to telemedicine as a result of the pandemic…some are advocating that broadband should be a basic right.” Interesting podcast (Youtube) on aging in the time of a shutdown. It is critical to be able to initiate a care plan without actually meeting the client for the first time. The waivers that have eased telemedicine rules have literally been a lifesaver. They need to be made permanent by Congress. Being able to cross state lines using telemedicine would yield great savings, as well as provide higher-quality care. “You might get better care” because of the frequency of virtual visits and better data from more visits. The medium might actually improve the experience as the doctor is always looking at the patient, instead of looking away at a screen.
- Congratulations CTC and Kristi Westbrock, “Thank you to the Federal Communications Commission for the DOER Award presented to CTC – Consolidated Telecommunications Company.”
- Well, this September 16th prediction from Viodi camera operator and occasional music track contributor, Tom Pyle was wrong, “‘We would start football in a month if we were able to, but just because of the way our conference is set up, it’s still probably going to be a spring season,‘ Pyle said.” The Mountain West football season will begin on October 24th.
The Korner – Innovation Around the Peachtree Corner

With autonomous vehicles of all types and a communications-to-everything infrastructure, Peachtree Corners, Georgia is a vision of the mobility and smart community future. An integral part of this relatively new Georgia community is a city-owned lab, the Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners. Approximately, 8,000 people work and 1,000 people live in the 500-acre boundaries of the Curiosity Lab, which is part of the larger 17 square-mile community of 45,000 residents and 45,000 jobs outside of Atlanta.
What makes the Curiosity Lab unique is that it is a public-private partnership which traverses public spaces and public roads. Partners include Local Motors, Sprint/T-Mobile, and independent broadband operator, Hargray. The city has created a welcoming environment for testing with its Curiosity Lab. Heck, what they are doing might even lead to the first autonomous vehicle brewpub.
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