Quick Jump Menu to this Month’s Articles Twenty eight days and counting ..! I Can See Clearly Now, HDTV Is Here – Or Is It? NSTW Party – Sunday in the Park, You’d Think It Was the Fourth of July Telecom ’03 Exhibition Preview: Conferences – It’s a Tough Life, But Someone Has Got to Do It Questions, StreamingTV, Dave Hood Follow-up, Privacy
NSTW Party – Sunday in the Park, You’d Think It Was the Fourth of July
by Ken Pyle
September , 2003 Issue
Last Sunday, September 14th, was about as good as it gets for my family. My wife and I were able to celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary with a full day of, as Mike Meyers says, “no money fun.” The fun, food and festivities we enjoyed were courtesy of our friends at Sierra Telephone in Oakhurst, an all-American town located at the southern end of the California gold country and gateway to Yosemite National Park. Mik Hamley, Sherry Colgate and everyone at Sierra Telephone always roll out the red-carpet for me, but this was a special occasion; it was the kick-off of National Small Telecommunications Week (NSTW).
NSTW is an OPASTCO-led effort to raise community and national awareness of the many contributions made by this country’s independent telephone companies. Sierra Telephone is the quintessential independent telephone company as evidenced by the way the company and its employees are interwoven into the fabric of the communities they serve. Their event was really a big outdoor party at a park that was built largely through the generosity of Sierra Telephone and its leader, Harry Baker.
Leading is what the independent telephone companies do. They lead with cutting edge technology. They lead with outstanding customer service. Most of all, they are often the leaders of their communities. And it is not a quest for power or fame and fortune, but it is because they truly care about the places where they live and work. They embody the best values this country has to offer.
Typical of the small telephone company, Sierra Telephone’s roots go back to 1895. Harry Baker bought the company from his parents in 1950, while in his early 20s. Under his stewardship, Sierra has grown from a few hundred subscribers to 25,000+. In fact, one of the events at this celebration was recognition of Sierra Telephone’s 25,000th customer!
Other activities included games and activities for the kids, a raffle and a great home-style barbeque. Another highlight was a great bluegrass band, The String Bandits. This band is a favorite of some of the Sierra Telephone personnel and they regularly play at the nearby Bass Lake music festival. The String Bandits band is yet another example of the quality, but mostly unheralded, music found in the heartland. I encourage you to take a listen to their music at www.viodi.com/nstw/
The event was also a great opportunity for Sierra Telephone to showcase the many services offered by its affiliates. Given that POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) is still its bread and butter, a tour through the main central office was the perfect way to give Sierra’s Telephone’s customers a close-up view of a modern telecommunications’ network.
From the central office location, you could literally see the rest of the party, courtesy of a video conferencing system facilitated by affiliate Sierra Tel Networks. The wireless communications used to transport the video signals was similar to that used by affiliate Sierra Tel Internet (STI) to serve customers who are unable to obtain high speed service via DSL. STI also serves customers via accelerated dial-up or DSL both within and outside their exchange area.
They say that all politics is local and it is true. Sierra Telephone realized NSTW was an opportunity to showcase their services to their local, state and national representatives. The politicians responded with their presence and with proclamations recognizing Sierra Telephone and NTSW. Another measure of the success of Sierra Telephone’s NSTW efforts was the resolution by the California Legislature that, “declare[d] the week of September 15 through 21, 2003, to be California Small and Rural Telecommunications Week.
Most of all, this was a great marketing opportunity. Sierra’s efforts are a great example of community-marketing that is so vital in this era of competition and the blurring definition of what it means to be a communications’ company. I have a great deal more to learn from Mik Hamley, as he takes the marketing techniques and ideas he honed at PepsiCo and applies them to this vibrant independent telco.
Along those lines, one of the clever things they were did was film and record the event. I was there as well filming and helping with the audio recording. I have to admit, I had camera and equipment-envy. The set-up that Dale Carlson, of Sierra Telephone Networks used made me feel a little inadequate. It was a great time, though, as I learned some good film and production tips from Dale. By filming this event, Sierra Telephone has created a multimedia marketing asset that they can repurpose and use for their web site, CD-ROMs or television advertising spots.
To get a multimedia feel for the events, please go to http://www.viodi.com/nstw/
So, it may not have been the Fourth of July, but the party thrown by Sierra Telephone sure was an all-American fun fest. I think even my wife, Jane, would agree that it was a fun way to spend an anniversary!
All displayed trademarks, logos and service marks are the property of their respective owners. © 2003 Viodi, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Click Here to Learn More About FRED
Leave a Reply