SCTE-WVMC
Newsletter
2014 Cable-Tec
Games Winners!
WVMC SCTE President Ken Gabehart
awards overall WVMC 2014 Cable-Tec
Games winners
Gold medalist Suddenlink’s Michael Thompson
Winter 2014-2015
Inside This Issue
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3
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5
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6
7
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9
10
SCTE-WVMC contacts and events
Vendor Show and CableTEC Photos
CableTEC Team winners
Message from your President
Benefits of SCTE Membership
Safety Stop – Kenny Heinlein
Steve Adkins Award winner is Victor
Canterbury
Golf Outing
Picture Gallery
2015 Board members
Please submit newsworthy items to Darlene
Seaman [email protected]
Silver medalist Suddenlink’s Paul Yeager
Bronze medalist Suddenlink’s Daniel Pearson
WVMC SCTE CONTACTS
Danny Sprouse – [email protected]
PLANNED 2015 EVENTS
Mike Sanders – [email protected]
VIEW AND PRE-REGISTER ON LINE
Robert Herrald – [email protected]
pre-register for our events here
Darlene Seaman – [email protected]
Eddie James – [email protected]
Chad Winnell – [email protected]
NOTE: EVENTS WILL NOW HAVE THE SAME TOPIC IN
THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON SESSION TO ALLOW
MORE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE
Mike McCarthy – [email protected]
Steve Williams – [email protected]
Ken Gabehart – [email protected]
2/18 – “PROACTIVE NETWORK M AINTENANCE (PNM)
& EQUALIZERS” AND “TROUBLESHOOTING A DIGITAL
PLANT”
CROSS LANES WV – HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS
Ron Brunt – [email protected]
Bobbie Ford – [email protected]
OUR WEB SITE:
HTTP
://CHAPTER.SCTE.ORG/WVIRGINIA/
BOARD AND OFFICERS
2015 Elected Officers
4/15 – SEMINAR (TOPIC TBD)
LOCATION/VENUE TO BE DETERMINED
6/24 – SEMINAR (TOPIC TBD)
LOCATION/VENUE TO BE DETERMINED
8/25 - WVMC GOLF OUTING
LITTLE CREEK GOLF COURSE
SOUTH CHARLESTON WV
SPONSORED BY OUR VENDORS
President – Danny Sprouse with Shentel
Vice President – Mike Sanders with Shentel
Treasurer – Darlene Seaman with Suddenlink
Secretary – Robert Herrald with Shentel
Webmaster – Eddie James with Suddenlink
Chairman – Ken Gabehart with Supply Solutions
8/26 - WVMC-SCTE VENDOR SHOW
TH
11 ANNUAL CABLE-TEC GAMES
SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV – HOLIDAY INN AND SUITES
11/4 – ALTERNATE SEMINAR
LOCATION/VENUE TO BE DETERMINED
Directors at Large
Ron Brunt, General DataTech
Bobbie Ford, Suddenlink
Chad Winnell, Suddenlink
NOTE: MEETINGS AND LOCATIONS WILL BE PROVIDED
IN ADVANCE AFTER BEING DETERMINED BY MSOS
st
Brent Cheesebrew, Baker (1 Alternate)
2015 Committees and Ambassador
Event Committee Chair – Mike Sanders
Election Committee Chair – Brent Cheesebrew
Communications Chair – Eddie James
Budget Committee Chair – Bobbie Ford
Membership Committee Chair – Darlene Seaman
Ambassador - Mike McCarthy, dB Communications
CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR UP TO DATE INFORMATION,
SEMINAR TOPICS AND LOCATIONS, AND ADDITIONAL
PLANNED EVENTS
HTTP://CHAPTER.SCTE.ORG/WVIRGINIA/
2014 Vendor Show/Cable TEC Games
The Vendor Show and Cable-Tec Games were again held in August.
The vendors really supported the event by attending, providing door
prizes and assisting with the CableTec Games. We had a large number
of attendees including 24 CableTec Games contestants plus this year
we were excited that the local Job Corps sent about 15 students who
have an interest in this field. It was an exciting event and we are already
preparing for 2015.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have for improvements.
2014 Cable-Tec Games
There were 24 contestants from 6 teams competing for the
individual event and overall medals, along with the Chapter
Cup for the winning team.
Event winners
Cable Splicing – Hosted by Tim Papa
Gold – Richard Young, Suddenlink Buckhannon
Silver – Joe Harper, Suddenlink Charleston
Bronze – Justin Rittenhouse, Shentel Weston
Drop Connector – Hosted by Paul Prescott
Gold – Paul Yeager, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
WVMC 2014 Cable-Tec Games
contestants
Silver – Travis Fauber, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Bronze – Joe Harper, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Fiber Splicing – Hosted by Scott Caldwell, Rich Basile, &
Mike McCarthy
Gold – Richard Young, Suddenlink Buckhannon
Silver – Travis Fauber, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Bronze – Dolan Bailey, Suddenlink Parkersburg
Meter Reading – Hosted by Katie Blum & Randy Ferry
Gold – James Jones, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Silver – William LeMasters, Suddenlink Buckhannon
Bronze – Mike Thompson, Suddenlink Buckhannon
MTDR – Hosted by Chuck Phillips & Bob Owermohle
Gold – Josh King, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Chapter Cup winning team
Suddenlink Buckhannon/Pikeville
Members (l-r) Bill LeMasters, Daniel
Pearson, Michael Thompson, and Rhett
Young
Silver – Paul Yeager, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Bronze – Daniel Pearson, Suddenlink Pikeville
OTDR – Hosted by Jim Aiello & Ken Gabehart
Gold – Daniel Pearson, Suddenlink Pikeville
Silver – Paul Yeager, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Bronze – Jesse Stephens, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Chapter Cup 2nd place team
Suddenlink Charleston
Paul Yeager, Joshua King, Joe Harper,
and Jesse Stephens
Cable Jeopardy – Hosted by the WV Mountaineer Chapter
Gold – Matt Peyton, Suddenlink Scott Depot
Silver – Eric Webb, Shentel Weston
Bronze – Daniel Pearson, Suddenlink Pikeville
Overall winners
Gold – Michael Thompson, Suddenlink Buckhannon
Chapter Cup 3rd place team
Shentel
Justin Rittenhouse, Eric Webb, Roger
Warner, and Nick Betz
Silver – Paul Yeager, Suddenlink Shrewsbury
Bronze – Daniel Pearson, Suddenlink Pikeville
Chapter Cup Challenge
st
1 Place – Suddenlink Buckhannon & Pikeville systems
nd
2 Place – Suddenlink Charleston
rd
3 Place – Suddenlink Shentel Weston
Message from our 2014 President
Once again the Mountaineer Chapter of the SCTE had a great year of Training,
Professional Development, Networking and Fun too!
As you read and look throughout our newsletter you will see some examples of the
events and activities that we offered in 2014. If you didn’t make it out to take advantage
of what your local SCTE chapter has to offer I hope you give it some strong
consideration this year.
We have a new President this year with Danny Sprouse accepting the nomination and I
look forward to working with him and all of the WV Mountaineer Chapter leaders to
continue to have a local presence of the SCTE here in West Virginia.
I hope to see you at one of our WV Mountaineer events soon!
Ken
SCTE: Essential Knowledge for Cable Professionals™
SCTE is the premier membership organization for technical cable telecommunications
professionals. SCTE member benefits, technical training courses, certifications, and
information resources focus on providing professionals on every level of the industry with
the tools needed to develop and advance their expertise. By connecting members from
cable operators and vendors through a wide-range of programs and events, SCTE
strengthens relationships and promotes technology-focused thought leadership.
SCTE proudly serves as the technical leader by guiding through initiatives and standards
aimed at improving the quality of work and advancing technologies as well as sustaining
and diversifying the industry.
Safety Stop
Kenny Heinlein
Safety Administrator
Suddenlink Atlantic Region
Why do drivers miss important driving cues?
Everything people see, hear, feel taste or think – all sensory information – must be committed to
short-term memory before it can be acted on. Short-term memory can hold basic information for a
few seconds. However, to get even very basic information into short-term memory, the brain goes
through three stages to prioritize and process information. The first stage is called “encoding.”
Encoding is the step in which the brain selects what to pay attention to. Encoding is negatively
affected by distractions and divided attention. During this first stage, the brain will “screen out”
information as a way to deal with distraction overload.
All human brains have limited capacity for attention. When there is too much information, the
brain must decide what information is selected for encoding. Some decision processes are
conscious and within a person’s “control,” while other decisions are unconscious so we’re not
aware of them. Therefore, people do not have control over what information the brain processes
and what information it filters out.
For example, a person who is talking on a cell phone while driving has a brain that’s dealing with
divided attention. The brain is overloaded by all the information coming in. To handle this
overload, the driver’s brain will not encode and store all of the information.
Some information is prioritized for attention and possible action, while some is filtered out. The
driver may not be consciously aware of which critical roadway information is being filtered out.
Performance is impaired when filtered information is not encoded into working short-term
memory. The brain doesn’t process critical information and alert the driver to potentially
hazardous situations. This is why people miss critical warnings of navigation and safety hazards
when engaged in cell phone conversations while driving.
Victor Canterbury wins the Steve Adkins Certificate of Appreciation
The Steve Adkins Certificate of Appreciation is given each year to a non-board member
for outstanding support and lasting contribution to the continued growth and
improvement of the West Virginia Mountaineer Chapter of the SCTE. A certificate as
well as a small stipend are provided to the recipient.
The 2014 winner was Victor Canterbury. He has been in the industry for over 40 years
working as a Technician, Tech Supervisor and most recently as a Technician Trainer for
Suddenlink. He provides expertise every day, but is the unofficial photogropher for the
WVMC SCTE chapter attending various events both to learn as well as capture pictures.
As you can see, Victor was quite surprised and delighted to be chosen. We were
honored to present the award to him. The hardest part for us was tricking him into
giving up the camera so we could snap this picture.
Congratulations again Victor! Who will win in 2015? We will find out together and
maybe… it will be you.
2014 Golf Outing
Because of last year’s success, the
2014 golf outing was again held in
August with an earlier start time. As you
can see from the pictures, the weather
was gorgeous. The many attendees
had a great time and lots of prizes were
given away. We can’t wait to make this
year’s event even better. Hope to see
you there!
Picture Gallery
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Vendor Show 8/27
Ron Brunt
Brent Cheesebrew
Bobbie Ford
Ken Gabehart
Robert Herrald
Eddie James
Mike McCarthy
Mike Sanders
Darlene Seaman
SCTEWVMC
2015
Board
Danny Sprouse
Chad Winnell