TORONTO – Praise was near universal for the brand new Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Canadian Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday afternoon at the Toronto Congress Centre.
The final registration number for delegates has not yet been tallied as there were a large number who registered on site, but the show was very well attended with delegates from across Canada – from the Territories to Regina to Newfoundland – and all points in between.
If there were any complaints, it’s that the show wasn’t big enough (and that it snowed too much on Tuesday…). The 40 vendor tables sold out quickly in advance of the show, meaning there was a waiting list of additional companies who wanted in. And of those exhibitors at the conference and trade show, many said they would have liked more room to show off their wares.
The trade show floor was very busy both days as were the eight conference sessions.
“I was very pleased with how the event turned out,” Rogers Cable SVP engineering and network operations Dermot O’Carroll – who is the Canadian representative on the SCTE board and the program chair – told Cartt.ca.
“Based on the feedback I received from cable operators and from vendors the show was a huge success. The vendors expressed great satisfaction with the level of attendance and interest they saw, the MSOs commented that the sessions were excellent, relevant and of high quality and that the opportunity to mix and meet with their colleagues was great. The only negative I heard was that not all vendors who wanted to participate were able to get space – which we can correct the next time.
“Everyone said they were looking forward to a bigger and better event next year.”
Indeed, there was buy-in from across the industry in Canada from operators and suppliers alike. The program committee itself included the engineering heads of Shaw Cable (Dennis Steiger), Videotron (Daniel Proulx), Cogeco (Denis Belanger); and EastLink (Steve Irvine), as well as representatives from suppliers Cisco, Sigma, Commscope, Aurora Networks, and Capella Telecommunications. Cartt.ca was the event’s media partner.
“It was a great start,” added Steve Quinn, president of TVC Canada. “We saw presence from across the whole country including customers from as far away as Whitehorse, and Labrador City.
“Great technical sessions complemented a very busy trade floor. In these tough economic times we vendors really have to see bang for every single marketing dollar spent,” he added.
“I think a big round of applause and thanks should go out to Dermot and the Pennsylvania-based staff of SCTE who brought this one home. Also a warm welcome to Mark Dzuban, the new SCTE president and CEO who spent the better part of his first week in the job up here in the snow and cold with his Canadian members.”
– Greg O’Brien
