President's Letter

Thanks to our generous sponsors at last year’s gala, we continued our Executive Leadership program this quarter with a focus on generational differences and how to successfully communicate, motivate and work with various generations.

We are wrapping up the month with one of our Executive Networking Dinners, which will be hosted at Cool River Café, April 26th. At this dinner, Lynn Schmidt, former VP of L&D for Charter Communications will host an expert panel discussion on Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success and the Opt Out Myth--Women Leaving the Corporate Life. At this executive dinner, we’ll learn what successful companies are doing to ensure that they retain critical talent and effectively manage succession planning.

As we look forward to May, we will be honoring the achievements of nine of the industry’s most impressive leaders at the organization’s seventh annual Walk of Fame Gala, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center on May 25th. Last year, we had more than 400 cable industry leaders attend the Gala, and it looks like this year is going to be even bigger. Starz! is supporting the event as our first Platinum-Plus sponsor, and Adelphia, Comcast, Comcast Media Center and CSG have signed on as Platinum sponsors.

Please join us in celebrating with the honorees:

Woman of the Year

• Debbie Egner, Senior Vice President Affiliate Sales and Sales Operations for Starz Entertainment Group
• Nancy McGee, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales for Adelphia Communications

Debbie Egner	Nancy McGee

Mentor of the Year

• Ed Nafus, President & CEO of CSG Systems International, Inc.
  

Woman of Influence

• Louise Atkinson, most recently as Senior Vice President, Strategic Accounts at TeleTech
• Connie Campbell, Vice President, Operations Finance at Adelphia Communications
• Nancy Sanders, Vice President, Group Operations and Division Marketing at Time Warner Cable National Division

Woman in Technology

• Bonnie Cleaver, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Comcast Media Center

Woman to Watch

• Kelly Bumann, Vice President of Key Initiatives at Starz Entertainment Group
• Cindy Parsons, Senior Director Public Relations for Comcast’s Colorado operations

If you’re interested in a getting a table or sponsoring the event, please contact Cathy Fogler (cathy.fogler@adelphia.com) or visit our newly redesigned website at www.wictrm.org. If you’re interested in volunteering to help at this event, please contact Shelly Humphreys (shumphreys@broadband-insights.com).

If you have ideas on programs that we’re missing or want to get more involved and don’t know how, please send me a note at lisa@broadband-insights.com.

I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events,

2005/2006 President Rocky Mountain Chapter of WICT
President, Broadband Insights, Inc.

Check out our new website...

www.wictrm.org has recently been redesigned to make information about the Rocky Mountain Chapter of WICT easier to find. Please visit our new website to get all the information on upcoming events, membership, the mentoring program, the WICT RM Walk of Fame Gala and many others ways you can get involved.

Summer 2006 -- Rocky Mountain WICT Mentoring Program

Summer Session Mentor Judi allen

Participate in an extraordinary personal development program. Whatever your position or goals, you are guaranteed to find a mentor who can offer sound advise and guidance.
Beginning in June, this six-month program matches WICT members with leaders in our industry who offer their insight and inspiration through an ongoing mentoring and coaching relationship. This journey in self-discovery and growth offers an unparalleled opportunity to build greater confidence and personal effectiveness in a safe and supported environment. Our program partner, Mines and Associates, will be presenting the Development FIRST training that has been such an integral part in our past mentoring programs. Mentees will self-select and be matched to mentors on a first-come, first-served basis.

The mentee slots fill up fast, so don't wait until the April 28 deadline to submit your application. This session’s mentors are:

• Judi Allen, President of ALLEN Strategies
• Amy Oliver, Director of Strategic Operations, CSG Systems
• Lakshmi Raman, Director of Advanced Technology, CableLabs
• Deborah Rocco, Senior Director of Learning & Development for Comcast West Division
• Susie Tomenchok, Director of Customer Solutions, Comcast Media Center
• John Vanderpool, Vice President of Business, Primal Solutions, Inc.
• Teresa Weidel, Executive Director of Communications, AZN Television/International Networks

The program kicks off on June 7th, and runs through December 15th. The cost is $400 for WICT members ($475 for non-members), which includes the Development FIRST workshop and accompanying study materials, coaching information roundtable breakfasts, and celebration luncheon.

For application information, visit http://www.wictrm.org/mentoring-summer-2006.htm

Events

Nearly 100 people attended our seminar on Customer Service Excellence – How Do They Do It? Hosted by Wide Open West’s Colleen Abdoulah and featuring Southwest Airline’s Vice President of Public Relations and Community Affairs Linda Rutherford, the event highlighted the importance of employees. Southwest attributes much of their customer satisfaction success to:

• Hiring employees with the right behaviors up front
• empowering and rewarding employees
• developing a culture of open communications within the company
• creating a spirit of “everyone owns the customer”
• and establishing an environment that supports working collaboratively
  

As attendees learned, the Southwest Airlines case study continues to be one of the top stories that gets told and retold by anyone seriously interested in customer service excellence. That their mission of being “dedicated to providing the highest quality of customer service with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit” is contagious within their organization was evident. It was also evident, through the interactions between Rutherford, Abdoulah and the audience, that our industry shares the same mission. If we can apply Southwest’s learnings, perhaps we can have a top customer service story as well.

Work/Life Balance

Women & Investing Survey Explores Differences in How
Women and Men Approach Saving and Investing

According to a new survey, women want investing to be easier and accessible on their terms. This finding is just one of the insights women shared in the 2006 Women & Investing Survey by ShareBuilder Securities Corporation, which surveyed more than 2,000 men and women customers to uncover what's really going on (or not going on) when it comes to women and their saving and investing habits.

Comparing men and women, the survey explored the early influences that shaped people's saving and investing practices, how they currently invest, their investing confidence levels and whether they believe they are doing enough to meet their future financial needs. The biggest differences between men's and women's responses centered on their confidence in their own investing decisions and how much they enjoy the activity of investing.

Women Not as Likely to View Investing as "Fun"
74% of men responding to the survey said they think investing is "fun," compared to only 61% of women. As a result, women engage in investing less frequently. Confidence likely plays a role here. Regardless of age, income and investing experience, only 35% of women surveyed (compared to 50% of the men) trust themselves to make good investing decisions.

“Women are less confident about their investing decisions. They find it difficult to save and invest, and are concerned they are not putting aside enough for the future," said Jeff Seely, Chairman and CEO of ShareBuilder. "Investing for the future is critically important for both men and women."

Saving for Retirement
Of those surveyed, 82% of women are concerned that they are not saving or investing enough to meet their retirement objectives (versus 76% of men). The gender differences regarding retirement savings habits are most noticeable among younger customers and those with lower household income.

The potential to retire may seem out-of-reach for many women when you look at their recent savings and investing patterns. Only 53% of women-under-35 managed to save at least 5% of their income in 2005 (compared to 70% of men). And despite their concerns that they're not saving enough, only a quarter of the women surveyed responded that they were very likely to invest more this year than last.

The good news is that a majority of men and women have access to a qualified retirement plan, and half of those respondents made at least some contributions to these plans. A slightly higher proportion of women (145 versus 10%) made no contributions. The gap between men and women was greatest among those with middle income of $50,000 - $80,000 (18% of women made no contributions versus 8% of men).

When It Comes to Risk...
Women are significantly more risk averse. When given the scenario of a decline of both the stock market and a stock they own, more than half of the women surveyed said they would go into a holding pattern in such a scenario and wait for a turnaround. In contrast, 52% of men said they would take advantage of the low prices and buy more shares. However, both men and women seem to agree that balance is the key to a sound investing strategy.

When asked how to invest $1,000 of an unexpected cash windfall, men and women were equal saying they would invest in a blend of established companies and promising young companies.