My Back Pages: What Should We Do With the Cable Center?

Cable World,  Oct 10, 2005  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

By Paul S. Maxwell

OK. I'm a bit biased (see the picture). Nevertheless, I'm going to answer the straw questions (all real, by the way):

Some say, "Give that mausoleum to the University of Denver and shut down The Cable Center...now."

I say, "No. Not yet."

Some say, "It's just a monument to a bunch of overblown egos."

I say, "Ah, so what? Maybe. A little. Except for me, everyone in The Cable Center Hall of Fame contributed mightily to what this business is today. Without them, you wouldn't have anything as good or vital or profitable. By the way, it is, I'm told, a somewhat contentious process that results in inductees...lots of lively arguments about whether or not the honor is deserved. Also, by the way, I'm the only quasi-journalist ever inducted into an industry group like this. Even great secret committees make mistakes."

Some say, "Denver just doesn't matter anymore."

I say, "So? DU does. DU has the Daniels School of Business--the only business school in the world built on core ethics. Bill's sense of integrity infuses this University (OK, biased again; I'm a longtime admirer and friend of former chancellor Dan Ritchie, my daughter is a junior there and my friend, Tryg Myhren, is treasurer and a board member). Denver is in the center of the country and has a long cable history...but like every other business built in the Mountain West, it has gone east, where the financial wizards reside."

Some say, "Isn't it just a museum?"

I say, "No, it isn't. The Center isn't mired in the past...go to www.cablecenter.org and see. Like the Silicon Flatirons Seminar on the 18th of this month, the Center is busy looking at opportunities."

Some say, "It's all about yesterday, cable is about tomorrow now."

I say, "Hah...maybe, but where were they when the foundations were laid?"

Some say, "Sell the building and move The Cable Center to Washington, D.C., and the NCTA."

I say, "No. But the Center should work more closely with NCTA...for example, the demonstration home being developed can provide the NCTA with the opportunity to give VIPs a hands-on experience that isn't inside the Beltway."

Some say, "Why doesn't the NCTA just take it over? After all, the NCTA is taking over most everything else."

I say, "Well, probably someday."

Some say, "Sell the building and move it to the University of Pennsylvania...where it really belongs."

I say, "See my previous answer."

Some say, "What's The Cable Center?"

I say, "Welcome to cable...here's the place to find out all about the industry."

One said, "Cable Center? Huh?"

I said, "Huh, yourself."

Some say, "I wouldn't run that thing for all the money in the world...well, maybe for all of it, but not what it pays."

I say, "Ummmm. I don't blame you. But, as it develops, the entire industry will come to see the benefits and unite behind it (perhaps right after that 'probably someday')."

Some say, "They want to do research? Why should we let someone do research that we can't control?"

I say, "What are you afraid of? Learning something? This is the best chance cable has to 'embed' with colleges, universities, faculties and, wouldn't this be a great idea, students."

Some say, "We can't forget the past...we can't pretend we don't know how our business developed."

I say, "Yep. I think I quoted myself."

Some say, "Didn't I already give some money?"

I say, "Ah, probably. I sure did."

Some say, "Does it do anything now?"

I say, "Yep...get thee hence to that website...things like the distance- learning programs with C-SPAN (another cable initiative that gets taken for granted and doesn't get the recognition it deserves)."

Some say, "The Hall of Fame should be moved back to the National Show, like it used to be."

I say, "Naw. The show is too busy already. And, without the Western Show to kick around anymore, this timing provides a great opportunity to connect without a blatant agenda."

Some say, "Hall of Fame? Isn't that for overblown egos and to raise money? I heard they even charge the winners'...'losers' in my book."

I say, "Well, somewhat. And, yep, they do charge (a lot). And, yes, it is to raise funds...not unlike that other dinner that some friends and I helped start in New York that resulted in Diversity Week. Maybe this will develop into Education Week."

Some say, "How do we make it go away?"

I say, "You can't. How about making the best of it?"

Some say, "The work with universities is good and worthwhile, maybe."

I say, "Yes, it is. And will get more so."

Yep. I'm biased. But, I make sense.

[Copyright 2005 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]

COPYRIGHT 2005 Access Intelligence, LLC
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning