Suddenlink FYI

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A number of Suddenlink employees can relate to Bruce Lee’s advice — and they certainly don’t need a bodyguard. This group of employees has worked in their respective cable systems for 30-plus years, through multiple owners, fighting the good fight to maintain and upgrade technologies and provide customers with exceptional service.

While space and time prevent us from listing them here, this group includes Wayne Ollis, who started working in cable in Russellville, Ark., in June 1967. With 41 years under his belt, Wayne has earned the distinction of being the Suddenlink employee with the longest track-record of cable service in a single area.

Our hat is off to him and all of his colleagues who are living proof of the merits of endurance.

 

On Independence Day 2007, fire destroyed the Suddenlink office in Batesville, Ark.

Employees perservered, and yesterday — just over a year later — along with customers and local officials, they celebrated the opening of their new-and-improved digs.

COO Tom McMillin congratulated the team on their accomplishments. The text of his note follows, after the fold.

From North Carolina to California, Suddenlink technical teams took home the silver and gold last week at the 25th annual confab of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).

Out of the nearly 300 cable systems from 13 companies that received Gold Safety Awards, Suddenlink snagged 73. And out of the more than 50 systems from six companies securing Silver Safety Awards, Suddenlink again demonstrated its leadership, taking home 12.

Winners are listed here, alphabetically, first by company name, then by system name. Congrats to all.

In June, Suddenlink hired John Menendez to fill the newly created position of Vice President, Customer Relationship Management, and Leo Kutz as Vice President, Network Engineering.

Menendez has a 20-year career as a marketing and finance executive. Most recently, he was Vice President, Customer Insights/Customer Relationship Management, with Sprint Nextel in Overland Park, Kan. Before joining Sprint, he was Senior International Accountant for Emerson Electric, headquartered in St. Louis.

At Suddenlink, Menendez will focus on customer loyalty efforts and help develop new tools to drive sales. He has an MBA from St. Louis University and holds a CPA in the state of Missouri. He is a native of Granite City, Ill.

Kutz has more than 25 years of telecommunications engineering and managerial experience with extensive work in fiber optics, wireless communications, wide area networks and NOC (network operations center) operations. Most recently he was vice president of engineering for start-up China WiMax, based in St. Louis. Earlier he was director of engineering at Xspedius Communications in St. Louis.

Kutz will be based in St. Louis and will oversee Suddenlink’s Network Operations Center, based in Tyler, Texas, which monitors Suddenlink’s platforms, backbone and other network elements. Kutz has a Master’s degree in Telecommunications Management from Webster University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Technology from Southwest Missouri State University. He is a native of St. Louis.

Congressman Rodney Alexander (left) watches as a representative from Peabody Magnet High School accepts a check from Tony Cifelli, Suddenlink, and Jayne Wright, Food Bank of Central Louisiana.

Building on its successful food drive last fall, Suddenlink supported the 2008 spring food drive helmed by U.S. Congressman Rodney Alexander, benefitting the Food Bank of Central Louisiana.

Conducted April 7 to 25, the program (”Can Share”) involved schools in seven Central Louisiana parishes and achieved record results.

Each year, Congressman Alexander awards a certificate to the school that collects the most food for the annual drive. This year, Suddenlink added an incentive by offering financial rewards to the top three teams in each category: high school, middle school, and elementary school. As a result, this year’s drive collected approximately 9,000 pounds of non-perishable food items, more than three times the usual amount.

The top collector was Peabody Magnet High School in Alexandria. On May 16, Suddenlink Field System Manager Tony Cifelli, Congressman Alexander, and Food Bank Executive Director Jayne Wright held a cook-out for the Peabody ROTC, which spearheaded the school’s effort. There, they presented the group with a $500 check for its winning effort.

Though they were more than 2,600 miles from home, two Suddenlink customers from North Carolina discovered that good customer service knows no boundaries.

Traveling in Idaho, the husband and wife stopped at a coffee shop for refreshments and to check their email, when they encountered problems accessing their account. The wife happened to pick up an area tourist guide at the coffee shop and saw Suddenlink advertised as the local cable company.

She and her husband made their way to the Suddenlink office in Osburn, Idaho, where a customer-service rep helped them regain access to their email. The couple was elated and appreciative of the extra effort.

Earlier this month, Suddenlink’s Lake Charles, La., team extended special honors to three teachers during Calcasieu Parish Teacher Appreciation Week — one aspect of the team’s longstanding involvement in the Partners in Education (PIE) program with area schools.

Pictured above (from left), the honored teachers include Cynthia Stewart, a computer-aided instruction lab manager, and Theresa Hardy, a pre-kindergarten teacher, both from J.J. Johnson Elementary School; and Rachel Taylor, a third-grade teacher from M.J. Kaufman Elementary School.

All three educators received recognition plaques and gift packages for Suddenlink services.

As long-time supporters of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fundraiser, members of Suddenlink’s Parkersburg, W. Va., team added a twist (and a cut) to their participation this year.

On April, 5, nine employees, three of their children and several friends went to a local hair salon to donate their ponytails to Locks of Love, a program that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatments.

When the cutting was done, 36 ponytails totaling 399 inches (more than 33 feet) were headed to Locks of Love. The Suddenlink-Parkersburg team also held a bake sale during the clipping, raising additional money for the Relay for Life event, which will be held locally on May 16 and 17.

In January, Suddenlink’s Gainesville, Texas, employees conducted a “Slippers For Seniors” drive, collecting nearly 200 pairs of house shoes for area nursing-home residents. They followed up that effort in February with their second annual drive to benefit a local charity devoted to moms and infants, collecting more than 2,700 diapers and nearly 1,400 baby wipes.

This is the first in an occasional series of profiles of Suddenlink employees who donate time to worthwhile causes in the communities where they live and work.

Suddenlink’s DeAnna Cottrell is a business support technician on the I.T. Helpdesk in St. Louis. Outside of work, she volunteers significant time to lead and mentor a local team of high-school-age students who participate in FIRST, a national group devoted to inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering.

From Feb. 28 through March 1, DeAnna’s team will be competing in the 2008 St. Louis Regional robotics competition organized by FIRST, one of 41 such regional competitions held across the country from late Feburary through end of March.

Here’s wishing DeAnna and her team the very best of luck as they put their robots to the test. Who knows – maybe some of them will eventually seek careers in cable broadbanding engineering.

Visit the FIRST Web site to learn more about what the organization does, how to get involved, and where and when other regional competitions are scheduled.