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Joe Madagan, SCTE Editor, Marketing & Communications, jmadagan@scte.org
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KINSMAN, STIFFELMAN INDUCTED INTO SCTE HALL OF FAME

OCT. 28, 2009 (Denver, CO)—The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) is pleased to announce today that longtime SCTE stalwarts Sally L. Kinsman of Kinsman Design Associates and Larry J. Stiffelman of CommScope are the newest inductees into the esteemed SCTE Hall of Fame.

The Society’s Hall of Fame comprises members who have made extraordinary contributions to the Society and the industry over the course of time. To be eligible, an individual must have a minimum of 12 years of active SCTE membership and 20 years of industry experience.

Kinsman and Stiffelman were formally inducted this afternoon during the Annual Awards Luncheon at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo^® 2009. Jim Kuhns, who was inducted in the SCTE Hall of Fame in 2002 and is the chairman of the SCTE Hall of Fame Subcommittee, presented Kinsman and Stiffelman with their honors. Expo, the Society’s annual flagship event, got under way today and continues through Friday at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

Kinsman has distinguished herself as the first woman to be inducted into the SCTE Hall of Fame. She is president of Kinsman Design Associates LLC. She entered the cable industry in 1972, joining American Television and Communications Corp. (now Time Warner Cable) in its corporate offices in Expo ’09 host city Denver in the System Design Group. In 1980, she formed her own system design firm, Kinsman Design Associates, after returning to college to earn a bachelor of science in business at the University of Colorado.

In 1988, Kinsman relocated Kinsman Design Associates to the Seattle area. In 1991, she joined Augat Communication Products as its broadband product manager, becoming part of the company’s team that developed a GigaHertz RF platform for Time Warner Cable’s Rochester, N.Y., system. Kinsman later worked for Texscan, GI/Motorola, and Aurora Networks. She recently resurrected Kinsman Design Associates and has returned to consulting, concentrating on advanced architecture system design.

Kinsman joined SCTE in 1980 and was elevated to Senior member in 1981. In 1983, she became the first woman elected to the SCTE Board of Directors, serving four years, two of these years as the Western Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee.

Kinsman helped to organize the first SCTE Cable-Tec Expo^® in 1983 and conducted a system design workshop at the event.

Kinsman’s first term on the SCTE Board of Directors was during SCTE’s brush with bankruptcy, and each board member pitched in to help then-President Tom Polis not only save SCTE but start many programs that led to new members, 30 new chapters and meeting groups, the hiring of William Riker as director, and the move into SCTE’s first owned building.

The first SCTE member survey was paid for out of Kinsman’s own pocket, allowing the SCTE Board of Directors to have insight into the direction of the membership. Also, she restructured the Society’s regions to increase the number of directors.

Kinsman co-founded the SCTE Rocky Mountain Meeting Group, which attained chapter status in 1986 and is based here in Colorado. When she relocated to Seattle, she helped the Mount Rainier Meeting Group attain chapter status in 1989.

Kinsman returned to the SCTE Board of Directors from 2001 to 2007 as a Director-At-Large, serving two of those years as treasurer, and she still sits on the Finance Committee.

During her years in cable, Kinsman has garnered multiple honors for her service. Among them, in 1986, she became the first woman to receive the SCTE Member of the Year Award. In 2007, Kinsman received the SCTE Chairman’s Award, chosen by then-SCTE Board of Directors Chair Yvette Gordon-Kanouff.

Gordon-Kanouff, in her nomination this year of Kinsman for induction into the SCTE Hall of Fame, said, “She has been a true pioneer for women in technology, and I can’t imagine a nicer thank you from our industry than to give her permanent recognition for that.”

Generous with her time, Kinsman is a frequent volunteer for the industry’s benefit, including mentoring programs, seminars and workshops, and speaking opportunities.

Stiffelman, of Ballwin, Mo., entered the SCTE Hall of Fame following Kinsman’s induction today. He is senior sales manager with CommScope, where has been for the past 20 years. His cable television career began in 1979 at Crest Communications. Crest then became a TCI partnership with Stiffelman working under the direction of Art Lee, J.C. Sparkman, Bruce Nassau, and Richard Rexroat.

Stiffelman has provided significant leadership contributions to both SCTE and the Mid-America Cable Telecommunications Association. He was elected as a Cable Television Pioneer in 2004 and to the Mid-America Pathfinders in 2003.

This new SCTE Hall inductee currently serves as vice chair on the Mid-America Cable Telecommunications Association Board of Directors. He has served several years as an associate director for both Mid-America and the Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association.

Stiffelman co-chairs the SCTE Nominations Committee with his good friend, fellow SCTE stalwart, and now fellow SCTE Hall of Fame member Wendell Woody. Stiffelman has served as co-chair of that critical committee for the past three years. The SCTE Nominations Committee has the weighty responsibility each year of helping to determine the best slate of candidates for the annual SCTE Board of Directors Election.

Stiffelman has served the Society in various prominent positions, including the SCTE Board of Directors from 1994 to 2000 as Region 5 Director. While serving on the SCTE Board of Directors, Stiffelman carried the added responsibilities of Western Vice Chairman and treasurer.

This new SCTE Hall of Fame inductee served on the SCTE Presidential Search Committee that secured the employment of John Clark as SCTE president in 1998. An avid golfer, Stiffelman is credited with turning the Annual Golf Tournament at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo^® into a charitable scholarship fundraiser. He serves on the board of directors for several SCTE chapters, including the Gateway Chapter and the Heart of America Chapter, both based in Missouri.

Stiffelman has demonstrated strong support for the small cable operator through the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC). The Kansas-based organization has honored him as its Vendor of the Year four times.

Stiffelman is supporting the SCTE Foundation in seeking large contributions from SCTE Chapters, and his efforts are proving to be very successful.

More information about SCTE awards and recognition is available at www.scte.org, including the distinguished list of SCTE Hall of Fame inductees.

[Photos available upon request.]

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The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) is a non-profit professional association that provides technical leadership for the telecommunications industry and serves its members through professional development, standards, certification and information. SCTE currently has approximately 13,000 members from the U.S. and 70 countries worldwide and offers a variety of programs and services for the industry’s educational benefit. SCTE has 68 chapters and meeting groups and more than 3,000 employees of the cable telecommunications industry hold SCTE technical certifications. SCTE is an ANSI-accredited standards development organization. Visit SCTE online at www.scte.org. Follow SCTE at www.facebook.com/TheSCTE and http://twitter.com/SCTE.