Best Technology, Great Generosity. It Happens with the MCCA!
When it comes to fulfilling our mission, it doesn’t get much better than the week during which The Cable Show took place.
Last month, we welcomed 12,000-plus cable-industry executives to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (BCEC) for The Cable Show 2012. For five days, Boston was the center of the cable and broadcasting world, covered by national publications from the Los Angeles Times to the geekiest of blogs. And while the Khloe and Kris Kardashian, Conan O’Brien and the Real Housewives got some Page Six attention, the main focus was on new technologies, strategic programing, and innovative solutions to move the cable industry forward.
We did what we do best and delivered a flawless event. The exhibit hall and ballroom required some of the most elaborate booth setups, rigging and audio visual productions, and quick room set changes that this building has ever seen. There were also the unbelievable technological demands this event put on the BCEC’s infrastructure and IT department. We’ve said time and again that our convention centers are the most technologically advanced in the world and that our service and event staff can handle even the most unusual of demands. Last month’s Cable Show proved it.
While all this was happening on the show floor, on May 22 we distributed $113,000 to 21 different local non-profits and four Massachusetts students studying hospitality for our annual Community Partnership Grants and Hospitality Scholarship Awards Luncheon. It’s one of my favorite events of the year, when we get to hear from each organization and student as we award them their grant or scholarship funds, which are generated from our gate shows.
And just one day before the Cable Show officially began, 10 Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) runners participated in the annual “Run to Home Base” through the Red Sox Foundation. This year, team MCCA raised more than $11,300 for Massachusetts General Hospital’s Home Base Program, which offers support and care to veterans returning from Afghanistan with traumatic brain injury or PTSD.
It was the kind of week where all of the incredibly important work we do at the MCCA shines.
James E. Rooney is Executive Director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.
See Photos of the NCTA 2012 Cable Show >>