Cable-Tec Expo: Attendance Dips For Sunshine State Confab

Orlando -- The number of people attending the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ flagship Cable-Tec Expo conference this week fell slightly, to 9,200, down from more than 10,000 last year in Atlanta.

The conference, which ran Oct. 17-19 at the Orange County Convention Center, featured a record 80 technical workshops, as well as a standing-room-only session Thursday detailing CableLabs’ forthcoming DOCSIS 3.1 specification.

In addition, international attendance with show-goers from a record 69 countries was up 3% over last year, and SCTE said paid registration for “The Digital Home: Preparing for the Future” preconference symposium Oct. 16 was up 47%.

“The continued expansion of the quantity and quality of our SCTE Cable-Tec Expo programs is a direct reflection of the industry’s need to speed the deployment of current and future technologies,” SCTE president and CEO Mark Dzuban said in a statement. “By working closely with CableLabs and NCTA, we are accelerating the development of training for the next generation of cable engineering and operations professionals.”

Other highlights of the show included an opening keynote conversation between Time Warner Cable Executive CTO Mike LaJoie and entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen.

The 2013 Cable-Tec Expo will be held Sept. 18-20 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Kevin Hart, executive vice president and CTO of Cox Communications, will serve as program committee chairman for the event.