Letters to the Editor

Final Call on Show Time We launched this discussion by complaining about how busy this spring season is. Venturing as editors into a bit more editorializing, we think Dave Large’s letter on April 11 opposing the merging of NCTA’s National Show and Cable-Tec Expo was the most compelling we received. To re-cap and summarize, the eminent co-author of Modern Cable Television Technology had five points: (Or link to the full letter, at http://www.ct-magazine.com/archives/pipeline/pipe041106.html) Not to say that all agree with the status quo. Bill Gladden, a family-minded engineering associate at Comporium Communications, sent in a vote for a combined show in May in Orlando: "Plenty of room and exhibit space, with very good weather. Lots of things for the family to do while we are at the show." And our friend and PR impresario Bob Gold agreed that the two events have separate identities ("top business reporters consider the National Show the single most important show of the year") but noted the burden that two shows impose upon vendors and argued that: "In an ideal world, we would co-join the shows to be separate but equal, gathering the best from the corporate, regional and systems to represent and learn." Major convention centers could accommodate the 20,000-30,000 attendees that would convene "for such a moment," he wrote.