The SCTE Diamond Jubilee Dinner

The 2005 SCTE Annual Dinner

which this year marked the Diamond Jubilee of the Society was held on Saturday, 5th March, 2005.

For this most prestigious event the SCTE returned to the venue which has proved most popular for its annual dinners - The Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey.

The combination of a popular venue with a major anniversary proved very successful and some 200 members and guests sat down to dine after a welcome reception in the ante-rooms adjoining the gallery.

Before the meal, Dr. Roger Blakeway welcomed the Society's guests from the SCTE in the USA, from ANGA in Germany and from SCTE outposts in The Netherlands and Germany. The President also welcomed representatives from the industry regulator, past and present and Dave Hodges, the Chairman of the CAI whose office facilities the SCTE shares.

With the gallery filled to capacity a lively time was inevitable but the standards of the menu and the service were not overwhelmed by the numbers.

The ambience of the Sculpture Gallery adds to the enjoyment of the evening.

Thank You to Patrons & Our Guests

The SCTE has enjoyed the support of its Patron Members for many years and would, probably, not have reached this important milestone without that support.

Our Patrons turned out in force for this event both in booking tables for themselves and their guests and offering sponsorship of various parts of the event.

Thanks to the Sponsors.

The SCTE gratefully acknowledges the support of the following companies who sponsored aspects of the dinner.

Wine	Sponsored by Harmonic Inc
Champagne Reception	Sponsored by Motorola BCS
Gifts for attendees	Sponsored by Concurrent
Live Band Reserved	Sponsored by Tratec Telecom BV
Reception Entertainers	Sponsored by Comtec Cable Accessories Ltd
Flowers on tables	Sponsored by Teleste UK
Brandies and Liqueurs	Sponsored by Scientific-Atlanta Western Europe NV.
Menus	Sponsored by Swires Research
Place cards	Sponsored by Tratec Telecom BV

A magician toured the tables during the meal.

Tony Ley raises a glass to the SCTE's next 60 years.

Speeches and Toasts

With the meal complete and the liqueurs served the awards and speeches began with the Loyal Toast and the Toast to The Society by Dr Roger Blakeway, SCTE President. In his address Dr Blakeway welcomed all of our guests and confirmed that the Society was maintaining a strong position and constantly looking to expansion across the globe. Work was going on to improve the archives and commit them to electronic storage for future generations, and added that for a 60-year old, the Society was in remarkably good health.

The reply to Dr Blakeway's address was given by Mr Tony Ley, the President of Harmonic Inc. Mr Ley congratulated the Society on the attainment of 60 years and praised the work of the Society in establishing high standards in Cable Telecommunications. He recalled his first acquaintance with a mysterious and solid piece of furniture that was subsequently revealed as a pre-war television set, and an uncle who worked for A.C.Cossor. The Cable TV industry had enjoyed tremendous innovation and development and new challenges faced it such as HDTV. Cable had much going for it in the face of rival technologies such as satellite broadcasting and Digital Subscriber Line, but Cable Telecommunication engineers will rise to the challenges and the Society will perform its vital roles in training, educating, informing and uniting future generations of engineers. Mr Ley then proposed a Toast to the Society's next 60 years.

Honorary Fellowships

It has become traditional for the creation of Honorary Fellows to be announced at the dinner. Honorary Fellowships are awrded not just to prominent engineers but also to others who have served the industry and the Society. This year, the Society granted Honorary Fellowships to:

John Clarke of the SCTE in the USA for 'proclaiming the Gospel of the SCTE throughout the world' and for steering the American society through challenging times. In accepting this award John expressed his thanks to Dr Blakeway, Chris Swires and Beverley Allgood for their hard work in arranging the Dinner and Awards. The American society was now in it's 36^th year, a long way behing the UK, and they expressed their congratulations for the fantastic job the UK society had done and were looking forward to the next 60 years and continuing co-operation between them.

David Hodges, Chairman of the Confederation of Aerial Industries in recognition of the warm collaboration that existed between the CAI and the SCTE over the last 15 years during which the two have shared office premises and staff. David made a short speech of acceptance in which he wondered why he was getting an award for something he had found to be a lot of fun. To enjoy it and be recognised for it deserved a big 'Thank you'.

Beverley Allgood, National Secretary of the SCTE Her hard work over the last fourteen years for the Society included organisation of Social Events, assistance in the drawing-up of the Society's Constitution, and the general day-to-day running of the Society's affairs with great efficiency and diplomacy.

All three recipients were clearly surprised by the honour being paid to them but the award to Bev brought the biggest surprise and a standing ovation.

Bev Allgood receives an Honorary Fellowship from Roger Blakeway and Chris Swires.

John Clarke receives an Honorary Fellowship from Roger Blakeway.

Mac Hall presents the Tom Hall award to Roger Blakeway.

The Tom Hall Award

is given for outstanding service to the SCTE.

As a previous recipient and Vice-President of the Society, Chris Swires heads the Awards Committee which determines the Tom Hall Award each year. Here's the text of Chris's announcement at the 2005 dinner.

This award was first made in the millennium year and Tom Hall was the first recipient. Sadly Tom died in April 2002; he would love to have been present for our Diamond anniversary.

The winner of this year's award combines the outstanding intellect of a solid state physicist with the pragmatism, enthusiasm and dedication needed to succeed as an engineer in the Cable industry.

Our recipient has held senior positions in a number of leading companies in the electronics industry. During a secondment to the ministry of defense he even completed a tank driving course!

This year's award is for his skill and dedication in driving the society forward during the past ten years. Our winner has the distinction of leading the Society into Europe and our eventual partnership in the IBC in Amsterdam.

Above all he is an all round good guy!

And the winner is .. Our President Dr Roger Blakeway.

The Award was presented by Tom Hall's son Mac Hall.