Comcast’s Ed Hauge, our video production manager, produced and filmed this short video that the Puyallup Valley Food Bank is using to promote its mission and good work.
If the voice at the beginning and end of the spot sounds familliar, there’s a reason. Ed found out about the Food Bank’s need from Kent Boyle, a Puyallup City Councilman, whose company, McMurphy Media, has been affiliated with Comcast for years. Kent’s voice has narrated countless public service announcements, and he was a host of the Around Here program.. Kent is on the board of the Puyallup Valley Food Bank and thought of Ed when the need for a video came up. The group plans to use the video at various speaking opportunities around the region, and of course the video is part of their Web page now. ”I was very impressed with the Puyallup Valley Food Bank’s devotion to its mission, and glad to help them. And it was great fun to be reunited with Kent,” Ed said.
Now that you’ve read this, please consider helping the Puyallup Food Bank yourself: please visit their web site to learn about how they’re gathering votes for the Pepsi Refresh giving campaign.
Comcast is pleased to be airing a public service announcement to help raise awareness – and money – for a much-needed shelter in Pierce County, Washington.
Here’s what the YWCA’s Kelly McDonald told us about the effort:
The YWCA is proud to have offered safety to women and children fleeing violence for over three decades, but the current shelter is cramped.
Communal living at a time of great crisis is taxing. Families reside in 97-square-foot rooms. Up to 50 residents share two kitchens and two bathrooms. The YWCA wanted to offer more than just safety to clients; they want to give them the dignity and healing that individual space offers.
So in December of 2008, the YWCA’s board got visionary and voted to purchase a new building to move the shelter. In the midst of an economic recession, the Board acted boldly to meet the needs of YWCA clients, and launched a $4.5 million dollar campaign to purchase, renovate, and sustain the new building.
This new space will offer individual apartments to the families the YWCA harbors with safety. Private kitchens and bathrooms in each unit, and more space for kids, pets, and moms will offer clients enhanced peace and dignity as they heal. The YWCA will increase bed space by 50%.
The YWCA Pierce County has under $300,000 remaining to raise in order to offer safety, healing, and empowerment to women and children in a space they deserve. Follow the YWCA’s progress by going to www.itstimefortheywca.org.
Comcast’s public relations director, Walter Neary, who serves on the Lakewood City Council, was originally contacted about this sponsorship by a former city council member, Helen McGovern. We’re proud to support this effort with a donation worth at least $50,000 in airtime.
After years of being “the customer,” I finally had a chance to follow a cable technician to see what it’s like on the inside of the cable business. I learned that cable technicians aren’t just “cable guys.”
My name’s Katelin Chow, and I’m a junior at the University of Washington and have been interning with Comcast for three summers through the Emma Bowen Foundation, a program for minorities interested in media. Even though I’ve been with the company for a while, I never had the opportunity to look “behind-the-scenes” and tag along with a technician until now.
It’s 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and I’m in Comcast’s Seattle office, looking around at the giant garage-like building.
Jon Peterson, a technical operations supervisor, hands me a hard hat and reflector-vest, laughing: “The vest is probably gonna be too big for you, but it’s the smallest size we’ve got.”
“What size is it?” I ask, accepting the helmet and vest.
“Extra large. Now try on the hat. Does it fit?” He laughs again as I put on the hard hat. “Wear it proud!”
For the rest of the day I’ll be following Anthony—better known as Tony—Norton, who’s been working with Comcast as a technician for almost a year. Like a lot of other CommTechs, Tony keeps a “10-40” schedule, meaning he works four-10 hour shifts each week.
As he explains his work days to me, I wonder what it’s like to balance working long hours on weekends with having a family. He’s from DesMoines, Washington, and has two kids (a daughter, who tells me, is incredibly neat and organized; and a son, who he says is a typical “boy”).
He’s got a stocky build and towers over my 5’0” frame. Later, as I watch him hoist foot ladders over his shoulders, I understand that the job as a CommTech isn’t for the weak-of-body—it’s a physically-trying job that requires the technicians to climb ladders to 20 foot heights and lug around heavy equipment.
* * *
Tony and I are in the van, making our way to the first call of the day. As he “pre-calls” the first customer to let him know we’re on our way—a standard procedure that makes sure customers are expecting us—Tony tells me that this job is a lot about time management. There’s a two-hour window customers sign up for to have the technicians come out to their homes, which is backed up by the Comcast Customer Guarantee. So that means if the technician doesn’t arrive for a scheduled visit during the appointment window, Comcast will credit $20 to the customer’s account.
We’re in and out of the first house in less than an hour after Tony replaces the cable modem and checks to make sure that everything’s working properly. By the end of the day, I call this process–with the fancy gadget and the cords and the whirring machines—“checking the vitals” because it’s reminiscent of a doctor’s visit. Tony looks at the machine’s readings and makes adjustments to the cables accordingly—the way he talks about the numbers and the readings (“plus seven, minus nine, fifty from this end”) makes my head spin.
The second visit throws a curveball our way. As soon as Tony and I arrive on the scene, he notices that a cable is running through a windowsill, which he says is unsafe. It’s a time-consuming surprise that puts us a little behind schedule—there are cables wrapped around tree branches and hanging loosely from the pole.
After he helps the customer with their television issue, Tony surveys the cable situation outside. He decides that he’ll have to climb the pole to re-run the cable line. Unfortunately, the pole is wedged in a grouping of trees and bushes, which makes it dif ficult to get a ladder into the area. But still, Tony carries the ladder to the pole and tries setting it up, to no avail.
So we wait for back up. Tony says he always tries to resolve the issue himself, but sometimes, technicians just need help in order get the job done correctly and safely.
* * *
When we finally get to the third appointment, Tony realizes that he’ll have to climb yet another ladder and pole in order to check that the cables are in working order. As he’s standing 20 feet in the air, hooked to the ladder which is hooked to the cable, I find myself feeling sympathy pains for him: The guy has already spent the first part of the day on a ladder, and now he’s up there again—but this time, the mid-afternoon sun’s beating down on him.
He must be exhausted, I think to myself as my stomach growls so loud that the customer, a man in his thirties, sympathetically offers me a bite to eat.
“No thanks,” I tell the customer as we both crane our necks to watch Tony. Hopefully, Tony and I will be able to grab some lunch before the next call—but with the busy schedules, I wonder if we’ll even have time to do that.
Luckily, Tony figures out the situation fairly quickly. He circles the house a few times and sees that there’s a wire interfering with Comcast’s cables. Tony swaps out the cables in less than ten minutes, steps inside the house to check the Internet connection—it’s good!
After Tony hands his business card to the customer—something he always does, so that customers can call him directly should they have any questions—we’re back on the road, with enough time to grab a bite to eat.
* * *
Once we wolf down our sandwiches—I never thought that eating in a sandwich shop could feel like 15 minutes of air-conditioned bliss—we hit the road again.
On our way to the last appointment, Tony makes one quick stop because he wants to check on an elderly customer who he helped earlier in the week. The customer had phone issues, so Tony wanted to be sure he had completely resolved any problems. I was pleasantly surprised by Tony’s drop-in—I might have been too tired to add an un-scheduled appointment into my already full day. But many technicians, as trained, follow up with customers if they have spare time, something I was impressed to learn.
When we go to the last appointment, the customer tells us his television’s picture quality has been poor. Tony examines the TV, fiddling with the cords in the back, re-setting the cable. It turns out that one of the TV’s cords is loose, so whenever the TV shifts, the picture quality worsens.
Coincidentally enough, Tony has the same type of TV in his own home, so he’s able to credibly attribute the problem to the television.
“Alrighty, I’ll call up the store, then,” the customer says good naturedly with a laugh. “Thanks for coming out—I’m sorry for wasting your time!”
“Not a problem,” Tony replies, handing over his Comcast card. “In case you have any other questions.”
After spending a day with a communications technician, I understand how grueling the job can get. Pulling ten-hour shifts—shifts that are physically intensive—is demanding. The nice thing about the job, though, is that these technicians have some independence. They don’t have bosses hovering over their shoulders, micro-managing them. They get to be on the move, in different settings every day. But I do understand how draining the job could get, especially with back-to-back appointments and little time for a break.
All in all, my ridealong with Tony was an eye-opening experience—thanks for letting me tag along!
Like a lot of sports fans, now that I’ve had an HD set since the Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl, I’ve been ruined for watching sports in anything less than high definition.
The sport really doesn’t matter. Football, baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, bike racing: it is all better in high definition.
The final of the FIFA World Cup between Spain and the Netherlands: If you don’t have a 3D set, you can watch the game at SPORT Restaurant and Bar at Fisher Plaza in Seattle starting at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 11.
But what about watching sports in 3D? Is it the new standard? I’d say yes, and here’s why.
First, we need to clear our heads of preconceptions.
This is not the 3D technology of flimsy blue and red glasses. The games are shot using two side-by-side HD cameras. The glasses are battery-powered, cost about $150 each and work in conjunction with the 3D set.
While the glasses may seem expensive, the 3D sets don’t cost as much as you would think. They start at about $1,500, and look no different than a standard HD set.
Gradually we’re seeing this catch on.
At Comcast, we carry ESPN 3 on channel 898 which shows nothing but sports in 3D. All you need to watch is a subscription, a 3D set and glasses and an HD set top box.
This weekend, Comcast will be showing the Mariners v. Yankees games in 3D on channel 897. The Saturday game starts at 7:10 p.m. with Sunday’s game starting at 1:10 p.m.
The final of the FIFA World Cup between Spain and the Netherlands will be showing on ESPN 3 in 3D with coverage beginning at 10:30 a.m. If you don’t have a 3D set, you can watch the game at SPORT Restaurant and Bar at Fisher Plaza 140 – 4th Avenue North.
So is 3D worth it?
I’ve had an opportunity to watch the 2010 Masters Golf Tournament and a couple of FIFA World Cup games in 3D.
Golf is absolutely amazing in 3D. When I watched the Masters, it was the first time I had ever seen sports shot in this latest generation of 3D technology. I have to admit, the experience exceeded all of my expectations.
I’m not a big fan of golf, but the game was so much more interesting to me in 3D. The greens undulated and seemed so much scarier in 3D than even in high definition. The fairways looked much narrower. I could clearly see the gallery not only of the hole the cameras were focusing on, but on the hole in the background.
Soccer is also impressive in 3D. However, with a lot of moving elements and different camera angles, the whole 3D experience wasn’t as consistent as watching golf.
For example, the more static shots from field level or near field level were amazing. The players appeared to pop from the screen.
I could focus on different elements in the shot—the players seated on the bench in the foreground or the players on the field in the background—instead of on what the camera person was focusing on.
Just like I would do when watching an event live.
But the 3D effect wasn’t as pronounced on shots showing the entire field. And in some cases, when there was a lot of movement on the screen, there was a shadowing effect as the cameras struggled to keep up with the action.
Still, these issues didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for 3D. My guess is as the technology progresses and the production people become more experienced at shooting sports in 3D, they will get better at capturing fast moving action in 3D.
So will 3d be the new standard?
Bottom line: if I were I shopping for a new set, I would definitely go with 3D, because I think it could become a game changer when it comes to sports.
Here is KJR radio personality Dave “Softy” Mahler talking about this weekend’s games in 3D.
Either click on the link or press the button to hear the spot:
Enjoy a diverse tour of Seattle’s International District on Comcast Neighborhoods. The segment is on YouTube in two parts. This first section features mention of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience and a number of historic sites:
This section talks about food, and includes information about the famous Uwajimaya.
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