Backstage At The Cabling Innovators Awards

A candid walk inside the Cabling Innovators Awards reveals what really moves infrastructure forward: proof in the field, standards that prevent failures, and people who quietly solve hard problems. We honor fiber’s rise, copper’s purpose, fault managed power in use, and the character that keeps networks running.

• Backstage moments and unfiltered voices
• Fault managed power moving from theory to deployment
• Fiber’s growth with copper’s ongoing role
• Powering devices over distance with practical tools
• Testing that validates fiber, copper and Wi‑Fi
• Workforce gap and 3D interactive training
• Standards work reducing failures and conflicts
• Actual intelligence as the engine behind innovation
• Winner shout‑outs and case studies that prove value

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Share it with somebody who hasn't been in that room

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Listener Housekeeping
• 1:55 Why A Backstage Pass Matters
• 3:38 Patrick’s Opening: You Drive The Future
• 6:40 Fault Managed Power Moves From Theory To Practice
• 9:50 Fiber’s Rise And The Case For Copper
• 13:20 Powering Devices At Distance
• 16:55 The Workforce Gap And Training Solutions
• 19:15 Recognition, Community, And Purpose
• 21:05 Standards Work And Character
• 24:10 Actual Intelligence Over AI Hype
• 26:20 Winner Shout‑Outs And Product Highlights
• 29:15 Quiet People, Big Impact
• 30:20 Share The Respect And Get Involved

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:00

Hey WildMuckies, welcome to another episode of Let's Talk Cabling. This episode, you are getting a backstage pass to see what most people don't normally see at the cable installation and maintenance award ceremony at the Big T Winter Company. Welcome to the show where we tackle the tough questions submitted by installers, technicians, project managers, estimators, customers, even IT personnel. We are connecting at the human level so that we can connect the world. If you're watching this show on YouTube, would you mind hitting the subscribe button and the bell button to be notified when new content's being created? If you listen to us on one of the audio podcast platforms, would you mind leaving us a five-star rating? Those simple little steps help us take on the algorithm so we can educate, encourage, and enrich the lives of people in the ICT industry. Wednesday night, 6 p.m., what are you doing? You know you get to watch a live stream with your favorite RCDD, and you know that's me. We get to ask questions on installation, design, certification, project management, estimation. I even do career path questions. But I can hear you back on drugs, it's just real wedding. I don't want to crash. Breathe in, breathe out, relax, I got you covered, they're recorded, and you can watch them at your convenience. And finally, while this show is free and will always remain free. If you find value in this content, when you click on that QR code right there, you can buy me a cup of coffee. You can even schedule a 15-minute one-on-one call with me after hours, of course. So if you've been watching my social media platform, you know Chuck won an award, Platinum Honoree, from Cable Installation and Mainness Magazine. But I wanted to give you a backstage pass where you get to see because you know all you really see is the highlight photo. All you really see are the handshakes, the trophy, the the the the LinkedIn Post the next morning. What you don't really see is the room itself, the conversations, the applause, and the people who changed this industry quietly, and then they went back to work, right? Today we're doing something different. In this episode, like I said in the intro, you're getting a backstage pass to the cabling innovators award from Cable Installation and Mainness Magazine. You're gonna hear moments that weren't designed for marketing. You're gonna hear just how the industry leaders talk when they're talking to each other and not selling to anybody. No spin, no sizzle, just pure innovation, pure character, and how people actually are shaping this industry is talking about what comes next.

SPEAKER_05: 2:58

Welcome to the Cabling Innovators Awards ceremony celebration. Thanks to everybody who's changing the industry through their products, through their services, through their intelligence. We appreciate you being here, appreciate you being part of Dixie, and appreciate the contributions you're making to the industry.

SPEAKER_03: 3:15

And the thing that I really love about this episode, the thing I really love about this award ceremony, this room was filled with people who don't chase attention. They solve problems and then they go right back to work. I want you to listen closely, just how Patrick opens this ceremony.

SPEAKER_04: 3:34

You're here today because you drive the future. You drive the future of the industry that we all work in. You drive the future of communications in the world. Uh, and that will get said many times over the course of the coming days. Um, it will be true every time that it's said, uh, but I hope you realize that uh in this time, on this day, it comes from here. Um, I've been fortunate enough to cover this industry for a number of years. I've seen a lot of things change. I've seen examples of, you know, the more things change, the more they stay the same, for which I'm grateful because one of the things that has stayed the same is the constant run of innovation in this industry. Um, some of the best minds in the world have worked and do work today in this industry to move this industry forward. I am grateful to be a part of it. And I'm very grateful that you all chose to participate in our um annual awards program that culminates in the handing out of some hardware today. I know that this is just a brief ceremony and celebration that really doesn't encapsulate all the work that went into everything that you do. But do want you to know that I have a deep appreciation for everything that you do, everything that you have done, everything that you will continue to do. The Innovators Awards, Cabling Innovators Awards program, for no doing of mine, but through uh the efforts and the innovation and the ingenuity of your organizations and your people and yourselves encapsulates the innovation that solves not just today's problems but tomorrow's problems, solves tomorrow's challenges. We've been fortunate enough that in in some years past, some technologies that have been recognized in the innovation awards um have kind of been ahead of their time. If you take a look at at what is being honored this year, um and and then you and then you take a look and you um spend some time in the sessions.

SPEAKER_03: 5:49

Did you catch that? That line he just said, you drive the future. That's not ceremony talk. That's a reminder that this industry doesn't move forward by accident. It's only because there are smart people out there who are engaged, they see problems, they want to fix those problems and make this industry better.

SPEAKER_04: 6:11

We probably see a lot about fault-managed power. You'll see presentations that say, look, fault managed power is a real technology and it can be used, and you should consider installing these systems. You should consider using these systems on your campus. There's very much an awareness campaign about fault managed power technology. I'm a believer in it myself, don't mean to put prejudices in there, but I I believe it's a technology that that can change, um that can change the industry. If you take a look through, you say, well, how come there's not a fault managed power solution in the innovators awards? Well, we're fortunate enough that when when those systems were uh the bleeding edge of what was happening in the industry, we're fortunate to have had those in our awards program by the time. This year, one of the uh honorees in the program is Pantwick's fault managed power award system in use. So while at Fixie this week, you may be you may find yourself in sessions where they are talking about this theoretical fault managed power that you really can use. Um the leading edge folks in the industry have used it, are using it. An application story about fault managed power, not the theories, not something about um uh you know, there's a cable that that supports fault managed power, but the fact that it is in use and it is uh proving its value at um millelectrical, right? Miller electrical use it, I believe. Um that is sort of the essence of what the innovators award uh example five.

SPEAKER_03: 7:53

I want you to notice what Patrick doesn't do here, he doesn't hype trends, he talks about things that are already in use, things that that have been out that that just come out recently, or even case studies of work that's actually been done.

SPEAKER_04: 8:07

So my appreciation goes to all of you um for the work that you've done to drive the industry forward for your participation in the program. Um I do want to make sure that I at some point uh mention in my long speech all the participants who are here today. And I think it makes sense to start with discussion of fiber. Uh there is uh there's not much doubt that fiber is a dominant um dominant technology in the industry. Uh in many ways, it is the future. Um we've got so many uh fiber-based um uh technologies in the awards program. Um I'll point out Expo, which I learned early on in my days of of uh covering the industry. Expo stands for excellence in fiber optics. That's where the name comes from. Um and a couple of products that are award recipients here today, um uh NOLTS and uh NOTDR series um exemplified that excellence in fiber optics, driving the future, solving the problems of tomorrow, um, as well as the pro uh as well as the the challenges of today. Um expo friends at Food Networks uh have have uh a tester that's that's being recognized here because it tests your fiber along with your copper, along with your Wi-Fi, um in one um uh in one device.

SPEAKER_03: 9:44

I love the fact how Patrick says nobody ever posts pictures of clean fiber, nobody ever celebrates proper power testing. But when those things fail, you and I both know everything stops. And the customer starts screaming. Let's listen to more.

SPEAKER_04: 10:03

My friends from Microcare, um, who you may know as stickers, I tried to alphabetize the awards over there. I wasn't sure if they should go into M or S because of the Microcare or any stickers. Um, but we've got one for you, I promise, even if it's a little out of alphabetical order. Um, it's not in the P Largo room, it is yeah, right now. Um there they're Pro 360, touchless cleanup, changing the game in fiber cleaning. Um stick around this week, and uh you'll see plenty of talk about fiber clean. Uh so many discussions about fiber optics. Uh do the right thing by mentioning that that having clean fibers and fiber cleaning is an essential part um uh of success uh and how many uh network failures come down to an unclean uh fiber end phase. And um fiber clean often unheralded, but the game has changed with with the Pro 360. And it's my understanding that further changes uh within that technology are coming. So um if yet if you haven't taken a look as as colleagues, um that Pro 360 is something that uh I had to do with double tape, the you know, the the first time I saw it. I wasn't quite sure. I didn't get it, um, but with one demonstration, it made quick sense.

SPEAKER_03: 11:25

And this next part here matters more than most people realize. This isn't a fiber versus copper thing, this is about using the right tool in the right place.

SPEAKER_04: 11:37

So, with fiber being the future of uh communications technologies, and that'll get discussed uh plenty of times here in this week as well. Um, one of the um one of the expressions that is often mentioned in the when when fiber is uh on the agenda, when fiber is the uh spotlight of the agenda is uh you know that copper's gone and pop was dead. And you know, why would people install Popper in their network so fiber can do everything? And I'll get to some more of that in a little bit. And um a friend of mine who's in the room, um, Todd Harpel, uh with with Levington, um, has something to say to those of you who will say that Fiverr is uh fiber is is ruling the world and copper is dead. And what Todd has to say is uh FU an F U T category from Lenin, which is uh being under today um for what it should do. Um but the the coexistence of fiber and copper um is a real thing. And that uh really is going to challenge my note card because there are a number of um technologies, um systems that um that not only acknowledge but that put into practice the reality of the coexistence of copper and fiber. Um, you know, Comstrokes fiber reach powered solutions. You get the reach of fiber and you get the opportunity to uh the capability to power your devices out there. Um how is that done? Um well they could tell you at the roof. I I could tell you here, but I do a bad job of it. Um but um that technology, the the fiber reach solution, combines the necessity of having to go all the way across a parking lot to a garage that's you know way over there. Um I was gonna make a joke about going from here to the Q I remember that joke sometimes.

SPEAKER_03: 14:04

Um the um And here's what most people don't see the awards last minutes, the work behind them that lasts years, because some of these products are gonna be around for a long time and they're gonna make your job easier.

SPEAKER_04: 14:18

My friends from Eton who are here have media and mode reverse being being recognized here that can switch, you know, um not just not just uh copper and fiber conversion, but also the mode single mode, multi-mode fiber, switching from one mode to another. That kind of technology um is on the cutting edge, it's on the bleeding edge. Um and the media converters, of course, um are a uh a manifestation of that need to combine fiber with copper in uh a network. IFP Connect with a fiber PoE transceiver, um very similar uh uh problem solving mindset. Uh that there is the need to reach far distances, and there is the need to power devices at those far distances. And how can that be done? That's something that has challenged um that has challenged users everywhere for a long time is being addressed. Powering devices is uh the theme I've brought up here a few times. The fact that fiber's reach and the ability to power through copper conductors uh is a necessity for many. Powering devices overall is a um is a growing challenge in the industry. Um AEM uh with a PoE pass-through adapter, testing PoE through an adapter that you put on the test equipment. It's it's a it's a necessity for those who are in the field, for those whose customers are like, is this is my PoE surface 300 work? Is my PoE connection going to work? It gives certainty to the uh to the end user through the contractor who uses this technology in their test equipment. Um its EL2P, uh uh power distribution unit, which I learned EL2P means elevate to power. And I thought that was like that's like one of those hip-hop songs that my kids Elevate to Power. What is this? They're like it's a PDU. I'm like, I like it already. I don't like their music, but I like the theme of the Elevate to Power. Uh powering devices is um is absolutely um essential. It's a growing concern. It's a concern not just of today, but of tomorrow, that um that the problem solvers in this industry are aggressive.

SPEAKER_03: 16:52

The thing I love most about this, this wasn't a room just celebrating innovation. This was a room that quietly admitted, hey, we have problems, we have challenges in this industry. We need people, we need skilled people, and we need them right now. Thank you, Patrick, for identifying that.

SPEAKER_04: 17:11

Very honored to have Twearfield here today, who uh is addressing some of the uh workforce challenges that exist um in the industry. Again, if you stick around, if you go to the sessions this week, you're gonna see charts and graphs about how many people are retiring or expiring before they retire out of the industry, um, and then how few people are coming into the industry and what's gonna happen with the skills gap. And what are we gonna do and how are we gonna figure out how to get everything done? And how are we going to train the next generation of people who need to uh install, whether it's broadband out there, um, you know, serving communities in the US or inside of a building or on a campus? Um, Fairfield's 3D interactive installation guides are sort of a quintessential cable and innovator award recipient. Um looking at the problems that exists that is going to exacerbate, that is going to challenge the industry, and then doing something about it. Um, and serving the industry by serving the customers and uh meeting the needs that they have.

SPEAKER_03: 18:22

And I want to pause here for a second because yes, my name did come up because I want a platinum honoree from cable installation and maintenance magazine. But I want to be clear about something. This recognition, this award is not about me. This reward is about you. This reward is about the community. Because if there weren't people who were interested in becoming better in the low voltage or limited energy field, I would not have a podcast. So I cherish each and every one of the 20,000 people who follow me as subscribers. I cherish every person who has consumed over 330,000 pieces of content. So I I appreciate the 330,000 times that my content got viewed across all my platforms last month. Again, this reward, again, this award is not about the podcast. It's not about me. This is about you making the industry a little bit better.

SPEAKER_04: 19:20

My friend Chuck Bowser from the Lens Talk Cabling Podcast is an honor to be here today. Chuck is um changing the future with this podcast. Um, I have been fortunate enough to tune in to very many of his episodes. Um maybe one day soon I'll be on um as a guest, and Chuck and I can talk to each other about some of what's going on. But if you haven't tuned into the Let's Talk Cable and Podcast, I asked you to do so because Chuck embodies uh the cable and industry and the heart of the installation task, design and installation tasks that are what Bixie is all about here in this week. Um Chuck's genuine interest is the industry itself, the people in it, um, and its future. So uh when uh we saw that the Chuck was willing to sign on and be a part of the Cable and Innovators Awards this year, uh I was uh glad and honored to see it. Uh glad that that our judging panel uh reviewed the podcast the way that it did and and gave the the uh accolades that it deserved. Um the Let's Talk Cable Podcast is a future changer in the industry.

SPEAKER_03: 20:44

I love that Patrick identified this part because, in fact, this might be the most important part of the entire ceremony. And it had nothing to do with products, it had to do with content of character, which everybody who was work who got an award this year went above and beyond what the normal people in the limited energy or low voltage industry does.

SPEAKER_04: 21:08

Um I promise that the rest of my speech is not going to suddenly become um a political uh speech in any way. However, I do want to say that I'm looking at my calendar, not just my watch, I'm looking at my calendar, and I know that you've chosen to spend time here with me and with each other uh on MLK Day, on Martin Luther King Day, it was probably as a holiday on your corporate calendars. Um, you're in Bixie, you're here in this room, much appreciated. Again, not a political speech, but I think if there is one thing that, regardless of where anybody stands on on the political spectrum, if there's one thing that echoes from Martin Luther King's life, it is the phrase the content of their character from his famous I Have a Dream speech. And I just want to um close out by stating that I have immense appreciation for the content of the character of the people in this room, the people in this industry. And I appreciate Todd letting me make the FU joke a little bit earlier. But I'll point Todd out. He's by no means he's the only person in this room who's worthy of um of this kind of recognition. But but Todd um and Leviton his his employer. Leviton allows Todd to dedicate countless hours on a volunteer basis for standards to help. I had the opportunity to talk to Todd.

SPEAKER_03: 22:47

Hey, the only thing I can add here is, you know, standards work doesn't show up on sales sheets. It doesn't show up on more revenue for companies. It shows up in fewer failures and fewer callbacks and fewer arguments on a job site and fewer arguments with the customers. Those subtle little wins that easily get overlooked were solved by people like this in the ceremony doing the hard work behind the scenes. Like they say in The Wizard of Oz, pay no attention to the person behind the curtain. That's these people.

SPEAKER_04: 23:22

I had the opportunity to talk to Todd recently. Um, and some of the stuff is is in video form up online, um, about TSB, is it 5073? 5073, which is going to address um the running of twisted hair copper cabling at distances greater than 100 meters, and it's a topic that has actually prompted things like um front the things like media converters and uh and the distance of fiber, but you can also run power. Um it is it is a challenge that many in the industry face, many users in the industry face, many uh contractors and installation contractors in the industry face. Um the formulation of that TSB um is a selfless act by everybody who's involved. Because uh the time that is spent in standards development and standards creation does not directly benefit the employer. It doesn't directly hit the bottom lines of the organizations whose people are there working that hard. The work that is done there in TIA, in Vixie, and other standards organizations is for the benefit of the industry, for the benefit of the ultimate users who have your products and your solutions in their networks, for the benefit of the installers who may be um maybe loyal um to your products and your technologies. Um these issues truly challenge them. And on occasions like this and many others, uh folks who uh folks who dedicate their time, organizations, companies that that allow the dedication of their resources um for the betterment of the industry, shows the content of character that I'm proud to rub elos with uh at a place like Bixie. And uh wanted to close by pointing out that um that I have immense appreciation for the content of your character. And then finally, finally, um, if you're in the sessions this week, you're gonna hear about FMP and know that it's already going on. You're gonna hear about what's happening with the workforce and know that there are solutions already being put out there. You're gonna hear a lot about AI. And the um so many of you in this room and your organizations, your colleagues, and and some of your competitors are uh working as hard as you can to uh build the infrastructure that that is supporting AI and whatever it does in the world. And and KI, of course, stands for artificial intelligence. But I'm not losing sight of uh what I consider to be the most valuable AI that's in this room, and that is the actual intelligence. The actual intelligence that enables the formulation of the products and the technologies and the systems and the solutions, um, and the guides and the cleaners and the cabling systems, um, and the media converters, um, and all the test equipment, which always blows my mind. The actual intelligence that goes behind everything that you do, that goes behind the products and the systems and the solutions that you put out, the actual intelligence that goes behind solving your customers' problems is something that I don't lose sight of, something that I don't take for granted, and something that I value and cherish immensely. So my thanks go to you and your AI, your actual intelligence, along with the content of your character, to keep going um through difficult times and through challenges and through being sent to the wrong room. You made it where I needed you to be, even though I sent you to the wrong place, your AI that you give. Um, I appreciate it very much. And I just want to say my hat is off to you. Uh, and I thank you very much for spending a little bit of time here um with us today.

SPEAKER_03: 27:20

And here are just a few snippets from some of the people that I was able to capture at the award ceremony. So just so they get name recognition for their contributions to this industry. Some people left, so I didn't get everybody, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_02: 27:34

Hi, I'm Steve Kells at AEM, and we just received the Gold Innovators, Cabling Innovators Award from Endeavor Media for our POE pass-through adapter. Hi, I'm Todd Harpel with Leviton, and today we got our uh innovation awards for a half RU patch panel that fits in one half of a rack space, 24 ports, and then our FU TP cable, as Patrick was saying, uh it's a shielded Cat 6A cable without a cross line, so it makes it very small to get away.

SPEAKER_06: 28:10

Hey, I'm Eric with IFP Connect, and we won an award this year for our fiber PoE extender, which gives you full 30 watt gigabit networks up to 1,000 feet over fiber and a piece of 18.2.

SPEAKER_07: 28:23

I'm Vincent Fristine from Expo, and we won two awards here at Vixen Winter. One is for the PXM LXM Pro Line of LTS, and the second one is for our FTB Lite Line of OTDRs.

SPEAKER_00: 28:35

Hi, my name is Brooke Ron. I'm the regional marketing manager for Network Infrastructure North America at Panduit Corporation. We're here at the cabling innovation and maintenance uh innovators award ceremony. Panduit has received three awards, um, one for Elevate to Power or EL2P PDU, another for our work with fiber connectivity and expansion in the Rockford Public Schools, and um for a partnership with uh Miller Electric Company um featuring Fault Managed Power Systems or FMPS.

SPEAKER_01: 29:07

My name is Fabio Baldo and I'm from Clearfield, and we won the award for a Clearfield Build App.

SPEAKER_03: 29:12

So by now you probably noticed something. This wasn't about products. This wasn't about logos. This definitely was not about egos. This was all about people. People solving problems before they become emergencies, people giving time to the standards and training and innovation without ever asking for the spotlight. This room wasn't loud, but it sure was powerful. And most of the folks never got to hear what you just heard. And that's all I wanted to bring you. If this episode gave you the new level of respect for the work being done behind the scenes, then do me a favor, share it with somebody who hasn't been in that room. Because this industry only moves forward when the right people get recognized and when the next generation gets involved. Thank you for trusting Let's Talk Cabling with your time. Remember, knowledge is power, and now you got a little bit more of it.