Ralph Roberts, the late Comcast co-founder, was famed for his sporty bow ties. So it was no surprise that the sartorial exclamation point would wind up becoming something of a viral statement for the company following his death last month at age 95.
Comcast spokesman John Demming said thousands of employees across the country sported bow ties beginning not long after his death, including for an internal memorial service and celebration on June 25 that was broadcast to employees and included pictures, remembrances and remarks by Roberts’s son Brian Roberts, the company’s chairman and CEO.
Demming said that the viral bow tie salute included technicians wearing ties on service calls. And it was not confined to ties, with bow-tie earrings and necklaces and bracelets also making appearances among the staffers. No word on whether bow-tie pasta was served at Ralph’s Café, which is the name of the employee cafeteria at the company’s Philadelphia headquarters.
Demming, who tweeted his own bow-tied selfie on June 25, called the employee celebration “amazing” and “a wonderful day for a wonderful man.”
— John Eggerton
How Cox’s Hart, Family Became World Cup Stars
How did Kevin Hart, the Cox Communications chief technology officer, and his daughters end up becoming iconic fans of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s victory in the recent Women’s World Cup?
It starts with their love of soccer, Cox officials said after the team’s Twitter account (@ussoccer_ wnt) tweeted this photo of a pumped-up Hart and his 12- and 9-year-old daughters.
Hart was a four-year starter, captain and most valuable player on Tulsa’s Division 1 Soccer Team, Cox communications ace Todd Smith tells The Wire. He was also first-team All America for the Midwest region, and his team set a NCAA D1 record for most consecutive home wins, at 39 in a row.
This year, he coached his daughters to two Disney 3v3 National Soccer Tournament Championships in January and took them both to the Women’s World Cup final game in Vancouver, Canada, on July 5 (won by the U.S. team, 5-2, over Japan). While there, the Harts gave their best “Go USA” pose at a promotional photo booth and the team, understandably, endorsed it with a tweet.
In Susan Eid’s Name, Efforts to Raise Funds to Combat Cancer
DirecTV’s former top government and legal affairs executive, Susan Eid, who died on Nov. 27 after a battle with cancer, was remembered at the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association annual convention in Newport, R.I., as a smart, funny, gracious and graceful woman who was not afraid of a fight.
Now, her sister Cindy is taking up her battle, trying to raise $2 million for cancer research.
Eid got her start in cable 25 years ago with Continental Cablevision. She later oversaw Media One Group’s Washington, D.C., office and served as senior public policy adviser to George W. Bush-era Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell. She joined Hughes Electronics (DirecTV’s former parent) in 2004 and led its Washington efforts as senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs.
In a brief tribute to Eid, NECTA convention committee chairman and Comcast senior vice president, government & regulatory relations Mark Reilly said that while she probably wouldn’t have wanted the attention, she remained optimistic throughout her battle with cancer, supporting Massachusetts General Hospital’s cancer research financially and volunteering for experimental treatments. He said Eid also donated her own tissue to Mass General’s research efforts after her death, which has helped researchers learn new ways to more effectively battle Susan’s type of cancer.
“Cindy is now going to take on Susan’s fight from here,” Reilly said.
Donations can be made in Susan’s name online or by mail by putting “Susan Eid” on the memo line and writing to: Massachusetts General Hospital, Breast Cancer Research, 100 Cambridge St., Suite 1300, Boston, MA 02114.
— Mike Farrell
