Communications Executives of the Year
Scott Binder - Regional Senior Vice President for Comcast in Colorado.
In this position, Scott is responsible for all aspects of the company's cable operations in Colorado, serving more than 800,000 customers and 2,500 employees. Scott has been a cable operations leader for more than 19 years, managing cable systems across the country. Scott has previously served in management with Comcast in California, New Mexico and Arizona. For 10 years, Scott worked with Time Warner in Kentucky, California and Wisconsin. He began his career as a CPA in the Denver area. Scott is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and is on the boards of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Denver Sports Commission, the Denver Public Schools Foundation, and is the President of the Colorado Cable Television Association.
Dan Caruso -President & CEO Zayo, Executive Chairman of Envysion
Dan is currently President and CEO of the Zayo Group and executive chairman of Envysion. He is also a board member of GTS Telecom and New Global Telecom. Between 2004 and 2006, Dan was President and CEO of ICG Communications. In 2004, he led a buyout of ICG and took it private. In 2006, ICG was sold to Level (3). Dan was one of the founding executives of Level (3) Communications; from inception in 1997 through ~2000, Dan was responsible for Level (3)'s engineering, construction, and operations organizations; between 2001 and 2003, most of Level (3)'s lines of business and marketing functions were his responsibility. Prior to Level (3), Dan was a member of the MFS Communications senior management team. He began his career at Illinois Bell/Ameritech. Dan has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois. He is a board member in Colorado Uplift, a charity that helps Denver's inner city youth stay focused on school and personal development.
Randall Curran - CEO, Deltacom
Randall E. Curran joined Deltacom in February 2005 as chief executive officer. He previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of ICG Communications, Inc., a competitive telecommunications company, from September 2000 until December 2003. Prior to joining ICG Communications, Curran served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thermadyne Holdings Corporation, a global manufacturer of welding and cutting products.
Mike Fries - President and CEO of Liberty Global, Inc.
A 20-year veteran of the cable and media industry, Mr. Fries has spent nearly his entire career developing, building and managing international cable television and programming businesses, including the operations that today form Liberty Global. Mr. Fries is a member of Liberty Global’s board of directors and its two-person executive committee along with the company’s chairman, Dr. John C. Malone. He is an active industry partner at the World Economic Forum and a member of Young Presidents Organization. Mr. Fries currently serves on the board of a number of professional and philanthropic organizations including CableLabs, The Cable Center, Colorado Forum, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, The Denver Biennial of the Americas, Alliance for Choice in Education and Graland Country Day School. He is also on the board of two successful, Colorado-based companies – Viawest and Smashburger. Mr. Fries holds a Bachelors Degree from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Columbia University. - President, CEO, Co-Founder Intrado
George Heinrichs
George Heinrichs is cofounder and president of Intrado, a global provider of emergency communications infrastructure and services. A recognized emergency services expert, Mr. Heinrichs has played a key role in the evolution of the nation’s 9-1-1 network and continues to influence 9-1-1 public policy.
Larissa Herda - Chairman, President, CEO TW Telecom
Larissa Herda took the helm of Time Warner Telecom Inc., as President and CEO, on June 22, 1998. She was elected Chairman of the Time Warner Telecom Inc. Board of Directors effective June 7, 2001, and currently holds the title of Chairman, President and CEO. Ms. Herda served as the company’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing from March 1, 1997 until her appointment as chief executive.
David Leonard - Recent CEO of WildBlue Communications
Leonard is recognized for growing WildBlue Communications from an upstart satellite communications company to a powerhouse rural broadband company serving 44 percent of the U.S satellite ISP market. Since launching in 2005, WildBlue surpassed 400,000 rural broadband subscribers within 48 states; launched and activated two additional satellites; received the SSPI 2008 Industry Innovator Award and the 2009 ‘Broadband Satellite Operator of the Year Award’ from the Excellence in Satellite Management. In October 2009, Leonard successfully completed the sale of WildBlue to ViaSat Inc.
Greg Maffei - President and CEO, Liberty Media Corporation
Greg Maffei, with Chairman John Malone, leads the team transforming Liberty Media into an operating company to maximize shareholder value. He assumed the role of President and CEO of Liberty Media in March 2006, having joined the company in November 2005. Previously, Greg served as President and CFO of Oracle, Chairman and CEO of 360networks Corporation, a regional broadband carrier, SVP and CFO of Microsoft Corporation, and Chairman of Expedia. Greg has an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and an AB degree from Dartmouth College. He also serves as a director of Electronic Arts and Zillow.com, as well as the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Public Library.
Richard C. Notebaert - Former Chairman & CEO Qwest Communications International Inc.
Richard (Dick) Notebaert was elected chairman and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International Inc. on June 17, 2002. Previously, Mr. Notebaert was president and chief executive officer of Tellabs, a position he had held since August 2000. Prior to that, Mr. Notebaert retired from his position as chairman of the board of Ameritech Corporation in December 1999.
Oren Shaffer - Former Vice Chairman & CFO Qwest Communications International Inc.
Oren G. Shaffer was vice chairman and chief financial officer of Qwest Communications International Inc., the position he has held since joining the company in 2002. Previously, Mr. Shaffer was president and chief operating officer of Sorrento Networks, a maker of optical products for the communications industry. From 1994 to 2000, he was chief financial officer of Ameritech, where he was responsible for all of the company's financial affairs. He retired from this position and Ameritech upon the acquisition of the company by SBC.
Art Zeile - Executive Board
Art has led multiple IT and healthcare service companies. He was the co-founder of INFLOW, a national datacenter services company, and LINK-VTC, a global videoconferencing service provider. Art has been a director of numerous private and public companies. He is the current Chair of the Colorado chapter of Young President's Organization and sits the on Executive Board of the Denver Area Council of Boy Scouts of America. As a USAF officer Art was a satellite communications engineer, executive officer to the Director for Military Communications Programs, and technical advisor to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.