Advisory Board
Robert Bell
Robert Bell serves as the Executive Director of both the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) and World Teleport Association (WTA), where he is responsible for the programs, finances and operations of the organizations. Mr. Bell has led business development missions to cities in Asia and the US; authored articles in Asia-Pacific Satellite, The Municipal Journal of Telecommunications Policy, Telecommunications and Asian Communications; and appeared in segments of ABC World News and The Discovery Channel. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry conferences including Satellite, NAB and SATCON. He is also the author of WTA's annual Teleport Benchmarks survey of operational, financial and employment metrics in the teleport sector; of a pioneering study for WTA's Intelligent Community Forum titled Benchmarking the Intelligent Community; and of B2B Without the BS, a guide to sales and marketing in the unique business-to-business sector.
Marty Lafferty
Marty Lafferty is the Chief Executive Officer of the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA). Marty is a new media industry leader with a track record of multi-business collaboration in pioneering distribution of content via new technologies. Prior to DCIA, he was CEO of Zoom Culture, which he transformed from a dotcom into a thriving digital television firm with partners NBC and Apple. Previously, as CMO for StreamSearch, he teamed with Paramount and the Sundance Film Festival. During his tenure as Microsoft TV VP of Corporate & Service Marketing, he supported the strategic refocusing of WebTV. As President of FutureVision, he supervised the first switched-digital-network service offering and the company's acquisition by Verizon. Marty also was CEO of NBC's Olympics joint venture, where he led multiple vendors to develop alternative security solutions for a satellite-delivered mini-subscription PPV service. Finally, as VP of TDBS, he led Turner Broadcasting's internal and GI engineering teams to deploy the industry's first signal-scrambling security technology for basic programming services. Marty has served as Membership Chairman of the Interactive Services Association and co-founded the Satellite Broadcasting Communications Association, serving as its first Vice Chairman. Marty holds a Master's degree from Yale and a Bachelor's degree from Williams College. He has received the NCTA's President's Award and a CTAM TAMI Award for industry service.
Paul S. Maxwell
Paul S. Maxwell is owner and CEO of Media Business Corp, which publishes, skyreport.com, The BRIDGE Suite of news and analysis products and ancillary periodicals as well as provides research and database services. He is also a columnist for CableFAX Daily, the first daily, facsimile-distributed, advertising-supported newsletter - which he founded in 1989, and CableWORLD magazine. Maxwell has started and/or run 40+ publications ranging from CATV Newsweekly to Colorado Magazine to CableVision and Multichannel News. A successful popular song lyricist writing and performing in the early to mid-Sixties, Maxwell also served as an Army officer working as a combat correspondent for Stars & Stripes and as a combat historian during two tours in Southeast Asia. Maxwell is a founding Board Member of The Walter Kaitz Foundation; honorary board member of Cable Positive; founding member of C-TAM; Cable TV Pioneer (1990) and Member of the Pioneer Board; and a Board member of the Cable Center. In addition to his integral role in forming industry publications and associations, Maxwell is a decorated former Army Captain (Bronze Star with "V" for Valor; Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster). Recipient of the R. E. "Ted" Turner Innovator of the Year Award by the Southern Cable TV Association (1998), winner of the Vanguard Award for Associates & Affiliates by the National Cable Television Association (2000). And he is a member of the Cable TV Hall of Fame (inducted in '04). Maxwell routinely speaks at industry events and is a member of a number of commercial boards.
