Diversity Week Events Drew Crowd in N.Y.

Diversity Week events in New York City — the WICT
Leadership Conference, the NAMIC Conference, the Walter Kaitz Foundation
annual dinner, the ACC Forum and the CTAM in New York conference
— seemed to observers to be well-attended. And the numbers
bear out that impression.

The week led off with Monday’s Women in Cable Telecommunications
annual event at the Hilton New York. The conference drew more than
600 people and Monday’s luncheon, including Touchstone Award presentations,
was attended by more than 850 — up 20% from a year ago,
WICT said.

The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications,
which started on Tuesday at the Hilton, reported some 750 attendees,
well above the 600 who came to the annual event in 2010.

The 28th annual Kaitz dinner, Wednesday night at the Hilton, drew more
than the 1,100 who came in 2010 and took in $1.6 million for three diversity-
related organizations. That, too, surpassed the 2010 take of $1.4 million.

The Association of Cable Communicators said it was still adding the
figures, but estimates about 150 attendees for its conference, about 20%
below last year’s total, possibly due to travel cutbacks by cable systems.

Finally, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing,
which held its annual conference in New York for the first time since
1984, reported 1,672 attendees. That topped — by one attendee — the
1,671 who came to last year’s CTAM Summit in New Orleans.

Spreading the Event Wealth

Some cable networks
in New York
last week celebrated
returning
series. Monday
night, at the New
Museum, IFC welcomed
back Onion
News Network

with a party and
panel session,
ahead of the Oct.
4 second-season
debut. Pictured
top, l.-r.: IFC president
Evan Shapiro;
ONN’sJohn Cariani, Suzanne Sena, Brad Holbrook,
Tracy Toth
and Aaron Lazar; and IFC GM Jen Caserta.
Thursday night, USA Network treated more than 1,000
of Psych’s most loyal fans to an advance screening of
the Oct. 12 sixth-season premiere, at the Ziegfeld Theatre.
Pictured, l.-r.: Psych stars James Roday, Andy Berman
and Dulé Hill.