New WICT Officers in Va.

Women in Cable & Telecommunications’ Virginia chapter has elected a Cox Communications Inc. official as president and invited a key local Cox executive to speak at a holiday party and charitable fund-raiser this Friday.

Rachelle Whitacre, corporate manager of regulatory affairs at Cox, is the chapter board’s 2006 president, and Wendy Vinson, vice president of affiliate marketing at The Inspiration Networks, is VP.

Shinese Bridgeforth, a product specialist at Cox in Hampton Roads, is secretary, and the treasurer is Cliona Robb, a partner at Christian & Barton LLP. The immediate past president is Francie Leader of Superstation WGN.

At the Friday-afternoon event, the featured guest will be Gary McCollum, VP and general manager of Cox Communications of Northern Virginia.

The event will be at The Loft-Frederick’s in Fredericksburg, and it begins at 1:30 p.m. The cost is $50 per person, and some proceeds will be donated to Hope House, aiding homeless women and their children in Fredericksburg and nearby counties.

For information, e-mail Rachelle Whitacre at rachelle.whitacre@cox.com.