Maybe they'll just begin calling it The Jessie Spearman Award. Kind of like the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
On January 21 BICSI crowned an individual Installer of the Year at the awards ceremony for the third annual Cabling Skills Challenge. And for the third time, Jessie Spearman of Vision Technologies in Ranson, WV took home the honor and the $5,000 prize that went along with it.
The Skills Challenge awarded first, second, and third place in each of three categories--ITS Installer 1, ITS Installer 2, and ITS Technician. Spearman took first place in the Technician category and won the Installer of the Year award by achieving the highest overall score in the competition. The competition's events included structured cabling, copper cable terminations, fiber termination, cable assembly, troubleshooting, technical support, professionalism, and a written competency exam.
Here are the first, second, and third place finishers in each category.
ITS Installer 1
- James E. Sundy; Staley, Inc.; Little Rock, AK
- Stephen Janis Jr.; Vision Technologies; Baltimore, MD
- Steven Hartley; Staley, Inc.; Little Rock, AK
ITS Installer 2
- Jeffrey Johnson; Staley, Inc.; Little Rock, AK
- Robert Bishop; Mon Valley Technologies; Morgantown, WV
- Vincent Santucci; Vision Technologies; Glen Burnie, MD
ITS Technician
- Jessie Spearman; Vision Technologies; Ranson, WV
- James D. Castro; self-employed; Riverview, FL
- Eugene Mahfood; Quality Communication Power & Security; Davie, FL
BICSI also announced attendance numbers for its Winter Conference, which was held January 19-21 and was preceded by pre-conference learning opportunities. Total attendees numbered 4,666; that number includes 1,610 professional ateendees, 526 representatives of 154 exhibiting companies, 168 guests, and 2,040 one-day exhibit hall passholders. Additionally, pre-conference seminar attendance totaled 937. Eighty-three attendees were first-timers at a BICSI conference.