Robert W. Hughes

Founder, Prime Cable , Chairman, Prime II Investment, 2009 Cable Hall of Fame

hughesBob

Mr. Hughes, a native of Ponca City, Oklahoma received his BS in Chemical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma in 1958. He moved to Austin in 1962 following his graduation with an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He was employed by a venture capital company, Texas Capital Corporation, serving as Vice President until 1968.

Hughes left Texas Capital in 1968 to help Jack Crosby and Fred Lieberman form a new venture, Communications Properties, Inc. He served as VP – Finance until 1974 at which time he became President. Communications Properties grew to be the 7th largest cable TV company in the United States at which time it was sold to the Times Mirror Corporation in 1979.

Later in 1979, Hughes founded a new cable TV company, Prime Cable Corp. serving as Chairman and CEO. Prime’s goal was to become a significant cable TV operator with a particular emphasis on major metropolitan markets. By 1989, Prime had assembled cable TV properties in Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Anchorage, Alaska. Later another major complex was acquired in the Washington, D. C. suburban area. By 1995, Prime had become one of the eight largest companies in the cable television industry with over one million subscribers in six states. Commencing in 1997, Prime began an orderly disposition of its properties to other major cable television operators. These sales were concluded in 2000.

Mr. Hughes previously served as Director and Board Chairman of the National Cable Television Association in 1978-79. He also was a founder and Director of the original C-SPAN board in 1978. He currently serves on the board of directors of Aloha Partners, Diamond Ventures and Prime II Investments. He serves on several nonprofit boards including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence, the Executive Committee of the College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma, and Teton Pines Country Club (Jackson Hole, Wyoming).

Mr. Hughes presently serves as Chairman of Prime II Investments. He and his wife Gail reside in Austin, Texas.

Syndeo_logomark
Syndeo logomark Color

Gibbs Jones

C5 Emeritus
Owner (Spartanburg)

ARCpoint Labs

Gibbs is a customer experience executive with over 25 years of customer experience leadership and expertise in the design, optimization and implementation of customer contact operations. Gibbs has combined skill in the human and technology side of customer contact operations, including the procurement and installation of ACD equipment, workforce management and CRM systems. He has directed the start-up of multiple customer contact operations, with industry expertise in consumer electronics, communications, retail, manufacturing, financial services, banking, and direct sales.

Gibbs has over ten years experience in the Cable Industry. Most recently Gibbs was the Senior Vice President of Customer Experience for Suddenlink Communications. Gibbs worked with Suddenlink’s six regional senior vice presidents and the managers of its customer-contact call centers in Arizona, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia to measure and improve Customer Satisfaction through transactional and relationship Net Promoter Programs and JD Power Research Studies.

Gibbs was also responsible for the company’s social media strategy where he made sure Suddenlink was active in the major social networking channels and found new ways to improve customer loyalty in this space.

Currently Gibbs owns two ARCpoint Labs locations. ARCpoint is a leader in the B to C and B to B drug and alcohol testing industry. Additionally, Gibbs has a consulting practice that helps companies improve their customer experience.

Gibbs is a Certified Net Promoter® Associate and has been a speaker at various conferences and is frequently called upon to discuss considerations related to measuring and improving the customer experience, exceptional contact center management, and optimizing the employee experience.

 

Skip to content