Michael S. Willner
Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Michael S. Willner co-founded Insight Communications in 1985 and is our Chief Executive Officer as well as a Director and Vice Chairman of our Board.

 

As a young boy in Miami, Florida, Michael had a fascination with the television business at a very early age. He often rode his bicycle to the local NBC affiliate after school where the staff allowed him to help out in the studio while they produced and aired a live children’s puppet show and the local news.

 

As CEO, he is a firm believer in open, honest communication. Michael is a hands-on leader who personally ensures that employees and customers are always well informed and have input and influence over important company decisions. This commitment to open communications led to a secondary career – that of a leading man in a number of Insight television commercials in which he comfortably plays himself with a great sense of self-deprecating humor.

 

In one notable brand-awareness campaign series, the camera follows Michael as he goes door to door to determine whether the company is meeting customers’ needs. His efforts to provide extraordinary customer service find him attempting to fix a car engine, cooking chili, feeding a crying baby and washing a dog.

 

Michael started his career in 1974 as the program director and news reporter for a small suburban New York cable system after graduating from the Boston University College of Communications. Soon after, he shifted his focus to general management and eventually became the Chief Operating Officer of Vision Cable Communications, a cable company owned by a division of Newhouse Newspapers.

 

Michael is very active in industry affairs and today is one of cable's most active and effective ambassadors on Capitol Hill, testifying regularly before Congress on industry issues and impending legislation. He has served two consecutive terms as Chairman of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the cable industry's trade organization, and currently sits on its executive committee. In 2008, Michael was elected Chairman of The Cable Center's board of directors; he also serves on the executive committee of CableLabs and on the board of directors of C-SPAN and the Walter Kaitz Foundation.

 

A recipient of the NCTA’s 2004 Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership and a 2005 inductee into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, he has yet to achieve his greatest goal of winning an Emmy for his leading role in Insight’s commercials.

 

Click here to get Michael’s lnsight.

Dinni Jain
President and Chief Operating Officer

As President and Chief Operating Officer at Insight, Dinni Jain oversees all facets of the company’s operations. As our chief sports fanatic (especially for North Carolina Tar Heels’ basketball), he ensures that sporting analogies are infused into the fabric of every meeting and every company presentation.

 

Dinni was appointed President in February 2006. He has served as our Chief Operating Officer since October 2003. He became a college basketball fan at birth.

 

Dinni has more than fourteen years' experience in the competitive cable and cellular phone industries, including serving in the general management of NTL, the United Kingdom's largest cable and telecommunications company. When he came to Insight in 2002 as Chief Financial Officer, he became committed to the belief that to successfully compete in an increasingly-competitive environment Insight had to move from being a “good” company to a “great” one.

 

He has dedicated himself to this goal with relentless passion. And, our company’s results speak to his success. When he took the reins as COO, Insight was essentially a cable company with a video product and a limited number of high-speed Internet customers. Today, we provide video, high-speed Internet and telephone services across our footprint, and, despite a growing number of competitors, we virtually led the industry in customer growth in 2006.

John Abbot
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

John Abbot was named Executive Vice President of Insight Communications in February 2006. He has served as the Chief Financial Officer since he joined the company in January 2004. He focuses on all finance activities of the company and has responsibility for financial reporting, interfacing with the financial community and running the capital budget and long-term planning processes. He also oversees the negotiation and execution of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, as well as cable property purchases and swaps.

 

John came to Insight from Morgan Stanley, where he was a Managing Director in the Global Media and Communications Group of the Investment Banking Division. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, John worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. John Abbot received a bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as an ME in Industrial Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Hamid Heidary
Executive Vice President, Central Operations and Chief Technology Officer

Hamid Heidary was named Executive Vice President, Central Operations in April 2006 and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in February 2008. He oversees all of Insight’s central support operations, which encompass the areas of network operations, engineering and information technology.

 

Hamid has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and data networking industries. Prior to joining Insight, he served as COO of Iesy Hessen GmbH, a cable television operator in Hessen, Germany, and CTO of NTL:Europe, a multinational cable operator and telecommunication service provider. During his career, Hamid has also held various executive technical and management positions with NTL UK, C-Cor Electronics, Inc. and Allen Bradley. His education includes a BSEE and MSEE from Southern Illinois University, an MBA from California Coast University and a certificate of corporate directorship from the Institute of Directors in London.

Christopher Slattery
Executive Vice President, Operations

Chris Slattery was named Executive Vice President of Operations for Insight Communications in February 2006. In this capacity, he oversees Customer Growth, Customer Experience, Product Management, Programming and Training. He joined the company as Senior Vice President of Sales in October 2004. Prior to joining Insight Communications, from September 2002, Chris served as a Managing Director of NTL’s London operations, responsible for the management of 1.5 million cable network homes, with responsibility in the areas of sales, growth strategy, reduction of churn and customer experience.

 

Prior thereto, from September 2001, he served as Sales Director for NTL’s European operations, responsible for designing, developing and implementing customer growth strategies across NTL’s then newly-acquired European assets. From August 2000 to August 2001, Chris served as a General Manager of NTL’s United Kingdom operations, with overall responsibility for sales and marketing, customer retention, customer care and network maintenance, as well as budget strategy, planning and implementation. Prior thereto, from January 1990, he served in a number of sales-related roles at NTL and its predecessors.

Elliot Brecher
Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Elliot Brecher joined us as Senior Vice President and General Counsel in January 2000. Previously, he was a member of the law firm Cooperman Levitt Winikoff, which served as our legal counsel until July 2000, when it merged with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. That firm continues to serve as our outside legal counsel. Elliot “crossed over to the dark side” after representing our company during a variety of acquisitions and financings, and ultimately our IPO in 1999.

 

While Elliot doesn’t have much of a life during the week, he proudly serves as a weekend softball warrior, and is an avid New York Yankees fan (much to the chagrin of our COO).

 

Elliot received his law degree from Fordham University in 1988. After graduation, he slaved as an associate at the law firm Rosenman & Colin before joining Cooperman Levitt Winikoff in February 1994.

Sandra D. Colony
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications

As our Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, Sandy Colony is responsible for public relations and employee communications. In this capacity, she is frequently on the road visiting our cable systems in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. As an intrepid world traveler, she also visits much more remote regions of the world such as the highlands of Papua New Guinea, the Dogon communities of Mali, West Africa, the steppes of Mongolia, and most recently, gorilla trekking in Uganda.

 

A 20-year veteran of the cable industry, Sandy joined Insight in 2004, having served in various capacities at Time Warner Cable of New York City, Food Network, Road Runner and Mystro TV. Prior to joining the cable industry, she was active in the not-for-profit sector, serving as Executive Director of NARAL in New York State.

 

A political activist for a number of years and a die-hard feminist, Sandy has served on several charitable boards and committees. Currently she is on the board of directors for the Association of Cable Communicators and Women in Cable Telecommunications. She is a graduate of Skidmore College and has a Master's Degree in Psychology from The New School of Social Research.

Kevin Dowell
Senior Vice President, Insight Media

Kevin Dowell serves as Senior Vice President of Insight Media, the advertising sales arm of Insight Communications. Kevin joined the company in 2001 as Vice President, Advertising Sales, and was promoted in February 2005. He is responsible for all advertising sales efforts across Insight’s many product offerings, including cable television networks, high-speed Internet properties and interactive services. With more than 23 years of advertising sales experience, Kevin has held positions with Times Mirror (Tribune), Jones Intercable, Inc. and AT&T. Prior to joining Insight, Kevin was Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Interconnect, the nation’s first fully integrated single-point advertising platform. He is a member of the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau’s (CAB) Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. Kevin is also a past recipient of the CAB President’s Award.

Gregg Graff
Senior Vice President, Field Operations

As SVP of Field Operations at Insight (don’t let the title fool you – it’s pretty much a sales gig), Gregg Graff is immersed in “getting better.” While he occasionally finds time to work on becoming a better snow skier or wake boarder, his daily focus is directed towards improving our sales, marketing and training efforts as well as working to enhance our video product.

 

Gregg started in the cable business in 1984 and joined Insight in August 1998. His 14 years of marketing and programming experience landed him in, of all things, two roles in operations during the subsequent five years.

 

Finally rescued by Dinni Jain, Gregg enthusiastically returned to the marketing and product side of the business in 2003. He promptly shed the coat and tie for the familiar black uniform of the sales executive (see shirt in the accompanying photo).

 

These days, getting better in sales is pretty much job number one, and Gregg spends much of his time focused on telesales. He can’t hang in the moguls like he once could, and he drinks a lot of water trying to jump wakes on his infrequently-used board. But, we’ve got some amazing products to talk about and a lot of customers left to win over from the competition, so his priorities are set.

 

(Of course, Gregg can make a living selling cable products – something that ain’t gonna happen skiing or boarding.)

Melani Griffith
Senior Vice President, Programming and Video Services

Melani Griffith is Senior Vice President, Programming and Video Services and is responsible for the management and strategy of the video product as well as negotiating all of Insight’s programming deals. She has overdeveloped biceps as a result of hours of required arm-wrestling.

 

Melani has over 14 years of marketing and programming experience in the cable industry. Prior to joining Insight, Griffith worked in advertising sales at FOX Cable Networks as well as affiliate sales at AMC Networks and at Discovery Communications, Inc.

 

Griffith earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California at Los Angeles and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia Business School. She triangulates between Montreal, Louisville and New York.

Keith Hall
Senior Vice President, Government Relations

Keith A. Hall is our Senior Vice President of Government Relations. He is responsible for the development and advocacy of our public policy positions at the federal, state and local level. That means he is a C-SPAN junkie.

 

Keith worked his way through night law school, obtaining his degree at the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. His undergraduate degree comes from Centre College, where he was Student Body President.

 

Having served as Insight’s outside counsel and Vice President of Government Affairs from 2001 to 2003, Keith focuses his leadership of the Government Relations team on one goal – ensuring that our company enjoys a fair and free regulatory environment. The experience he has in government, including his service as both a top Congressional and Gubernatorial Aide, have taught him that such an environment results from candid and honest conversation with public officials that shows respect for the needs of the communities they represent.

 

An Eagle Scout himself, Keith is active in Scouting, serves on the Board of Overseers for the University of Louisville and enjoys hitting a little white ball around a cow pasture right outside his back door from time to time.

Pamela Euler Halling
Senior Vice President, Brand

Pam Euler Halling, Senior Vice President, Brand, has over 30 years of experience in the cable industry. A key member of Insight’s senior management, she currently oversees the areas of brand strategy and programming.

 

Joining Insight in 1988, Pam has been instrumental in the development and rollout of the company’s digital strategy, including two-way interactive services and video-on-demand. She was also actively involved in the company's UK operations, which were eventually sold in 1993 to NTL, Inc., presently the UK's largest cable operator.

 

Prior to serving at Insight, Pam was Director of Consumer Marketing for the Disney Channel, Vice President of Affiliate Marketing for Rainbow Programming Services, and Division Marketing Manager for Cox Communications in San Diego. She began her cable career with Continental Cablevision in Findlay, Ohio, where she was Marketing Manager for the company’s original systems in the Midwest and Northeast.

 

Active in the cable industry, Pam is currently a national board member of CTAM, the cable and telecommunications association for marketing, and is a former president of CTAM’s New York Chapter. She was also the co-chair of the 2004 CTAM Summit in July, the association’s annual conference. Pam was the 2001 recipient of NCTA’s prestigious Vanguard Award for Marketing and was also selected as a Wonder Woman in 2003, an award given annually by Multichannel News to honor the professional achievements of women. She was recently elected to the Board of Directors for Cable Positive.

 

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, a Master's degree in Business and Communications and lives near Cold Spring, New York with her husband. Her daughter is a Manhattan resident.

John W. ("Woody") Hutton
Senior Vice President, Operations

John W. "Woody" Hutton joined Insight in 2000 as Vice President and General Manager of the Lexington, Kentucky system, and was promoted in 2002 to Senior Vice President, Operations. He currently oversees operations for systems in Columbus, Ohio; Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green and Covington, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana. Hutton is a seasoned cable executive, having joined the industry in 1982 with Centel Cable following his graduation from Florida State University.

Daniel Mannino
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer

Daniel Mannino joined Insight as Controller in 1989, became Vice President and Controller in 1991, and was appointed Senior Vice President in 1999. He was appointed Chief Accounting Officer in 2007. Previously, Dan was employed by Vision Cable from 1983 to 1989, becoming its Controller in 1986. Mr. Mannino is a certified public accountant.

Paul Meltzer
Senior Vice President, Product Management

Paul Meltzer is our Senior Vice President of Product Management, and he is responsible for the continuous reinvention of our high-speed Internet and telephony products. Since his arrival in 2006, we have increased the speeds of our Insight Broadband service to become the fastest available in all the states we serve. In that same time, we have deployed a VoIP phone service across almost our entire footprint.

 

When he’s not working, Paul can be found alternately roaming the streets of Brooklyn and the prairies of north Texas. Splitting his time between two such dissimilar terrains comes naturally to an Insight multitasker. He’s as enthused by a genuine Brooklyn bagel and a bike ride over the East River bridges as by biscuits and gravy near the courthouse and a night two-stepping in a honky tonk.

 

Paul has spent the last decade working in the cable industry, much of it developing the Optimum Online business at Cablevision. His previous adventures included launching Digital TV for Continental Cablevision/MediaOne and developing and launching new products for divisions of General Mills and the Campbell Soup Company. He earned an MBA at the Tuck School at Dartmouth College, a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at Wesleyan University, and a doctorate in hard knocks from the New York City subway system.

Jim Morgan
Senior Vice President, Human Resources

As our Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Jim Morgan has long worked to maximize the partnership between Insight and our employees. His understanding of the wide variety of issues that affect our people and programs comes by way of a 25-year law career in labor and employment matters. In fact, he served as our outside employment counsel since the company’s beginning in 1985. Jim believes simply that our success is best achieved by providing our employees a work environment that is open and fair.

 

When Jim joined Insight in 2003, he and his family relocated to New York from New Orleans, where he practiced law after graduating from Tulane University in 1978. This marked somewhat of a return home – Jim and his wife Kathy live on Long Island close to where Kathy grew up. The return to the Northeast also enables Jim to spend a little more time fishing on the lakes of southern Ontario in his native Canada.

Scott Schneiderman
Senior Vice President, Operational Finance

Scott Schneiderman is our Senior Vice President of Operational Finance, where he is responsible for identifying opportunities to make the operations more efficient (read: make more money). He joined the company in 2004 as Vice President of Financial Planning and Strategy.

 

While not hounding his colleagues for deeper analysis or increased cash flow, Scott is dodging trees and trying not to break any limbs during his weekend mountain biking excursions. As a misplaced Southerner, he also enjoys fine-tuning his barbeque recipes and taking advantage of the food, museums, and sporting events in the Big Apple.

 

Scott came to Insight from a career on Wall Street. He spent time in private equity at a firm he founded, Madison Park Partners, and as a Director at The CIT Group. He also spent five years executing M&A transactions at Barclays and as an analyst at JP Morgan. Scott holds an MBA from The Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and is also a proud Tarheel, where he spent his undergraduate days.