In early December, Paul Eisbrener traded in his laptop for a toolbox and a long-awaited list of projects for his Wyoming cabin (and probably some honey-dos from his wife). It would be easy for us to lament over losing such an amazing teammate, but instead, we would like to take an opportunity to celebrate his professional accomplishments that have led to his much-deserved retirement.Paul started his career in 1980 for Western Electric installing switching equipment in telephone company central offices and microwave facilities in Wyoming. He then moved to the cable industry working for Columbine Cablevision, a small independent company in Fort Collins, Colorado. During that time, Paul held every technical position in cable operations, from Installer to Technical Operations Manager, and weathered the storm when TCI purchased the company in 1996. Also In 1996, Paul took third place overall at the SCTE National Cable-Tec games in Orlando, Florida.
In 2000, Paul transitioned to Learning and Development as a Technical Training Manager for Bresnan Communications, covering Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, and Utah. Paul conducted over 100 training sessions, which included directing activities related to the company’s technical career path and acting as a Safety Program Field Liaison. During this time, Paul also held the position of President for the Wyoming Chapter of the SCTE.
Paul joined the NCTI family in 2005 as a Curriculum Developer. In 2011, Paul earned his M.Ed. in Adult Learning. His extensive knowledge and expertise allowed him to successfully oversee the content and delivery of all curriculums, including college credit courses which continue to enhance the performance of telecommunication professionals across North America. Since 2017, Paul has led NCTI’s Learning and Development team as Senior Director and has been an integral leader at NCTI during times of immense change that included a transition to new ownership, operating during a global pandemic, modifying the productization and delivery of our content, and moving office locations more than once.
And while his forty-plus years in telecommunications and cable include numerous accomplishments and job titles, we will most miss Paul’s calm leadership, boisterous laugh, blunt (yet caring and insightful) honesty, and wicked sense of humor. We often say we are a family at NCTI, in every sense of the word, and now our favorite big brother has moved on to start the next phase of his life.