Taking Flight - The ARRIS Story is the history of a remarkable company, from its humble beginnings as a small joint venture to its emergence as one of the largest cable and telecommunications technology providers in the world. The story is told from the perspectives of longtime ARRIS President and CEO Bob Stanzione and CFO Dave Potts, it covers the company’s key decisions, numerous challenges, and multi-faced growth. To purchase a copy click here
Project director and image curator Lela Cocoros discusses TAKING FLIGHT: The ARRIS Story, with creative director David Brady.
DB: How did this project come about? How did it begin?
LC: Bob Stanzione and Dave Potts, the retired CEO and CFO of ARRIS, respectively, connected with me through mutual business contacts. ARRIS was one of the largest and most respected tech vendors in the cable/broadband industry, and that’s the industry in which I spent my corporate career. This was an exciting and fascinating project for me.
DB: With such a big topic with big players involved, how did you bring it all together into a book?
LC: Bob and Dave had a strong story to tell, and they had a strong sense of what they wanted to say. But they had never done anything like this before. My job was to bring together the right team to make it a reality, and have it result in a book they are proud to share with family, friends, former employees and industry colleagues.
DB: Teamwork was the key in executing this book, how did your team and these 2 industry leaders work together?
LC: It was a highly collaborative effort. Everyone on the team had expertise in their respective area and were committed to excellence. Additionally, we had a standing weekly call with an agenda so we could address key issues as the project evolved. The dynamic was such that we felt comfortable sharing our suggestions and ideas with one another throughout the process.
DB: What is the most challenging aspect of telling a story so important to that particular industry?
LC: It’s a complex industry, and one that is very close, so even though this is a book that’s more recollection than definitive history, it had to be as accurate as possible. I selected tech journalist Jonathan Tombes to write the story with Bob and Dave, and having covered the industry for years, he came into the project with a tremendous amount of knowledge. Additionally, it’s challenging to make this story engaging to an audience that may not be familiar with the business. Jonathan made sure the story read like a novel, so that it’s both informative and interesting to read.
DB: How does one go about trying to tell their story?
LC: Identify your target audience. Have a strong point of view – what messages do you want your readers take away? Outline the story from beginning to end before starting the writing process; look for recurring themes and narrative threads. Be honest and forthright in your storytelling - good stories have hills and valleys, opportunities and challenges, successes and failures. And no one person is responsible for everything wonderful that happens – make sure to give credit where credit is due.
DB: Historical photographs are key to telling this story, how did go about collecting them and what did your team do once you collected them?
LC: We did a lot of outreach to former employees of the company, raided Bob’s and Dave’s personal photo collections, and worked with The Cable Center’s Barco Library, which holds the largest photo collection of the industry’s history. We also worked with media outlets and other companies’ archives. Once we collected them, we discussed which ones best illustrated the text, and those were the ones Brady Book Design cleaned, retouched, color-corrected and sized for publication.
DB: Legacy books are on the rise, why do you think that is?
LC: There’s something special about having a well-written, well-designed book that tells your story your way. It can be for you to remember an important part of your life, for your children and their children to appreciate, and if it’s a business story, for colleagues and employees to enjoy. With everything digital, a hard copy book is like a vinyl LP – classic and worth keeping and collecting.
DB: Any advice for companies wanting to tell their story in a book?
LC: Get organized, and put systems in place now to keep track of the people and materials you’ll need to tell an interesting story. And don’t wait too long to start. It’s a lot easier to gather source material and conduct interviews when you start sooner rather than later.
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Lela Cocoros is a content writer and producer, communications consultant, and paper collage artist working in Scottsdale, AZ. Visit her LinkedIn page
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