Are you independent, enthusiastic, hard-working and looking to join a great team?  Hood Canal Communications is looking for a Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator.  Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Website and Social Media Management
• Graphic Design with Adobe Creative Suite
• Copy-Writing for Internal and External Communications
• Community Outreach with local businesses, schools and organizations
• Executive Team Support

Requirements: Degree in Marketing or a minimum of four years of on-the-job experience as a Marketing Coordinator. Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. Must be able to work independently and have excellent communication skills.

We offer a fantastic benefits package and friendly teamwork environment. Salary is DOQ. HCC is Drug Free Workplace. Send resume to careers@hcc.net or mail to: Careers c/o HCC, PO Box 249, Union, WA 98592. Please, no walk-ins or phone calls.

Congratulations to Neil Jones our October Employee of the Month!  At a recent staff meeting Neil was honored with both the October Employee of the Month award and a Heart & Soul of HCC plaque.  Continue reading below to see why he was recognized.

Neil never spotlights when he’s working his butt off.  However that is what he’s quietly doing now behind the scenes on the HCC cable modem system. He’s working during the wee hours of the morning so as to minimize the impact of service interruptions for our customer.   The work he’s doing is to enhance the customer experience- providing faster speeds and increasing bandwidth across the system. Neil is the heart and soul of HCC Internet Service😊 He should have a plaque on his desk that says that!

The HCC Marketing Department followed through with this suggestion and presented Neil with a one-of-a-kind handcrafted plaque at the staff meeting.

Congratulations to the three Hood Canal Communications’ employees that are celebrating work anniversaries in October.  Congrats to John Oblizalo (31 years), Aaron Buechel (9 years), and Jasmine Holmgren (1 year).  Happy HCC-iversary!

What are sun outages and how do they affect HCC cable customers? In both the spring and fall, the sun passes behind certain communications satellites once per day.  During this time, the energy from the sun will overpower the signal from the satellite, causing loss of signal, tiling and no reception at all on several channels. This can last 2 to 3 weeks and causes channels to go black for a brief period of time.  Initially, outages will be gradual and slight, and can last 15-20 minutes at peak times.  On your television you may see the error messages, “one moment please, this channel will be available shortly,” error code SOAOO, or “no signal” during the time of an outage. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do to prevent sun outages from occurring.  All cable and satellite companies are affected by this semi-annual occurrence.  We apologize for this programming interruption.

Watch the brief video below, from another cable operator, that explains sun outages simply.

Hood Canal Communications is seeking a full-time Telecommunications Installer & Repair Technician. Position requires installation and repair of all necessary cable/telephone/fiber-to-the-home/network wiring, in and out of the customer premise and also the hardware from the distribution system to the customer’s equipment for the reception of cable, broadband, and telephone services. Additionally, maintaining and repairing outside plant facilities. Great benefits package for employees.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 2 years of Telecommunications installation
• High School diploma
• Valid WDL and clean driving record
• Excellent computer skills
• Great oral communication skills for direct customer interaction
• Must be punctual, reliable and able to retain newly learned information
• Must be willing to actively learn new skills and expand knowledge
• Must be organized and detail oriented
• Must be drug free

Send resume to Hood Canal Communications, PO Box 249, Union, WA 98592 or via email. Please no walk-ins or phone calls.

Hood Canal Communications is a drug free, equal opportunity employer.

Congrats to Kelle Oblizalo our September Employee of the Month!  Continue reading below to see why she’s being recognized and which 5 employees are celebrating HCC-iversaries in September.

Kelle does so many things around HCC and some of them go unnoticed. She is the key person to organize the company picnic and Christmas party. In addition to time on the clock, she spends her personal time preparing for them and making sure they go smoothly. A lot of work goes in to planning, shopping, and preparing for these events. These are company events we all enjoy and really appreciate.

Congratulations to Robert Von Stein (26 yrs), Brooke Ogg (9 yrs), Vanessa Nelson (5 yrs), John Vaugh (3 yrs), and Dan Dahl (2 yrs) on work anniversaries during September.  Happy HCC-iversaries!

The Labor Day Weekend is just about here. In observance of the holiday, our Shelton office will be closed on Saturday, September 1 and both offices will be closed on Monday, September 3. HCC hopes that you had a great summer and reminds you to call 360.898.2481 24 hours / 7 days a week if you need assistance.

Congrats to Jasmine Holmgren our August Employee of the Month!  Continue reading below to find out why she was nominated and which four employees are celebrating HCC-iversaries in August.

Jasmine has proven herself to be an invaluable asset to Hood Canal Communications and the customer service department in her nine months with the company.  She steps up and helps out without being asked even with tricky situations.  Her teammates appreciate her willingness to lend a helping hand.

Congratulations are also in order for Mike Oblizalo (32 years), Dave Collins (28 years), Neil Jones (18 years), and Chris Hasek (4 years)!  They are celebrating work anniversaries in August.  Happy HCC-iversary!

Our offices will be closing at noon on Friday, August 17 so that our employees may enjoy our annual company picnic together.  Customers are invited to join HCC for our annual Customer Appreciation BBQ on Friday, September 14.  If you need assistance please call 360.898.2481 anytime day or night.

Our offices will be opening up late on Tuesday, August 7 so that our employees may attend a staff training.  The Union office will open at 9:00 am and the Shelton office will open at 9:30 am.  If you need assistance please call 360.898.2481 anytime day or night.

In 2018, Hood Canal Communications is making improvements to our cable customers’ experience.  Recently, the onscreen guide was upgraded on the majority of digital cable boxes (with the exception of model DCT 2000 boxes).  The new guide is now in HD and features a sleek modern look and feel but the same functionality.  The new guide is visually appealing and includes a simplified font for better text rendering at all resolutions.  The volume and mute now have a simplified display for better visibility.

Adjust SD Picture Size.

The upgrade instinctively changes many of the settings for you.  As an example, the guide automatically defaults to an HD format on HDMI and other HD compatible connections.  While, connections that are not HD compatible are automatically set to SD.  If you notice that your SD channels now have a black border on all four sides you can adjust that setting by following the instructions below.

• With your TV on
• Press CABLE on the HCC remote
• Then press POWER (to turn off cable box)
• Press the MENU button on the remote
• The user setting menu will display on your TV
• ARROW DOWN two times on the HCC remote to 4:3 Override
• LEFT ARROW one time to Stretch
• Press the POWER button two times on the HCC remote
• Press the CBL button once on the remote to return it to CABLE mode

HD Autotune.

Another new feature is HD autotune.  This handy feature streamlines things when customers are flipping through or directly inputting channel numbers.  It redirects you to the HD version of the channel instead of the standard definition version.  Would you like to take advantage of this feature?  Use the instructions below.

• With your TV and cable box on
• Press CABLE on the HCC remote
• Then press MENU two times
• Arrow down one time until you highlight Setup
• Press OK/SEL
• With Guide Setup highlighted hit OK/SEL
• ARROW DOWN four times to tune for HDTV
• RIGHT ARROW one time to Yes
• Press EXIT on the remote
• Press the CBL button once on the remote to return it to CABLE mode

Closed Captioning.

Accessing the close captioning options is now easier than ever.  You can quickly access the closed captioning settings directly from the guide menu.  Use the instructions below to turn on the closed captioning.

• With your TV and cable box on
• Press CABLE on the HCC remote
• Then press MENU two times
• ARROW DOWN one time until you highlight Setup
• Press OK/SEL
• ARROW RIGHT one time to highlight Closed Captioning Setup
• Press OK/SEL
• RIGHT ARROW one time to On
• Press EXIT on the remote
• Press the CBL button once on the remote to return it to CABLE mode

You can also delete multiple DVR recordings all at once from the DVR menu.  Just go to DVR Cleanup and it will show you a list of recordings that you can quickly select which ones to delete.  For additional features and instructions please see the quick reference guide.  For a more in-depth dive into the new guide please see the user manual.  We hope our customers enjoy the new guide as we continue to make improvements to our cable service.

Independence Day is almost here.  In observance of the holiday, our offices will be closed on Wednesday, July 4.  Be sure to look for info about local fireworks shows and festivities at explorehoodcanal.com.