eComm 's Coming!

It's April - who saw that coming? April means a lot of things, and one of them is eComm. You haven't heard much from me about Lee Dryburgh's "trillion dollar telecom rethink" lately, but the America 2010 edition is coming to San Francisco this month - April 19-21 to be exact. Last year I was on the Advisory Board for this event, but my circumstances are different this year, and I'm not formally involved, so I've been quiet about eComm.

I wish it was just an April Fool's joke, but I won't be attending this time around. However, I've always loved Lee's energy and passion around building this community, and the least I can do is get this shout-out going to make sure you know it's coming. You can read a bit more here in Lee's post this morning on the eComm blog - hopefully this will get a few more people off the fence to join a pretty impressive group and a pretty unique experience. I've written plenty about eComm on my blog, and I'd be there if circumstances allowed, but such is my lot these days. The main thing is that you know it's coming, and if you can make it, you will not be disappointed!

eComm 2009 - Euro Edition - October 28-30

If you follow my blog, you know I was pretty involved with eComm earlier this year, which was held in San Francisco. Building on the momentum from that show, Lee has developed a European-focused edition, and is coming up later this month in Amsterdam.

I've been meaning to do a shout-out for Lee for a while, and it's fortuitous that I'm doing this now. They've just finalized the speaking program, so you should rush over to the eComm site now to see what's on tap.

As you'll see, it's the same format as before - rapid fire, short presentations/talks by an absurdly long list of very connected people who will give you 100 perspectives on how telecom is evolving. Lee favors eclectic and disruptive over tried and true, so most of the speakers will not be household names. However, you won't find a better mix of leading edge ideas and people anywhere, and that's really the value proposition Lee has carved out for eComm.

It's impossible to absorb everything at eComm, so in a way, it's just like the Internet. However, eComm isn't free, but the quality of experience is infinitely better, and you will absolutely come away with at least a few inspirational big ideas as well as meet some really interesting people from both inside and outside telecom. The show has healthy presence in terms of event and media sponsors, and it's great to see eComm getting continued support in these critical areas. The other critical area, of course, is attendance, and I sure hope it draws well. It's a very Euro-centric lineup, and I'm quite certain it will.

Unfortunately, I won't be attending, but as an eComm alumnus, I will follow the daily updates and share them here. I'd love to be there, but my travels never take me overseas, and hope that the stars line up better for me when eComm returns to the U.S. next year. Until then, here's the next best thing I can do: if you follow this link, you can get a 10% discount on the registration. Am not sure how long the discount is in effect for, but don't wait too long!

eComm News - Ken Camp On Board

While this is really a news item, I'm glad to share this since it has a personal connection on a couple of levels. First is the news that colleague Ken Camp has taken on a formal role to help build and bring together the eComm community. Having been an Advisor to the eComm event earlier this year, I've been particularly close to growth challenges that lie ahead. Defining the eComm community is a fleeting task, so all the more reason to make it a bit more real - especially now that the conference is transitioning from a good idea into a viable business.

Yesterday it was announced that Ken is now the Director of Conversations and Marketing, and I think it's a great fit. Don't ask me what these Web 2.0-style job titles really mean - we're all directors of conversations, right? - but I think we understand the mission. It's much like Carl Ford's Community Developer role in his VON days - be a public advocate for the brand and engage people around the eComm vision. I think Ken is really well suited for this, as you really need to be grounded in the technologies and have a good contact network in the community. He's got these in spades, and of course Ken is a social guy, something you absolutely have to be for the role.

So, congrats to Ken on the posting, and hats off to Lee for formalizing this role for eComm and finding someone to take on the task. I'm sure we'll be hearing lots more from Ken as eComm ramps up for its first Euro event this fall. To learn more about the event, and to read more about Ken's news, check out the eComm blog. Also note that the post about Ken includes a link to a podcast that goes into his role and the broader eComm mission in greater length.

Ecomm Updates/Lee speaks on Skype and telecom

Phil Wolff of Skype Journal posted a thought-provoking interview with Lee Dryburgh, and this as good a time as any to report a few updates around Lee's event, eComm.

First, the interview. It starts from SJ's perspective - Skype - and what its future may hold if it breaks away from eBay. This is a good jumping-off point for Phil to engage Lee about Skype's impact on telecom and where the world goes from here. Lee has some very particular ideas about the future of telcos, and the main takeaway for me was the distinction between attention and intention. Before Skype, telephony was all about attention - getting people's attention - and in Lee's mind, telcos do a very bad job of this. In other words, the phone is not very efficient at getting people's attention when you want it - most calls end up in voice mail, on hold, getting transferred, endless IVR options, etc.

Why? Because the PSTN lacks any form of intelligence - the kind that comes with software-based communications tools like Skype or Google. That's where intention comes along. 2.0-style applications can gather intelligence about end users and make crude deductions about behaviors and preferences. We're still very early stage here, but this is what long tail economics is about, and it's pretty easy to see how even simple Presence features make communications more efficient than conventional telephony.

Lee is basically saying we're at the cusp of "phase two" of telecom's evolution, and it builds on what Skype has started. Android will be a pretty good barometer of Lee's vision, and he foresees a world where some legacy telcos will survive, but many will not. I'm not so sure about that, but there's no doubt we'll be seeing some big time disruption in the next few years, and that of course, is what eComm is all about.

How's that for a clever segue into the rest of this post? Speaking of eComm... there are a couple of timely updates that follow nicely on Lee's ideas. First, as an Advisor to eComm 2009, I've been part of some back and forth about the best URL to use for eComm. Based on what's out there, it was very recently decided to use a new URL going forward: www.ecomm.ec. Yes, I know it looks a bit odd, but eComm is a pretty unique type of conference, so why not have an unusual Internet handle? Now you know. So, update your bookmarks - here's the new address for eComm.

As you can see, the logo and event name have been updated, and you can also catch up on how the fall event is coming along. It will be in Amsterdam this Fall, and marks eComm's debut in Europe.

Finally, turning the page back the March eComm in San Jose - believe it or not, but Lee is still posting videos and presentations to the eComm blog. This is definitely worth making noise about, since there were so many good presentations. As recently as this Tuesday, Lee has added content, so if eComm 2009 fell off your radar the day after the event, spend some time on the blog. Whether you missed the event or wanted to revisit some sessions, there's lots there to explore. So, kudos to Lee for investing all this after-the-fact time to keep the content, ideas and spirit of eComm fresh.

eComm 2009 - New Presentations Online Now/Mobivox White Paper

I've got two eComm messages to pass along here. While the conference took place earlier this month, there's a lot of sharing still to be done. Another of Lee's virtues is his commitment to building community and sharing knowledge.
In earlier posts following the conference, I've mentioned that Lee will be adding content from the presentations to the eComm website as time allows. This is a big job, and it's great that Lee is still doing this, long after the main buzz from eComm has run its course.

So, in case you missed it, or want to read transcripts or view videos of the sessions, head over to the eComm blog page for the latest content, such as:

- Smule's Ge Wang - among other head-turners, he'll demonstrate how to turn your iPhone into a bona fide musical instrument

- Asterisk's Mark Spencer talking about how Skype and Askerisk fit together

- Columbia University's Tony Jebara talking about how mobile devices and apps are impacting social behavior

- Skype's Jonathan Christensen talking about their new SILK codec and how improved voice quality makes Skype a better experience

Staying with eComm updates, I wanted to pass on a link for Mobivox, who was on my Voice 2.0 session. They launched a white paper at eComm (which I wrote) on how voice can be used in new ways to add value to CRM. If you didn't pick up on it at eComm, you download a copy of the paper by using this link.

Why You Needed to be at eComm 2009

I've been posting photos and snippets during eComm this week, but composing my overall impressions has been another matter. Sitting through 3 days mostly filled with continuous 15 minute presentations is a surefire recipe to fry your brain, and most people I talked to were topped out well before things wrapped up Thursday night. It's information overload of the highest - and best - order, and I'm not alone in needing some time to decompress and gather my thoughts about what it all means.

Here's my top-line takeaway, and reading the rest of this post is really just detail. But it's detail you'll probably love if you really want to know what you missed. So, what does it all mean, this eComm thing? I don't know - really.

Was it a conference? Sure - we met, we conferred, we learned, business got done. A trade show? Definitely not - thankfully. It had elements of an unconference and the feel of an academic symposium at times. eComm has a distinct feel that's different from other events, and I'm beginning to think it's becoming the prototype for 2.0-style conferences - whatever that means.

Leaving all that aside, my main message is this - how I feel at the end of the day is what really matters. Whatever you want to call eComm, I came away feeling that Lee was right - this wasn't an event you should have attended, it was an event you NEEDED to attend. If you already know that, then you don't need to read any further - but if you don't know why, then stay with me here for a few minutes.

First off, the requisite kudos to Lee Dryburgh must yet again be pronounced. I've never seen a conference organizer get a standing O before, but it was warranted, and everyone felt good doing it. As an Advisory Board member, I know all too well how much heart and soul Lee has put into eComm, and in case you didn't know, he's not doing it for the money. Sure, he wants to make a buck like all of us, but it's not his motivation for doing eComm - otherwise, it never would have gotten this far. Thanks again Lee - now go spend some parental time with your daughter - am sure she misses you.

Lee's still a novice in the show business, and while many things could have been done better, nobody was complaining - there's a feeling here we're all in this together - kind of like the way rock music was before it became big business in the mid-70's. Before that, audiences had a much more direct connection to the bands, and it was all about the music. Nothing like the way it is today. Many of us in the audience at eComm were speakers, and there was a fluid flow of engagement between listeners and presenters - the way it should be. And of course with most people Twittering away, there was a real-time sense of community developing and bonding before our eyes. I'm pretty sure that was the vibe Lee was shooting for, and he got it in spades. You can't buy that, and it sure doesn't happen at bigger, more professionally run shows.

I should also mention that Lee added a nice touch by donating 10% of the show profits to a local charity, and had a brief presentation around this towards the end of the last day. As mentioned, it's not about the money for Lee, and while we're all happy that eComm 2009 did turn a modest profit, it says a lot when someone who gets such a small return for so much work still has enough heart to share with those who truly need a hand, especially in today's economy. This is not how show business is usually done, and it's another reason why eComm is different from other conferences.

Before moving off the thank-you soap box, kudos are also due to Comunicano for all their behind the scenes work to get eComm in the media spotlight and help generate the coverage it deserves. Andy Abramson and his team know this territory as well as anybody, and their pro-bono support makes them an important part of this emerging community.

It's always a special feeling being part of something from the start, and that alone made being there great. Most of us were more than just passive spectators, and Lee was quite receptive to giving people a chance to contribute. Many of the speakers would not fit into the formats of other shows, so the diversity of viewpoints and topics was another important reason to be there. The eComm format is fairly rigid, but content themes were the opposite - loosely defined at best. There weren't multiple tracks where you go to Hall B for wireless, Hall G for video, Hall J for regulatory issues, etc. It all took place in one room, and we were all subjected to a nearly endless parade of 15 minute speaker slots.

Lee was the ruthless timekeeper, and when the gong sounded, off you went. Some begged for 10 seconds more, but to no avail. I was very sceptical about this approach last year, but he's made it work, and now I'm a fan. Anyhow, this is a long-winded way of saying eComm is a pretty distinct breed of conference, and if you came for the content, your time and money was well-spent. The challenge, of course, is trying to absorb it all. That's my major concern, but even if you just take half of it in, I'm pretty sure you'll come away some very fresh and inspired thinking.

Oh - one other thing - and it's a big one. Although the audience makeup seemed heavy on developers and light on service providers, it's not clear to me whether eComm is friend or foe to the carrier community. I had this fundamental concern last year, and I'm not sure if it's any clearer this time around. You may say that's a red herring since it's obvious that the eComm crowd is not a fan of big telcos. It's like trying to ignore George Bush while he was in office.

No amount of chest thumping from iPhone-toting developers is going to change the status quo. I need to be careful here, of course, since good changes ARE happening. eComm is helping define an incredible market opportunity that will happen, and you could just as well argue that the onus is on the incumbents to decide if they want in and be on the right side of history. And a few of them were at eComm - Sprint, T Mobile, SaskTel - either bravely or with a sense of vision. So, maybe it's by design that eComm is ambiguous in its embrace of the telcos - or maybe Lee hasn't figured that part out yet himself.

It IS clear, though, that Lee is calling for an evolution in the telecom world - not a revolution and overthrow of the evil regime. This problem is not unique to eComm. In its heyday, VON was not seen as carrier-friendly by the telcos, but some came along grudgingly because they knew change was coming and needed to see what all the fuss was about. Tricky stuff here - let's move on. The main thing I'm getting at is that the eComm message needs to be heard by the incumbents - it's still their world. On that count, I think eComm still has a ways to go.

So, I'll share some of the content highlights with you now. I should preface this by saying that from what I could tell I was just 1 of 3 industry analysts at eComm, and the only one from North America. Lucky me. So, don't waste your time scouring the websites of Gartner, IDC, Forrester, etc. for first-hand accounts. This is the only one you're going to find on this side of the Atlantic.

It's an Apple world, folks. No surprise, given we were in San Francisco. The vast majority use Mac computers and iPhones. I'm definitely in the minority with my Bold and Toshiba notebook, but hey, the broadband worked just fine for all of us. Despite that, I have no qualms recognizing how brilliant Apple is at branding their products. I was onstage only once, moderating the Voice 2.0 panel. Looking out into the audience, I couldn't help but notice a sea of illuminated Apple logos beaming back at me from the covers of everyone's Macbooks. Great marketing.

I digress. Regarding content, the iPhone was a recurring theme, perhaps the most common one overall. You'd think developers have sworn wholesale allegiance to Apple. Actually there was quite a bit for Android too, and this points to a broader meta-theme of wireless applications. No surprise there, and if mobility is your passion, you would have found something of interest in almost every presentation.

Baby, baby it's a wireless world. I've been waiting a long time to use that line, and I'm sure Cat Stevens won't mind. Aside from all the life-changing - or just plain fun - wireless apps we learned about, there was a lot of time spent around wireless spectrum issues, and the broader topics of regulation, social policy, net neutrality. It's actually a pretty bleak picture for those of us in the U.S. and Canada for that matter. There's so much opportunity being squandered by a lack of will, vision and the trumping of private interests over the public good, and we just look so philistine compared to Europe and Asia. The people who have the right answers were in our midst at eComm, but there's a sense of frustration, anger, resignation, etc. about how to get good governance in place to properly equip us for the Information Economy. Lee - we need more focus on this in 2010.

The future is cool - really cool. I found Thursday the best in terms of speakers telling us what the future holds. In particular, there were really engaging presentations from Mark Rolston of Frog Design, Jeevan Kalanithi of MIT Labs, and Stefan Agamanolis of Distance Labs. Other standouts that made me think and re-think about what's coming include Thomas Howe - now of Jaduka, Malcolm Matson of OPLAN Foundation, Xuedong Huang of Microsoft, futurist Gerd Leonhard, Ge Wang of Smule (can you perform Stairway to Heaven on your iPhone? - he can show you how). I'm not going to expend another 2,000 words telling you what we saw - just take my word for it, or do some searching on your own. Better yet, plan to come to the next eComm and see for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Ok, folks, this post is getting long, and I'm not getting paid to do this, so I'll close off with a few more quick highlights that made eComm worthwhile for me.

My Voice 2.0 panel. Not so much because of me, but we had a great lineup who showed the audience that innovative and profitable voice-based applications are out there today. It was also very satisfying to see that the Wall Street Journal picked up on this theme and wrote an article about our panel.

Daniel Brusilovsky/Teens in Tech. My personal favorite highlight. Daniel is just 16, and is a budding 2.0 star. He's got a cool portal, does quite a bit of consulting, and manages to stay in high school. This is another thing that makes eComm cool - where else are you going to see a 16 year old up on stage? It was particularly sweet for me, as my oldest son, Max, presented last year (he was 15 then) and set a nice precedent that I hope Lee continues. Anyhow, Daniel spoke about how teens are using things like the iPhone, and pretty much stumped the audience when he asked what the average age of an iPhone user is. Care to guess?

Two more quick snippets that have been rolling around in my mind...

Martin Geddes - he's gone to BT now, and was the first to go in Andy's draft list. He spoke via video, and was very good - he always is - that's why BT hired him on. Anyhow, he said one simple thing that seems very much at the root of the tension eComm is trying to get us focused on. Telcos have long assumed that our time is not valuable, but their network operations are. No doubt that networks have historically been expensive undertakings, but just because we pay for the privilege of using your services doesn't mean our time is cheap.

Martin correctly notes that today the opposite is true - networks are relatively inexpensive to operate (IP, anyway), and our time is in fact quite valuable. With so many options for communications and entertainment, our time is damned valuable - why the hell do you think we multitask so much!?!? Too much choice can be a bad thing, but in this world, we have to make choices about where we spend our time, how we spend it, and with whom. Telcos that take our time for granted will be left with expensive networks and no customers. I can only presume that BT gets that.

Ribbit's presentation - Crick Waters gave a nice Darwinian-flavored overview of how communications has evolved and how the natural selection process explains which features survive. No revelations there, but I don't think he ever referenced the fact that Ribbit is now part of BT. Interesting, since his talk followed Martin's, who was clearly wearing the BT hat. Is it just me? For those of you who follow Ribbit or read my TMCnet column, you'll know that the Ribbit brand stays in place, and in fact, they are free to pursue other carrier business outside BT. Am not sure how they did that, but it gets them the best of both worlds. Nice.

Anyhow, given my earlier comments about whether eComm is friend or foe to big telcos, I thought this would have been a great opportunity to say how savvy BT was to embrace this space and put their money on the line for Ribbit. Whether they overpaid is another story, but considering where Ribbit was a year ago at the inaugural eComm, they are without a doubt the poster boy to which all voice platform vendors aspire to - and I think it's great that eComm attendees get to bear witness to how much can change in a year's time - wow.

There were quite a few Ribbits-in-waiting at eComm - Voxeo, Mobivox, Jajah, Jaduka, Ifbyphone - and my instincts tell me that at least one of these will have a good news story to share with us at the next eComm. If so, Lee, you'll start to get a rep as a king-maker, and in that case, you'd better start raising the cost of admission and sponsoring!

That's my story, and it's a long way of saying eComm was a great event, and should now be considered a must-attend for thought leadership, innovation and community in the telecom/communications sector. I'm glad to have been a part of it, and am looking forward to helping get the next one going.

If you haven't had your fill, have a look at posts from fellow eCommers such as Dean Bubley, Andy Abramson and Jim Courtney.

And if you can spare another few hours, hop over to the eComm site to review the play-by-play Twitter backchannel, the eComm blog, and Duncan Davidson's photo gallery. If you can do all that, you'll make Lee feel real proud, and you won't have any excuse not to attend eComm 2010.

eComm 2009 - Day 3

The eComm 2009 blur continues, but we're done now. Today's sessions were the best and most thought-provoking. Really good stuff, and if you just came for today, it would have been worth your while. I only have enough energy to post some photos, but I will add my overall impressions after I've had some time to decompress.

Hats off to Lee Dryburgh - he's done a fantastic job to make this conference happen. I'm convinced now that eComm was not a one-off wonder, and that Lee has the makings of a viable, ongoing conference now. He's already talked about doing a European event in the Fall, so stay tuned.


Stefan Agamanolis, Distance Lab - thinking more broadly about how we communicate - imagine floating in a pool and speaking to someone while being in a sensory deprivation environment --- you had to see the video to see what he was getting at - loved it



Thomas Howe, Jaduka - as always, he grounds us all in reality



RJ Auburn, Voxeo - more examples of innovation around voice - their Tropo launch was one of the highlights of the conference




Daniel Brusilovsky, Teens in Tech - my personal favorite of the conference. He's 16, and gave a great presentation about how his generation is using today's tools, especially the iPhone - a star in the making. Many parallels here to my oldest son, Max, who presented at eComm last year, and was 15 at the time. These guys are the future, and it's not hard to see why.




XD - Xuedong Huang, Microsoft - great opening line - he explained that the reason why the audience was almost exclusively using Apple Macs instead of PCs was simply that they don't have Windows 7 yet! Gotta like that. He had a great video showing a futuristic vision of what's possible with ubiquitous broadband that's literally in the air - very magical, and similar to a video he showed recently at the IT Expo. I don't think Microsoft hired Pixar to make this, but it's certainly in that vein.



Martin Gedddes, BT - sharing his thoughts on the future of telephony remote via video

eComm 2009 - First Thoughts

Well, we're 1 hour into eComm 2009, and so far, it's been as promised. Lee's bang-bang format is going to plan so far, and we've had 4 presentations already. This pace will continue all the way through the conference, so you'd better take notes - which I'm doing.

I'm not into Twitter, so you'll have to look elsewhere for the real-time thought-bytes coming from most of the people in attendance. The "official" eComm Twitter backchannel is an easy way to follow things blow by blow - which I know my son Max is doing back in Toronto.

At this point, I'm just going to share a few photos, and will add my thoughts later in the day.



Lee, looking pretty relaxed 30 seconds before showtime...








Not much of a day here, but it's way warmer than Toronto. I just can't get Harry Chapin's great song Taxi out of my mind - "it was raining hard in Frisco..."

eComm 2009 - my Q&A with Lee Dryburgh/Discount Ends Today!

Got two more items to share with you about eComm 2009, which starts next Tuesday in San Francisco.

The most pressing is that today is your last chance to get tickets at a discount. To get the 20% savings - it's worth over $400 - you can register here, and use my code: jonarnoldblog. That's it - as a famous local radio commercial goes... if you miss it, you miss it.

If you're still not sure about eComm, maybe my interview with Lee Dryburgh will help convince you. As you probably know, Lee is the driving force behind the conference - I call him LeeComm - and he's never lacking for an opinion, especially about how badly the telecom sector needs fixing.

We just finished up our Q&A today, so you can now read first hand about why Lee wants to see you there next week. Enjoy...


JA eComm 2009 has been a long time in the making, and is a much-anticipated follow up to eComm's debut last March. You're the heart and soul behind eComm, so let's start with "why". What has driven you to devote so much time and energy to this event?

LD First I'd like to say that I don't mind being called the heart and soul behind it because I've put a tremendous amount of time and effort behind things, without expecting a return. But I do have to say that it would be impossible on my own. Luckily many people have understood the need for such an event; so I've had a lot of community support. Without this it would not be nearly as good as it is.

Turning to your question, I could write a book as to "why". But no doubt you wish for me to be succinct. With that in mind I'd say because there was not an event which focused on both showcasing and accelerating communications innovation. This was plain wrong when there are more opportunities in the telecom/comm space than there ever has been.

The potential to transform and cash in on such a fundamental transformation is immense, and there has not been a forum to help realize that. There is immense opportunity - but you have to be coordinating the right conversations; conversations which span over disciplines and industry boundaries. Watch this space - eComm will be facilitating a lot of discussion over the next year.


JA A lot has changed since the last eComm, and things are only getting harder for telecom operators now. What are their biggest challenges, what are their biggest fears, and how did they get into this mess?

LD I'd not necessarily say things are harder, in fact many things are better for them - the credit crunch has been a silver lining in many ways. The fear is that the march of disintermediation continues, as does the splitting away of the services they offer today from the underlying transport. But there are tremendous opportunities for operators.

The problem they have is determining their future structure and place in the shifting value chain. Their structure and services will not suffice for "tomorrow". The quicker an operator can become involved with the eComm community, the better. Real low-hanging fruit opportunities abound but it will take courage, risk and some vision to change due to deep-rooted inertia.


JA Let's look the other way to where they really need to be thinking. Where do you see their best opportunities, and how will eComm help them address these?

LD This could be the subject of many pages just to give the bullet points, the opportunities are so great. So let me just give a succinct answer again - just fix what is clearly broken today! Telephony is badly broken, to the point that its fundamental paradigms are now out of date; such that the 'A' party not the 'B' party is in control of time and attention demands.

JA You're quite fond of speaking your mind, and to give us a sense of what eComm is about, what are a couple of myths/misconceptions/sacred cows that will be taken to task there?

LD That is a whole can of worms I'd rather not open, at least right now. I'll win no friends because I'm disappointed with a lot of the "Internet communications" community for lacking reality and often lacking to grasp basics when it comes to the global telecommunications market - from regulation to infrastructure.

And yet I completely love the innovation that they drive. On the other hand, I appreciate the wealth, reach and connectedness that the global telecoms market creates. But their rate of innovation over the past 15 years, aside from hugely successful developments in cellular connectivity, has been diabolical. The two camps need to be married up properly and this is where the difficulty lies. It is one area where eComm is trying to overcome obstacles.


JA What kind of a community do you expect will gather at eComm, and what expectations should attendees have, especially if this is their first eComm?

LD Expect an informal atmosphere and a tremendous collection of doers, thinkers, visionaries, influencers and executives. Expect high energy, cut to the chase content and a sense of collective empowerment. I'd also expect that most will be able to detect opportunities "in the air".

JA To help those who are new to eComm better understand what makes it worthwhile coming, please explain a bit about why and how it's different from other conferences in the communications sector.

LD Different events exist for different purposes. Unfortunately all the other telecom events bore the life out of me. They really serve no other purpose than business card exchange and box shifting. It's needed though. But they are industry talking to the industry type events, so they more often than not hear their own echo rather than reality and real opportunities.

I'd like to make one clear distinction. The normal, and the most profitable way of doing events is to reach out to potential sponsors and let them collectively set the agenda. Find out who from which companies would like a booth then again feed their services/products into the agenda. Because of the founding history of eComm, the setup is the reverse, which has negative economic consequences in comparison, but makes for a radically better agenda.

The Emerging Communications conference - eComm - spends the entire year scouring the planet for the very best and most relevant people for the forthcoming period. It then looks for sponsors and corporate money. It's the only way of organizing if you want to genuinely showcase and accelerate communications innovation - and to uncover opportunities.


JA Innovation and disruption are key themes around eComm, and to wrap up, what type of person or company will get the most benefit from attending?

LD If you are in the communications/telecommunications field, you should take a look around the website and in particularly the agenda. If you've woken up and smelled the coffee, it should hit you like a ton of bricks that this is a MUST attend - not a nice to attend event.

Lee's Interview with Voxeo's Jonathan Taylor

Wanted to pass on the latest content addition to the eComm blog. Lee has just posted his interview with Jonathan Taylor, the CEO of Voxeo. They talk a lot about the origins of the company, and there are some good insights there about where Jonathan sees voice going. I've been a fan of Voxeo for some time, and they really are on the forefront of Voice 2.0, and the whole space of integrating voice into Web-based applications.

I'm also drawing attention to this because Jonathan will be on a panel that I've put together for eComm 2009 about Voice 2.0. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I'll have a separate post about that on Monday. Until then, Jonathan's interview with Lee is a good read, and you can pick it up here on the eComm blog.

eComm 2009 - Discount Extended

Registrations have been picking up nicely for eComm 2009, and I just wanted to let you know that the cutoff date for the 20% discount has been extended. Yesterday was supposed to be the end, but Lee has let it run, so you can still get the discount.

If you haven't registered yet - well.... - just drop me a line, and I'll pass on the code.

If you still haven't made up your mind, stay tuned, as I have some updates coming that will hopefully make this an easier decision.

eComm 2009 - Direct Updates from Lee Dryburgh

Am doing a fair bit of boosterism lately for conferences I'm spending time at - well, times are tough, and viral marketing is easy and cheap to do.

On Monday, Lee Dryburgh did his Squawk Box segment with Alec Saunders, so it's a good chance to hear first hand from "LeeComm" how things are coming along and what you can expect to see at eComm 2009.

The podcast was just posted late last night, but it's as timely now as it was Monday morning! It's a long listen - almost an hour - but there's lots to talk about. The eComm roster is strong, and the content will be first rate, so if disruption and innovation is your thing, this should be on your March calendar.

Lee continues to tirelessly transcribe interviews he's done with some of the presenters, and you can read these on the eComm blog. The most recent entries are interviews with Jan Linden of Global IP Solutions and Andreas Constantinou of Vision Mobile.

eComm 2009 - Early Bird Discount Ends Today!

Last week I posted a few updates about eComm 2009, and can only assume you've bought your ticket and booked your travel by now. Right?

If not...the Early Bird discount ends today, so if you put it off til later, the prices goes up $300 starting tomorrow. Once you've got your credit card ready, here's the registration page!

And if that's not enough incentive, you can get an additional 20% savings by using my promotional discount code. I posted about this a few weeks back, and this extra discount is in effect up til February 17. So, you can apply it today and get a double discount, or just use it on its own for the remaining time after today. Let me know if you're interested.

For those of you still not sure why you need to be there, Lee has been posting some very thought provoking content on the eComm blog the past few days about the future of telecom, and it's a pretty good indicator of the kinds of people who will be speaking at the conference. He's been putting up transcripts of interviews, and while they make for VERY long posts, it's a nice option for those who can't spare 45 minutes or so to listen through the podcasts of each one.

And don't forget, you can catch Lee live tomorrow at 11am EST on Alec Saunder's Squawk Box podcast.

eComm Updates

Yesterday, the IT Expo; today, eComm.

These two events have been keeping me busy lately, and I've got two items to share about eComm 2009. As I've been posting recently, the program is coming together nicely and the sponsor support has been healthy. That's great news considering how difficult the economy is. The next step is getting the word out and ultimately getting attendees to register so we know who's coming!

Before getting to the eComm news, I wanted to share a great post from Andy Abramson, who's just back from MacWorld and CES last week. He goes to way more events than me, and his post is a great read for anyone worried about the health of the conference space. Of course they're all hurting financially and are scaling back accordingly. However, as Andy can attest first-hand, there is still tremendous value in attending.

Even if the shows are smaller, the key players are usually there, and there's no better opportunity to learn from and network among your peers over a few days. How's that for a nice segue into eComm? And of course, it applies equally well to the IT Expo, and any other show you have some history with. We all have to be more selective these days, but events like these matter, and are still the best way to stay involved.

On that note, the press release for eComm 2009 went out this morning, and you should give it a read for the latest list of topics and sponsors. Not to mention the early bird discount! I posted about getting this discount last month, and if you didn't take advantage of that, here's your second chance!

There's also a more interactive news item to pass along. Alec Saunders is going to resume his widely-followed Squawk Box interviews, and next Tuesday - January 20 - he'll be interviewing eComm founder Lee Dryburgh. It will be a great opportunity to hear from Lee directly about what eComm 2009 is focusing on, and of course to join the conversation yourself. The interview will be hosted on Alec's Calliflower platform, and you can read the details on his post.

eComm 2009 Updates

Lee Dryburgh has been busy over the holidays, and I wanted to update you on two items in particular, both of which are posted on the eComm blog.

First is the charity appeal he's just launched for the Shelter Network. In its purest form, this is a noble effort to raise money for homeless people in the San Francisco area. That's the simple part. Lee is an engineer, and nothing is simple for him, so there's more to the story. This initiative is tied into two other concepts - raising awareness/selling tickets to eComm 2009, and testing the effectiveness of social media to support causes like this.

There's a lot to consider here, and that explains why Lee's blog post about this is so long. I'm doing my part by blogging about it now, and hopefully a few of you will keep the thread going, especially if you regularly use social media tools. I do not, so this is as far as it goes for me. Anyhow, it certainly is a worthy cause, and if you want to support our eComm community, this is a very nice way to go.

Second is yet another go-round of the VoIP-dead-or-alive debate that started with my TMC article last Monday. This conversation has taken a life of its own the past few days, and even Jeff Pulver has waded in a couple of times. Well, one of these posts caught Lee's eye and yesterday he countered with a post of his own, essentially inviting Jeff to support and even speak at eComm.

Interesting, huh? Why Lee would use a public forum to do this, and why he - or anyone for that matter - would post about a conference on a Sunday - at the end of the XMas break to boot - is totally beyond me, but it did not go unnoticed.

There has been some dialog around this, and it will be interesting to see if Jeff puts any effort behind Lee's request. As a member of the eComm Advisory Board, I'd love to see Jeff help bring more community around eComm, but we all know it's not so simple. Just like seeing Carl moderate at the ITExpo, this type of outreach really gets your attention, and if you could put a host of issues aside, there could be a lot of upside for everyone. That's a pretty big "if", but hey, it's Day 1 of 2009 in the working world, and hopefully we've all made resolutions to make the world a better place.