We're on to Kansas City - SCTC Event and Playing with the SIPtones!

Am flying to Boston this morning for a family wedding, and as Coach Belichick would say, from there, it's on to KC. Would love to see Brady's homecoming Sunday, but will be in transit then to KC, where I'm attending next week's SCTC event. It's their 40th anniversary, so it should be pretty special.

In addition to attending, I'm giving a presentation on Tuesday, and Wednesday night, I'll be playing with the SIPtones. Will be on keyboards again, and guitar for one number. More details are in the Events section on my website, and before you know it, I'll be updating it with the next one.

My Next Webinar - Choosing the Right VoIP Partner

Just a quick shout-out for my upcoming Ziff Davis webinar. It's next Tuesday at 2pm ET, and I hope you can join us!  All the details are here, and registration just takes a minute.

My Next Webinar - Choosing the Right Partner for VoIP

This week marks the start of my "busy season" where I'm either speaking at or attending industry events, and I've already got my calendar mapped out through December. I'd be happy if nothing else comes up between now and year-end, but that's wishful thinking, and wouldn't be good for business.

Along the way, I have to get paid work done of course, and that includes webinars. I've another one coming up with Ziff Davis, and the title in this post is pretty self-explanatory. These webinars consistently draw well, and am looking forward to the next one, which will be Tuesday, October 4. If the topic is of interest, I hope you'll register and join me then. I'll post about it again as the date approaches, but to sign up right now, here's the landing page with all the details.

Am Speaking at MoNage Next Week - Jeff Pulver's New Event

If you've been around long enough, you'll remember VON - Voice on the Net - a conference that defined the VoIP/IP comms space in its early days when it was truly disruptive. Much has changed, and Jeff Pulver continues to explore how technology is changing our lives. Ten years ago, it was all about voice, but today it's all about messaging for Jeff, and that brings us to MoNage - Messaging on the Net.

I have a long history with Jeff - as many of us do - and am very glad to see him back in our space, and also glad to be part of next week's event. MoNage is running from September 20-22 in Boston, and many of us from the VON days will be there. I'll be speaking on a panel session about enterprise messaging, moderated by my good friend, Chris Fine. We'll be joined by Ross Daniels of Cisco, and Lawrence Miller of Symphony.

Our session runs at 10am on Tuesday on the main stage, and if you're there I hope you can join us.

Just today, I've been added to a second session, and if you scroll down further on the above link, I'll be joining Alan Duric on his 4pm session that day, titled End to End Messaging.

Otherwise, it's not too late to register and make your way to the Boston Public Library. I'll be there first thing Tuesday and will blog/tweet as time allows.

As a coda, I'm currently working on a Q&A interview with Jeff Pulver, and will post that as soon as it's ready.

Why Are We Still Talking to Customers? More From My TMC Column

This week is a rare double-shot from my Rethinking Communications column that I write monthly for TMCnet's Internet Telephony Magazine.

Earlier this week, I posted about my latest column running in the current issue, and now it's catch-up time. The title of this article continues the "WHY?" theme I've been running with, simply because one question leads to another, and before you know it, a lot of things we take for granted in the UC&C space aren't really that certain.

This post actually ran in a summer issue of Internet Telephony Magazine, but let's just say it fell through the cracks a bit with the publisher, and it's only coming to light for me now. Better late than never, and I still think you'll find it a good read. Don't be shy, I'd love to find out!

Next Up - Speaking at Metaswitch Canada Technology Day

It's been a great summer, and now a busy fall awaits. I have three consecutive events coming up where I'm speaking, starting with this one.

Next Wednesday, Sept. 14, Metaswitch is hosting another edition of their Canada Technology Day event, and I'm returning again to speak. This time around, my topic will be "Delivering Value Beyond VoIP", with perspectives on how Canadian service providers can be more successful offering IP communications to their customers.

If you're attending, I hope to see you there, and I'll be presenting at 10:15. All the details have been posted here, in the Event Calendar section of my website.

August Writing Roundup

Pretty light month on the writing front, but hey, it's August, and after getting through some bigger projects, I need to focus on my Fall pipeline for new business. Have also been busy on two other fronts.

First is adding the back end to my updated website/blog, so I've been compiling a lot of content that will be posted soon. Once that's done I'll have a formal launch, hopefully by mid-September.

The other front is researching and writing for upcoming conferences. For the next three events, I'm either presenting or speaking, and it was great to have time to do a lot of the prep work over August.

That said, here's what I'd like to share as writing highlights from August.

UC Implications from Dialpad's New Study about Anywhere Workers, UCStrategies, Aug. 30

How Should Mobile-First Apps fit our UC Strategy?, TechTarget, Aug. 29

How Market Disruptions Impact UC Buying Decisions, Toolbox.com, Aug. 24

Why You Should Consider Integrating Contact Center with UC, Toolbox.com, Aug. 19

The Parallel Worlds of UC and the Contact Center, Toolbox.com, Aug. 16

Why Are We Still Working in Offices?, Internet Telephony Magazine, Aug. 11

New Ways to Look at UC and the Contact Center, Toolbox.com, Aug. 9

Three Key Questions for a Successful Hybrid UC Deployment, TechTarget, Aug. 8

Three Reasons Not to Partner with a Vendor for UC, Toolbox.com, Aug. 1