Nothing is moving faster than this space, and it's time to explore things further. I do have an emerging focus on blockchain, as it does have interesting applications for secure communications across distributed environments. There will be lots to explore at the Blockchain Futurist Conference, and it's great to be local for a change. Very impressive roster of speakers, and aside from my activity (@arnoldjon), here's the event hashtag - #futuristconference.

I'll be wearing two hats for the Genesys CX18 conference, and definitely looking forward to both. First, I'm attending as an analyst, getting the updates I need to stay current with them in the fast-changing customer care space.

I'll also be wearing my musician hat, as the SIPtones are back on stage (you can check us out here), this time at The Valentine nightclub in the heart of Music City. I'll be mainly playing keyboards, but it might work out for me to play some guitar as well!

February usually means ITExpo, and lately that means Fort Lauderdale. Good time of year to go south, and I'll be busy moderating three sessions. More details coming, but here are the topics and times:

Making Chatbots Your Most Valuable Assets - Hot Topics in Tech Track, Wed at 10

How AI is Changing the Customer Experience - Hot Topics in Tech Track, Wed at 1

The Rise of Messaging in the Enterprise - Business Communications Essentials Track, Fri at 11

I'll be attending BroadSoft Connections earlier in the week, and then will be here at Fall MoNage 2017 for Wednesday and Thursday.

On the Wednesday, I'm speaking at 10:30, along with my colleague Chris Fine about enterprise trends in messaging, chatbots and AI. 

Hope to see you there, and if you're still not registered, I can provide a coupon code for 20% off the registration fee - just drop me a line.

The 2017 BC Summit returns to Palm Springs, and I have no complaints about that.

Our agenda is still shaping up, but I'll be speaking on two panel sessions, along with other UC Experts. First is the Vendor Landscape on Wed at 10:30, and at 1 pm Thursday, I'll be part of the update session on contact centers, with an emphasis on new technologies like chatbots and AI.

For years, this time and place was for Interactive Intelligence's Interactions annual event, but having now been acquired by Genesys, that event will now be part of their event, G-Force. This is the bridge year for combining them, and going forward, am not sure if it will still continue in Indy, a city I've enjoyed visiting - and playing music in.

I'll be flying there on Sunday, and am looking forward to seeing how the two companies are coming together, especially for the mix between cloud and premise-based offerings. There's a lot to be worked out, especially for branding, channels and managing the two workplace cultures.

That aside, I'm looking forward to another gig with the SIPtones, and we're all practicing to get ready. We're playing Tuesday night, back again at the Slippery Noodle, Indy's top blues bar. It's a great spot for our music, and if you haven't seen us, here's my post from our last gig there, including a short video compilation of our show.

First of three events involving travel in May, so it's a busy month. Am looking forward to this annual event, and nice to be doing it in Canada for a change.

Right after ITExpo in Ft. Lauderdale, I'll be heading west to Las Vegas for the Avaya Engage event. Will be very interesting to see what their roadmap looks like to emerge from Chapter 11. 

One of the mainstays in my calendar for years, I'm back for another ITExpo, TMCnet's flagship conference.

This time around, I'll be moderating two panels, both on the Friday:

10am - What's New in Unified Communications

11am - Hot Topics in Tech and Communications

Details for my sessions, along with the rest of the program can be reviewed here - just scroll down to Friday and the details will be there.

Next week, I'll be attending ShoreTel's Global Partner Conference in Orlando. As always, am looking forward to being there, and this should be my last bit of conference travel for 2016 - finally!

Aside from participating in  the regular conference sessions, I'm one of the analysts who will be speaking on the Industry Trends Panel. The website hasn't been updated to reflect that yet, but the session will be on Wednesday afternoon.

I'll be attending Nextiva's big customer event, NextCon 16, in Scottsdale. Should be a great event, and Tuesday, I'll be speaking on an analyst roundtable. Details coming, and will include a link once the Agenda is updated.