New 4G Conference Coming - TMC and ???

How's this for a how-could-this-be??? scenario?

TMC is partnering with some very familiar VON faces to produce a 4G conference in February. It's not clear how much partnering is actually going on, and at face value, this 4G event is just co-locating with the Winter 2009 IT Expo, which returns again to Miami.

I got wind of this Wednesday night, and shortly after, Andy Abramson went public with the news on his blog, so he's got the scoop, no doubt. For the official news, the press release is here, and Greg Galitzine adds some flavor on his blog. Rich Tehrani also has some thoughts, as well as a list of other places this item was picked up.

I'm just getting around to this now, and if this is still news to you, then you're in the right place.

It's always great to hear about new conferences, especially for something as important as 4G, but the real story here is how previous competitors are now working together. TMC and VON have always had a strong rivalry, and each show has its strengths. With VON's demise (although Virgo is now trying to change that - which is another story for another time), a lot of smart, experienced people need to find other gigs.

With the 4G event, we're talking specifically about Carl Ford and Scott Kargman. Readers of my blog may recall that Carl has been publicly forging his own path for the past few months, and has already crossed the floor, so to speak, and was welcomed as a moderator at the IT Expo last month. I haven't kept up with Scott, but the two are working together on this event, and now that the word is out, you can see for yourself what they're doing. As noted on Andy's post, the website for 4G Wireless Revolution is running now, so that should be your next stop.

Bottom line - work is work, and it's great to see Carl and Scott engaged with something they know an awful lot about. I won't be alone in following their progress, and I'll post updates as things progress.


Technorati tags: 4G Wireless Revolution, Jon Arnold, Carl Ford, TMC, Scott Kargman, Andy Abramson, Greg Galitzine, Rich Tehrani