Had a chance to walk the show floor and take in some sessions today. The good news is that all the sessions I saw were very good. Speakers were great and the content was interesting, especially for the Innovator's Track/Unconference. Included in this mix was the Skype mobility session that I moderated this morning. I thought we had a great mix of speakers, and the session was both well attended and highly engaged. Can't ask for more than that.
The only real downside is the anxiety of knowing that I missed many other sessions I wanted to see, and many others I probably would have enjoyed had I dropped by. I'm certainly not the only one with this view, and as we move closer to a 2.0 world, maybe all the sessions will be videotaped, either for live broadcasts, or archived for later viewing. The technology is there, and there's got to be a way to do this that doesn't dilute the value proposition for those who attend in person. As Jeff said in his keynote yesterday, anything is possible, and I'll agree with that.
Last day is tomorrow, but it's a travel day for me. I hope to have a final post about VON then, including a few photos taken from today's sessions, including my Skype mobility panel.
Technorati tags: Fall VON 2007, Jon Arnold, Jeff Pulver
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Fall VON - Highlights
Just a quick post to share a few photos from the show today. It's been very hectic, so time won't allow for much analysis of the event right now. The scale seems a bit smaller than last Fall VON, but it's still a good sized show, and there is no shortage of interesting companies and sessions to see. That's actually a problem - there are too many tracks, and it's impossible to take it all in. For every session I see there are 3 or 4 others I'd also like to see, and it's really too bad I have to miss all of these. Sure, I'll get to see the presentations later, but it's not the same as being there.
That said, Jeff started things off with his keynote today, and not surprisingly the focus was almost totally on video. VoIP may have been mentioned once or twice, but there are bigger stories for Jeff to tell. Today, it's mostly about video, and this morning, it was about social networking and collaboration. Anyone following Jeff's blog would totally understand this, and for everyone else, you got a good sense this morning as to what Jeff is all excited about. We all got a long look at his Facebook profile, which he used to demonstrate the power of social networking.
For Jeff, the big ideas are asynchronous, multimedia communication, and many-to-many communications. He's particularly excited about how Facebook recently opened up their APIs, making it a very attractive developer platform. I certainly agree with all this, and it's not hard to see the appeal it holds for Jeff. On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of living virtually, and it's easy to see how one can live so virtually that it practically becomes real.
That aside, Jeff didn't have much to say on the visionary side of things other than businesses will start using social networking next year, and that monetization will come in time. What form that might take is another question, but that wasn't discussed. That's fine - these things will come, and for now, the main message is that if you're not doing some form of social networking, you're going to miss out on what's driving online communication and community building right now, and if you wait too long, you're going to be out of it.
I've got a few photos from today's sessions to pass along...
Jeff's keynote and the audience this morning...
Chris Fine's Industry Perspective
Thomas Howe kicking off the Unconference
My Unconference session, with Dennis Peng of Ooma, and Thomas. Photo taken with my camera either by Dan York or Alec Saunders. Sorry guys, I can't remember which right now!
Technorati tags: Fall VON 2007, Jon Arnold, Jeff Pulver
That said, Jeff started things off with his keynote today, and not surprisingly the focus was almost totally on video. VoIP may have been mentioned once or twice, but there are bigger stories for Jeff to tell. Today, it's mostly about video, and this morning, it was about social networking and collaboration. Anyone following Jeff's blog would totally understand this, and for everyone else, you got a good sense this morning as to what Jeff is all excited about. We all got a long look at his Facebook profile, which he used to demonstrate the power of social networking.
For Jeff, the big ideas are asynchronous, multimedia communication, and many-to-many communications. He's particularly excited about how Facebook recently opened up their APIs, making it a very attractive developer platform. I certainly agree with all this, and it's not hard to see the appeal it holds for Jeff. On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of living virtually, and it's easy to see how one can live so virtually that it practically becomes real.
That aside, Jeff didn't have much to say on the visionary side of things other than businesses will start using social networking next year, and that monetization will come in time. What form that might take is another question, but that wasn't discussed. That's fine - these things will come, and for now, the main message is that if you're not doing some form of social networking, you're going to miss out on what's driving online communication and community building right now, and if you wait too long, you're going to be out of it.
I've got a few photos from today's sessions to pass along...
Jeff's keynote and the audience this morning...
Chris Fine's Industry Perspective
Thomas Howe kicking off the Unconference
My Unconference session, with Dennis Peng of Ooma, and Thomas. Photo taken with my camera either by Dan York or Alec Saunders. Sorry guys, I can't remember which right now!
Technorati tags: Fall VON 2007, Jon Arnold, Jeff Pulver
Happy Town
I haven't been in the city of a major sport championship when a team has actually won it since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series in 1992-1993. That was really great, but it's tough to beat being in Boston when the Sox swept the Rockies Sunday night. Luckily, I've been here since Saturday for Fall VON, and Jeff Pulver sure had some competition today.
The victory parade was today, and I think pretty much the whole town saw it, except for all of us holed up at VON. The convention center is pretty far from where the parade was, and there was no easy way of getting there to see it. All I could do was take in the street scene up til this morning, well before the parade made its way from Fenway Park to City Hall. The route ran right by where I'm staying, so I got a chance to see the calm before the storm.
So, the best I can do is share some photos from my N95 to capture the mood leading up to the parade last night and early this morning. Happy town, indeed....
Looking towards Fenway Park, maybe a mile away, where the parade starts...
Then, continuing along Boylston Street going towards City Hall...
The venerable Prudential tower, a real icon of the Boston skyline. All Sox fans remember how during the 2004 playoffs, the building had a huge silhouette of "Go Sox" that lit up the side facing Fenway Park.
True fans, getting a front row seat for the parade at 7:30 this morning...
Technorati tags: Boston Red Sox, Jon Arnold, World Series
The victory parade was today, and I think pretty much the whole town saw it, except for all of us holed up at VON. The convention center is pretty far from where the parade was, and there was no easy way of getting there to see it. All I could do was take in the street scene up til this morning, well before the parade made its way from Fenway Park to City Hall. The route ran right by where I'm staying, so I got a chance to see the calm before the storm.
So, the best I can do is share some photos from my N95 to capture the mood leading up to the parade last night and early this morning. Happy town, indeed....
Looking towards Fenway Park, maybe a mile away, where the parade starts...
Then, continuing along Boylston Street going towards City Hall...
The venerable Prudential tower, a real icon of the Boston skyline. All Sox fans remember how during the 2004 playoffs, the building had a huge silhouette of "Go Sox" that lit up the side facing Fenway Park.
True fans, getting a front row seat for the parade at 7:30 this morning...
Technorati tags: Boston Red Sox, Jon Arnold, World Series
Friday, October 26, 2007
I'm on Facebook Now!
People have been leaning on me to get on Facebook for a while now, and I've finally succcumbed, just before VON.
Well, I'm also doing it now in honor of the founders who have an incredible goldmine, now that Microsoft is investing dot.com kind of dollars for a tiny sliver of this thing. It's an amazing example of the power of a good idea and being in the right place at the right time.
So, with 200,000 people jumping on this train every day, I'd better get on before I start to look like more of a Luddite than I already am. If you do the math, that's 2.3 sign-ups EVERY SECOND of every day. That sure is a nice curve to be riding.
These are Skype-like growth metrics, of course, and it will be interesting to see how Facebook's trajectory unfolds, especially now that Skype and MySpace are hooked up, and Microsoft has skin in the game.
I mention Skype for another reason. It's all about ease of use. Took me about 10 minutes to set up a basic Facebook profile last night, and right away I had friends, and a bunch more in my inbox this morning. As I recall, it took my son Max about the same amount of time to set himself up on Skype. To me, more than anything, it's ease of use and simplicity that make these things successful. From there, it's all about who can build an engaged community, and of course, laying the foundation for the advertising that will inevitably monetize this and make billionaires out of the founders.
So far, I just see one glitch in the ease-of-use department, but I know it's there for a reason. Want to find me on Facebook? Go to the site, and try.
What do you get? 144 Jon Arnolds. Yup - I'm certainly not alone. Good luck finding me, especially if you're not yet a member. The site only lets you search through the first 3 pages of "Jon Arnold", and I'm not there. So, I guess resistance is futile - you will be assimilated. If you really want to find me, you've gotta join up. So, join up, and let's be friends. Or, drop me a line and I'll send you an invite!
Technorati tags: Facebook, Jon Arnold, Skype, MySpace
Well, I'm also doing it now in honor of the founders who have an incredible goldmine, now that Microsoft is investing dot.com kind of dollars for a tiny sliver of this thing. It's an amazing example of the power of a good idea and being in the right place at the right time.
So, with 200,000 people jumping on this train every day, I'd better get on before I start to look like more of a Luddite than I already am. If you do the math, that's 2.3 sign-ups EVERY SECOND of every day. That sure is a nice curve to be riding.
These are Skype-like growth metrics, of course, and it will be interesting to see how Facebook's trajectory unfolds, especially now that Skype and MySpace are hooked up, and Microsoft has skin in the game.
I mention Skype for another reason. It's all about ease of use. Took me about 10 minutes to set up a basic Facebook profile last night, and right away I had friends, and a bunch more in my inbox this morning. As I recall, it took my son Max about the same amount of time to set himself up on Skype. To me, more than anything, it's ease of use and simplicity that make these things successful. From there, it's all about who can build an engaged community, and of course, laying the foundation for the advertising that will inevitably monetize this and make billionaires out of the founders.
So far, I just see one glitch in the ease-of-use department, but I know it's there for a reason. Want to find me on Facebook? Go to the site, and try.
What do you get? 144 Jon Arnolds. Yup - I'm certainly not alone. Good luck finding me, especially if you're not yet a member. The site only lets you search through the first 3 pages of "Jon Arnold", and I'm not there. So, I guess resistance is futile - you will be assimilated. If you really want to find me, you've gotta join up. So, join up, and let's be friends. Or, drop me a line and I'll send you an invite!
Technorati tags: Facebook, Jon Arnold, Skype, MySpace
Octasic's Vocallo Launch
I don't do a lot of vendor shout-outs, but Octasic is one of many vendors who will be making noise next week at Fall VON.
In support of their Vocallo launch, they engaged me to write a white paper, which has just been published. Vocallo is a big leap forward for DSP solutions, and Octasic feels they have some game-changing advancements here. The market will ultimately decide, but as you'll see in the paper, I think it's pretty compelling too.
So, if you want to get the full story, as well as the white paper, I'll steer you the section on their website dedicated to Vocallo. You can access the white paper there, but you have to register first.
Technorati tags: Octasic, Jon Arnold, Vocallo, J Arnold & Associates
In support of their Vocallo launch, they engaged me to write a white paper, which has just been published. Vocallo is a big leap forward for DSP solutions, and Octasic feels they have some game-changing advancements here. The market will ultimately decide, but as you'll see in the paper, I think it's pretty compelling too.
So, if you want to get the full story, as well as the white paper, I'll steer you the section on their website dedicated to Vocallo. You can access the white paper there, but you have to register first.
Technorati tags: Octasic, Jon Arnold, Vocallo, J Arnold & Associates
Thursday, October 25, 2007
IP Convergence TV Portal - Launched Today
Just a quick note to say that the press release for IP Convergence TV went out today, and I hope you come by to check it out!
Technorati tags: IP Convergence TV, Jon Arnold
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
IP Convergence TV Portal - Launching Tomorrow
IP Convergence TV has its full launch tomorrow - October 25. The soft launch was last month, and based on the feedback, it's been improved on a few fronts.
It's a busy week leading up to Fall VON, but I think IP Convergence TV merits some attention of its own. If you're following IP convergence trends - primarily VoIP, FMC and IPTV - I'm sure you'll find something of interest here.
This is a non-profit initiative, so it's not a pay-for-play portal. The sponsors contribute thoughtful content, and in return, the portal provides a platform to share their views. Lots going on here - video interviews, podcasts, opinion pieces by thought leaders like Thomas Howe, white papers, and articles.
I'm in the middle of all this, serving as the Community Advocate and Portal Editor. So, I'm doing my part here to spread the word, and urge you visit the site and sign up for regular updates.
Technorati tags: IP Convergence TV, Jon Arnold, Comverse
It's a busy week leading up to Fall VON, but I think IP Convergence TV merits some attention of its own. If you're following IP convergence trends - primarily VoIP, FMC and IPTV - I'm sure you'll find something of interest here.
This is a non-profit initiative, so it's not a pay-for-play portal. The sponsors contribute thoughtful content, and in return, the portal provides a platform to share their views. Lots going on here - video interviews, podcasts, opinion pieces by thought leaders like Thomas Howe, white papers, and articles.
I'm in the middle of all this, serving as the Community Advocate and Portal Editor. So, I'm doing my part here to spread the word, and urge you visit the site and sign up for regular updates.
Technorati tags: IP Convergence TV, Jon Arnold, Comverse
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