eComm (aka eMerging Communications)is the twice annual gathering of the hottest, the brightest and the most forward thinking folks in telecom and emerging communications. Starting today, just outside of San Francisco in Burlingame, the event has already registered more than 400 attendees. Sponsors and speakers from the world over were booked to attend and tell the community what’s coming next.
But eComm will be without its leader and organizer, Lee Dryburgh, who is caught up in the no fly zone of Europe due to the Icelandic Volcanic Eruption and unable since Thursday to get to the USA. But, like all things Lee, the show is going on. Working remotely, with a Video Camera and a Skype connection Dryburgh will be virtually with us, keeping an eye on the show, and calling the shots from Ljubljana. And the community has responded. Folks like GrandCentral’s founder and now the leader of Google’s Voice operations Craig Walker, Thomas Howe, Alec Saunders, BT JP Rangaswami, a few others and I are going to be Lee’s virtual eye’s and arms, keeping things moving, and overcoming the challenges of missed flight connections from speakers and attendees. Pal Martin Geddes, also on the other side of the Volcano will deliver his always waited for speech via Skype, proving that distance won’t stand in his way.
You see, the old adage that “the Show Must Go On” is at play, and while 40 or so folks may not make it to SFO, the other 400 or so are here and ready. Last night a group of 40 or so folks met up for dinner and a chance to renew friendships at the annual eComm Indian Dinner, this time sponsored by The Voyces, a new blog that you’ll want to bookmark, along with Ditech and Comunicano. Jamie (PhoneTag) Siminoff covered the food and I supplied wine and we along with MISTER Mashup-Thomas Hale and our Voice 2.0 era cabal of Alec Saunders, Larry Lisser and Luca Filigheddu are kicking off Voyces as the Independent Voice of the Community. No ads. No B.S. We’ll be joined by Jim Courtney, one of the original voices at Skype Journal and by regular guest posters (no, not posers) all to prevent a void in perspective, opinion and unbiased thought from occurring in what remains a very active industry.
So the show known as eComm has officially started. The Voyces will be on site providing coverage of the event and helping Lee out from afar, while keeping the event the star.
Hi Andy:
Hope to hear more interesting stuff about eComm. Congratulations on the new initiative( Voyces). It’s a great idea and iam more than positive that this blog platform would help a lot of folks in the industry. I love the team, very diversified.
Ravi Shankar
http://latestgeeknews.blogspot.com
So sad not to be able to join The Voyces for an Indian meal – the combination of volcanic ash and Truphone tasklist prevent my attendance.
I am already looing forward to eComm Europe!
JB
The newly created architecture will be based on what the industry calls “internet protocol-based open standards” – an approach that permits easy accommodation of new and emerging communications technology as it becomes available in future years.