What’s Up? Part 1 - Our Latest Watch This Space Podcast

I attended three events in February – four, technically – so there was plenty to talk about. First was Avaya Engage, then during the same week, two contiguous Cisco analyst events – one for the collaboration business, and another one for the contact center. Not long after, I was off to Ft. Lauderdale, where I chaired the Future of Work Expo. I tried addressing all of this for this month’s podcast but didn’t get past Future of Work. Maybe I’ll get to revisit the other events next month, but by then, two more events will have passed.
This edition marks the debut of our new graphic look for Watch This Space. I hope you like it, and any feedback will be welcome.
As usual, JAA subscribers get to hear our takeaways - right now, in this newsletter. Otherwise, I’ll be posting the podcast publicly on my website in a couple of weeks, so non-subscribers will have to wait a bit.
If you haven’t checked our earlier podcasts, you can do that from the podcast archive on my website. This archive will keep updating as the latest podcast is added, so now from one place, you can access all the most recent podcasts.
Recent podcasts have also featured AI-driven transcripts that complement the audio replay link. This feature comes courtesy of Otter.ai, and I hope you like it. Otter transcribes in real-time, and I should also note that this transcription feature only comes with the newsletter. The publicly-shared posts of our podcasts are audio-only, and for some, that will be enough. But really, wouldn’t you rather be a subscriber?

**Latest Watch this Space Podcast & Transcript, March 2020**

February Conference Review: Avaya Engage, Cisco Collaboration and Contact Center & Future of Work

What’s Up? Part 2 – More Highlights and Insights from February

Conference roundup – as noted above, I attended events for Avaya and Cisco as an analyst, and then chaired the Future of Work Expo as part of TMCnet’s ITExpo in Ft. Lauderdale. There were various forms of coverage for these events – blog posts, articles, media quotes and video interviews – all of which can be found via my blog.
Work-wise, here are some February highlights:
- Podcasts – in addition to recording this month’s edition of Watch This Space, I recorded three others that have since been posted or will be soon, and links are or will be on my blog:
  - JAA profile for the Witz End podcast series – very fun, and definitely different
  - Was interviewed by No Jitter about the importance of audio quality testing for one of their sponsors
  - Was interviewed by 2600Hz for the next episode of their ongoing podcast series, talking about trends around UC and contact center becoming more integrated – should run in early March
- Video – I appeared in two segments last month:
  - First as part of a recap of Cisco’s Webex collaboration summit – this hasn’t been posted to my site yet – it’s very well done, and here’s the link to watch it (and thumb image below)
  - Next, I was interviewed during the Future of Work Expo, mainly about my work as an analyst, and you can access that on the landing page of my website

2020 is busy as can be for conferences, and here’s an updated schedule from last month. As always, details for each event will be shared on my blog, along with the Event Calendar listing on my website. I’ve already turned down a few event invites due to timing conflicts, and that’s bound to happen when there’s so much going on.
- Channel Partners 2020, March 9-12, Las Vegas, NV - moderating
- Vault: Future Work, March 25, Toronto, ON – moderating and Chair for the Future Work track
- Enterprise Connect, March 30-April 2, Orlando, FL – speaking twice
- Avaya Influencers Analyst Event, April 15-16, Miami, FL
- Talkdesk Opentalk 2020– April 22-23, San Francisco, CA
- Pexip Analyst Day, April 29, NYC
- Metaswitch Forum, May 11, Las Vegas, NV - speaking
- UCExpo, May 12-14, London, UK – speaking and moderating
- Twilio SIGNAL, May 20-21, San Francisco, CA
- 8x8 Analyst Event, May 26-28, location TBD
It’s also worth noting that the sudden impact of Coronavirus has led to numerous event cancellations, and things could get worse before they get better. So far, the above events are all still on, but things can change on a moment’s notice.
For two upcoming conferences – Channel Partners and Enterprise Connect - being a speaker, I can offer registration discounts; $400 for Enterprise Connect – details here – and various breaks for Channel Partners – details here.
I have one webinar on tap this month – March 19 – it’s hosted by Channel Partners and sponsored by Flexiental – talking about how channels can help customers migrate to the cloud – details are here if you’d like to register and join us.
My mix of project work continues to diversify, and let’s just say I’m busy on many fronts. At the moment, there’s just too much to outline here, but if you think I can be of service, please reach out any time. A few minutes perusing my website will give you an idea of what I’m up to, and you might be surprised at the range of things I can do.

That’s All for Now

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