Season 5 of Watch This Space kicks off 2022 with an episode titled “Technology Innovation: From Telecom to Space Exploration to the Metaverse”. With Omicron extending the pandemic, Chris Fine and I explore the longer-term implications of hybrid work, including how virtual experiences are becoming normalized, and how the metaverse isn’t that far-fetched now. With virtual modes becoming the new reality, we bring our analog lens to look at where technology innovation is going, especially for developing new models that are not bracketed by space and time.
For those of you who don’t subscribe to our podcast directly from a commercial platform, you can access it any time here on the new Watch This Space website.
As time allows, I have a long list of podcast platforms to add Watch This Space to, so please bear with me. It’s only on a couple right now, but the list will soon grow, and they’ll be listed on the website for reference.
If you don’t yet know, this new WTS website will host our episodes for 2022 and beyond. The site is formatted specifically for podcasts, including an embedded player so you can listen directly from the site – check it out here: www.watchthisspace.tech. Our earlier podcasts can be accessed here on my JAA website.

What’s Up? Part 2 – JAA Highlights from December

While the Watch This Space podcast is the main form of original content for this newsletter, Part 2 here is a digest of JAA activities from the previous month, including my other forms of original content, and my social media stats.
Industry conference roundup – just two events, including one where I was a presenter:
- December 8 – Five 9 Canada CX Summit – virtual and a presenter
- December 12-14 – Avaya Engage, Orlando, FL – in-person
Project work - key highlights for last month, and links to some of these can be found in my December blog posts:
- As noted earlier, I gave a presentation during the Five9s Canada CX Summit
- Was on two BCStrategies podcasts – Industry News and Merger Trends, and 2021 Year in Review
- Huawei produces a video series about global technology trends – Decoded – and I appeared as a guest speaker
- I was a panelist on a video debate event sponsored by Huawei
- Two more posts published without byline for a contact center vendor on their blog
- Completed a due diligence project on the CPaaS space for an investment banker
- Ramped up planning and speaker recruitment activity for Future of Work Expo, running Feb. 8-10 – if interested, please get in touch!
December writing spotlight – here’s my pick, running on No Jitter: We Need UCaaS More Than Ever for Hybrid Work - Here’s Why
Here’s my Writing Roundup post for December – it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter and BC Strategies
Media citings – I had 4 citations for December
Social media highlights - since these stats change every day, the metrics are just a basic snapshot, but they provide a good sense of reach beyond my blog and newsletter. For my business, I use Twitter and LinkedIn, and here are some approximate tallies for December:
- For LinkedIn – I had 22,241 views and 26 posts – lower than November, but largely due to one post last month with an exceptional number of views
- My top LinkedIn post registered 2,247 views and overall, 9 posts had 700+ views
- For Twitter – there were 16,900 impressions, 1,456 profile visits, 66 mentions, 36 tweets and 10 new followers – impressions were way down from November, but other metrics were way up – go figure!
- My “top tweet” was during Avaya ENGAGE, with 2,508 impressions, and overall, 5 tweets had 1,000+ impressions, and 10 had 600+
SIPtones update – we had our first gig in ages back in November during the SCTC conference, and video highlights will be added to my website soon. If you don’t know about my musical side, you can check out both video clips and photos here on the My Music tab, including some new ones from our SCTC gig.

What's Coming? JAA Outlook for January

Got two virtual events on tap so far for January, but that can change in a hurry:
- January 24 - Wildix Virtual UC&C Summit 2021
- January 25-26, VON3 – presenting as well
Other activities to watch for during January:
Webinar about the CPaaS value proposition for a leading vendor, based on a white paper I produced for them, which will be published very soon
Book review for a book co-written by the CEO of a leading contact center vendor
New white paper – and e-book – about mobile collaboration for a leading UCaaS vendor
Guest article for a leading channel publication about the value of offering CCaaS and UCaaS together for end customers
New series of guest blog posts for a contact center vendor
Beginning an ongoing program of thought leadership pieces for a leading contact center vendor
Two – possibly three – new strategic advisory engagements to help clients with go-to-market and thought leadership positioning

Hey Did You Know....Part 1

As I said one year ago right here in this section of the newsletter, “we can’t move on from 2020 fast enough” – not much has changed going into 2022, and if you managed to stay healthy, kudos to you! All good here, and 2021 was just as strong for my business as 2020. I’m grateful for the steady work, and 2022 is already looking to be even better.

Being an analyst, I think in terms of numbers, and I’m sure many of you do as well. So, it’s time to present my annual by-the-numbers snapshot of what kept me busy during 2021. Numbers aside, this should give you a better idea of what an analyst does, and the various forms that “thought leadership” takes.

Social Media Footprint – 2021 By the Numbers

Thought Leadership and Business Activity – 2021 By the Numbers

10 new clients (not including new work from existing clients)
45 conferences/industry events – virtual (mostly all) or live
8 of these events I was either moderating or speaking
4 events serving as a judge
56 published articles/guest posts
92 posts on my JAA blog
36 podcasts (including Watch This Space for this newsletter)
7 webinars/video segments
2 white papers
3 live Twitter chats or LinkedIn events
12 editions of this newsletter
23 JAA citings in the media
4 new industry accolades
1 SIPtones gig

Hey Did You Know....Part 2

… I’ve updated my logo! My practice started in 2005, and this is the first time I’ve done a logo refresh. So much has changed since then, and I’ve been meaning to update my logo to better reflect where my expertise is resonating today in the market.

Wearing my marketing hat, you gotta mix it up every now and then, and that’s the same reason why I just updated my newsletter logo. Both my newsletter – JAA’s Communications and Collaboration Review – and my podcast – Watch This Space – stand on their own, so having distinct logos for each helps establish their brand identities. Apart from this, my analyst practice is really the over-arching brand, as this is where my client engagement happens.

So, if you’re still with me, here’s my brand-new logo. Consider this a soft launch, and in the coming weeks, it will replace current iterations of my JAA logo. I hope you like it, and would love any and all feedback. That’s my kickoff for 2022 – what’s yours?