Conferring in a Changing Landscape

Last week I had the pleasure to be a panelist and an attendee at the Telephony LIVE summit in Dallas. As a conference focusing on turning cutting-edge technology into profits, Telephony LIVE was also a unique opportunity to join several TIA member companies in exploring the latest trends in our industry, in both the technology and business realms. In a sense, it seemed that the show's main theme was sharing and learning that kind of information.

As ICT technology continues to migrate to IP, as speed and capacity increase – and the challenge of meeting the growing demand for bandwidth increases, as well – there's a new focus on the end user. Each vendor wants to be the first into new product markets and service niches and truly adopt the right business model.  Each wants to reach the customer in an efficient, effective way. There are countless opportunities in this respect, but in such a competitive, convergent market, also countless questions.

This is why the open-mindedness I witnessed at Telephony LIVE is so beneficial to TIA members. The event was full of direct competitors, all certainly holding on tight to their proprietary and strategic resources, but nonetheless engaging with fellow ICT companies almost as strategic partners. They were working together to get opinions, chewing on the big themes and working to carve out a roadmap for several key sectors in the industry are headed.

This mutual-advantage approach is why, despite greatly exaggerated reports of its demise, the trade show environment remains vibrant, if changing.  Anyone can conduct a conference call, and sometimes that's the best option.  But the mindset that comes with sharing information and exploring such a rapidly-migrating industry, with willingness to talk and listen in a neutral setting, to meet face-to-face, is unique to trade shows.  It's why shows like VON, and the upcoming Mobile Internet World are so valuable.  And it's why NXTcomm is still the industry-defining week each year.

This balance between competition and cooperation will allow us to thrive as an industry and tackle the big technological challenges that our businesses face. But our members knew that already, because it's what allows them to innovate.  And the ability to innovate is what got them where they are in the first place.

Thank you,
Grant Seiffert
President,
TIA