A week from today, I’m headed out to Las Vegas for CES.  Next month, I’ll be [...]]]>

YES, there hasn’t been a lot of posting on this site recently. Most of my blog time is going into HD Voice News (www.hdvoicenews.com).   And there’s an update on the HD Voice News report due for 2012.

A week from today, I’m headed out to Las Vegas for CES.  Next month, I’ll be at IT EXPO East in Miami.

ADTRAN media briefings – Huntsville, AL

ADTRAN’s annual briefing event, held in Huntsville. Always interesting because of what you learn about ADTRAN and its neighborhood community.

CES 2012 – Las Vegas

Held this year towards the beginning of [...]]]>

Between now and the beginning of February, I’ll be at three different industry events.

ADTRAN media briefings – Huntsville, AL

ADTRAN’s annual briefing event, held in Huntsville. Always interesting because of what you learn about ADTRAN and its neighborhood community.

CES 2012 – Las Vegas

Held this year towards the beginning of the week, this is a multi-day ordeal. And not really in a good way.

Sunday, January 9 – Storage Visions 2012 and “CES Unveiled.” Never been to the former event, but it’s a hot topic this year with the flooding in Thailand causing ripples in the hard drive food chain.

Monday, January 10 – CES Press Day.  Starts with the (always overcrowded) LG press launch at 8 AM, with a number of companies throughout the day, ending with the Digital Experience event at the MGM on Monday evening.

Tuesday, January 11 – First day of CES show floor.  I start the day by hitting as many companies parked in Hilton suites as I can, then go to the show floor.  Around noon, I go to “Lunch at Piaro’s” to check out the tabletop exhibits there, rest my feet, then go back out to the floor.  The evening closes with ShowStoppers at the Wynn.

Wednesday, January 12 – More meetings day, trying to catch up with as many companies I can before I have to head to the airport for my redeye back home.

IT EXPO East 2012 – Miami, February 1-3, Miami Beach Convention Center

Don’t know if TMC will be holding a media on January 31; stay tuned.

However, there will be an HD voice session, on Thursday, Feb 2, at 2 PM (2/2/12 @ 2 ) that I will be moderating.  You can find more info at the TMC conference program listing here.

We talk about the migration from TDM to IP and why face-to-face events continue to be important.

(I’m the guy in the pink shirt, FYI).

ADTRAN is hosting its annual media/analyst event in Huntsville on November 29-December 1.

The first big event in 2012 for HD voice looks like it will be at CES in Las Vegas.  I’ll be running [...]]]>

In November (7-8), I’ll be a guest of GENBAND for its Perspective 2011 event in New York City.

ADTRAN is hosting its annual media/analyst event in Huntsville on November 29-December 1.

The first big event in 2012 for HD voice looks like it will be at CES in Las Vegas.  I’ll be running around town from Sunday, January 8 through Wednesday, January 11.  More thoughts on CES 2012 will be posted at HD Voice News (www.hdvoicenews.com) next week.

On the Ethernet side, new solutions include:

If you are interested in finding more of my recent writing, you can check out:

Coordination through the Metaswitch press people (Engage PR) is suggested, but not required.

There’s also an invite-only event where to go out to Mike Tyson’s [...]]]>

I’ll be at Metaswitch Forum in Las Vegas from October 3 through October 6, so if you’re looking for an opportunity to brief face-to-face, this is it.

Coordination through the Metaswitch press people (Engage PR) is suggested, but not required.

There’s also an invite-only event where to go out to Mike Tyson’s house at 3:30 AM in the morning and try to see his tiger. 

SBC leader Acme Packet (www.acmepacket.com) used to have a very good PR firm.  I got regular briefings [...]]]>

Anyone who KNOWS me, really knows me, knows that I get annoyed at PR firms.  I thought I had mellowed in my old age and really hadn’t been set off.  Then I get an email today…

SBC leader Acme Packet (www.acmepacket.com) used to have a very good PR firm.  I got regular briefings at trade shows from the product manager(s) when I was writing for VON and the other publications I was associated with, occasionally got quality time with senior level executives who provided further insight into the thinking and personality of the company.

About a year ago, Acme switched PR firms. And suddenly everything just stopped.

No press releases, no regular briefings, na-da.

If memory serves, the last time I had a briefing with Acme was probably a year ago, at Metaswitch Forum.  I met with Acme’s new VP of Marketing, complained that 1) the new PR firm had sent out some generic pitch written by a just-out-of-college “associate” that made it sound like I didn’t know the first thing about Acme and 2) Then stopped sending me press releases at all.

Fast forward to today. I get an email from one of the execs of above-mentioned PR firm who wants to set up a briefing with Acme because a few weeks ago I wrote a story about Metaswitch’s (www.metaswitch.com) Permeta SBC and now wants to have a “conversation.”

And…“We know we haven’t had the opportunity to speak with you in awhile, apologies for that in advance.”

NO, you didn’t CREATE the opportunity, so now you’re starting cold after Acme has done a whole bunch of things to build up the company over the past year. Newsworthy things.  Things that would have been appropriate for at least two of the publications I contribute to.

Acme Packet is no slouch. I would wager they are paying anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 (or more) per month for this PR firm to represent them. So let’s break this down–

1) When new PR first gets the account a year ago, it gets a rookie wage-slave to send out some lame-ass pitch in an email blast, rather than taking 5 minutes to make a list of people who have written about Acme over the past 24 months and then taking a more personal approach. 

I may not love Microsoft, but its PR firm does its homework in spades.  Never would have done a bush-league stunt in the first place.

2) After a month, it becomes clear I’m not getting press release in email. I complain. NOthing happens.

3) Today, I get an email that comes over/occurs because I’ve written a story about Metaswitch’s entry in to the SBC marketplace.

I start writing about potential competitors to Acme and suddenly the PR firm wants to offer a “conversation.”  After a year.

Hmm, in the time since Acme Packet’s PR firm has set up a briefing or sent out a press release NEARLY A YEAR, the company has–

a) Been named by Fortune among the world’s 100 fastest growing public traded companies

b) Added some executives, changed others (Congrats on the promotion Seamus! Your PR firm didn’t tell me…)

c) Racked up all kinds of record revenue and earnings over the past number of quarters

d) Expanded its headquarters

e) Enhanced its platforms to do hardware-based transcoding

f) Adding new high-end-carrier grade platforms…

g….

Seriously, do I have to go on? Acme Packet has obviously done a lot of things since October 2010.

Emailing press releases and making an occasional phone call/inquiry to writers is what PR firms are supposed to do. 

Showing up at my doorstep because I write something about a potential competitor’s entry into the marketplace after a year doesn’t win anyone any points.

*** UPDATE at 2:45 PM ET***

PR is as much about ongoing relationships as it is about news.   I’m not talking about fancy dinners or brown-nosing, I’m talking about a level of comfort and steady involvement/engagement between a PR firm and the media. 

I strongly recommend TMC’s media day on Monday. Briefings starts at noon at the Austin Convention Center; contact TMC to schedule a briefing time.

Location updates during that period will be posted on [...]]]>

I’m going to be running around at IT EXPO West 2011 in Austin, Texas, from September 12 through September 14.

I strongly recommend TMC’s media day on Monday. Briefings starts at noon at the Austin Convention Center; contact TMC to schedule a briefing time.

Location updates during that period will be posted on Twitter at DougonIPComm.

The report surveys 10 companies “to Watch” and compares 16 cloud solutions in a matrix to clarify strengths and weaknesses.

A complete description of the report [...]]]>

Want to know more about SMB video conferencing? Robert Poe has just released a 31 or 32 page report “SMB Video Conferencing: Getting Beyond Clouds & Interoperability.”

The report surveys 10 companies “to Watch” and compares 16 cloud solutions in a matrix to clarify strengths and weaknesses.

A complete description of the report can be found here.  You can get your hands on a copy for $299.