JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - December Edition 2023

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Having travelled to nine industry events over nine weeks, I had a broad perspective to share, and our discussion for this episode centered on Big Tech, triggered by the recent rollercoaster with OpenAI. Aside from exploring concerns and implications about Big Tech’s market power, we parsed out the different frames of reference between analog and digital generations about using AI, along with why we should expect some backlash in 2024. Wrapping up, I shared my thoughts on Verint’s analyst event, which will close out my travels for 2023.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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 last month, including my other forms of original content, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – just two events for November:

    • VON Evolution, New York, Nov. 1-2 – including a special edition live recording of our Watch This Space podcast

    • Verint Analyst Days Event, Scottsdale, Nov. 13-15


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for December

Following my recent stretch of travel to nine different events over nine-weeks, I’m happy to report that December will be travel and event-free. Will be a welcome break, not just to catch up on life, but to properly prepare for a wave of new projects and clients, much of which was a nice byproduct from my travels.
Active work to keep watch for:

  • Recorded a 2024 outlook video segment for EM360 – coming soon

  • Writing a 2024 outlook post for No Jitter – coming soon

  • Wrote a 2024 outlook post for Contact Center Pipeline for their January issue

  • Recorded a podcast about telecom fraud – details and date coming soon

  • Recording a video podcast with a leading conversational AI vendor – coming soon

  • Will be doing a live SCTC Fireside Chat episode – 2024 outlook – January 3

  • Ghost-wrote another article for a senior executive at a leading cloud comms provider – will run in a leading business magazine

  • Continued guest posts coming for two clients – Aizan and Upstream Works 

  • Several projects are set to begin with both new and current clients, largely related to networking done at recent industry events

  • My Future of Work Expo 2024 – February 13-15 in Ft. Lauderdale – agenda is now firm, and we’re well along recruiting speakers. If interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?

… there’s a time to work and a time to chill. Going into the last month of 2023, I’ve done my share of work and travel for this year, and expect things to be quieter in December. As you can see from the above, I’ll have plenty of work to keep me busy for 2024, and I’m grateful for that. 

To help close out 2023, if this photo doesn’t put you in a chill mode - with Zen thoughts for a better, calmer 2024 - I don’t know what will. This was taken just outside my room during the Verint analyst event in Scottsdale last month. I think I captured the moment pretty nicely – am sure Cézanne would have been all over this one if he was here now - and it’s one of my best photos from this year. 

Got lots more where that came from – some gets shared on my blog posts, but I try to post more of the fun stuff on Facebook as time allows. If that’s of interest, feel free to connect with me there.



JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - November Edition 2023

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Before getting to Jon’s travelogue of industry events, we reviewed how businesses are still facing challenges getting hybrid work right, and what vendors are doing to make the in-office experience more compelling, especially for meeting spaces. We noted how this theme will be further explored at Jon’s Future of Work Expo in February, where many of the leading vendors will be speaking. From there, Jon recounted highlights from his extensive October travels – UC Expo in London, NICE in Peru, Avaya in Dubai, Cisco Webex One in Anaheim, and SCTC in Raleigh - including a SIPtones gig. Finally, we did a brief mention of Jeff Pulver’s VON Evolution event in NYC, where both of us were speaking, and we did a special edition WTS segment live, on stage.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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 last month, including my other forms of original content, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – this was the most travel-heavy month ever for me, covering four continents:

    • UC Expo, London – Oct. 4-5 – was involved with three different sessions, and did two interviews with the media

    • NICE Analyst Summit, Machu Picchu, Peru, Oct. 10-12

    • GITEX GLOBAL with Avaya, Dubai, UAE – Oct. 16-20

    • SCTC Annual Conference, Raleigh, NC – Oct. 22-24 – I presented, moderated a panel, and did a short music set with the SIPtones

    • Cisco Webex One, Anaheim, CA – Oct. 24-25 – attended as an analyst, but also spoke on a panel session

  • Video interviews/segments:

  • Podcast:

    • Unlocking the Transformative Power of AI for CX, NICE CX Pulse, Oct. 31

  • Guest articles/blog posts:

    • Avaya Rejuvenation – Can They Do It?, EM360, Oct. 30 (accompanied by a set of photos from Dubai on my blog)

    • Setting Realistic Expectations with Contact Center AI, Genesys blog, Oct. 25

    • Tianjin Port – the Leading Edge of 5G, AI and IoT, Silverlinings, Oct. 25 (prefaced by a shorter writeup on my blog, including a video clip of the port operation)

    • Spotlight on Operator Connect, TeamMate blog, Oct. 18

  • Writing Roundup for October – details here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – two citations last month

  • 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 LinkedIn – fyi: have now stopped using Twitter/X - here are some approximate tallies for October:

For LinkedIn

  • I had 63,235 views and 61 posts – by far, the strongest month this year, and similar to October 2022, when this was the highest tally for that year – both due to October being the busiest month of the year for industry events

  • My top LinkedIn post registered 4,493 views 

  • Overall, 8 posts had 2,000+ views, and 21 posts had 1,000+ views 

For Twitter/X

  • I‘ve been indicating for a while that time is running short to keep using X, and that time has now come – from this point on, I’ve stop posting to X, and won’t be reporting any more X stats here


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for November

To a lesser extent, the world tour continues during November, with two events, at which point, I will have traveled to nine different events over a nine-week stretch:

  • VON Evolution, New York, Nov. 1-2 – doing a special edition live recording of our Watch This Space podcast

  • Verint Analyst Event, Scottsdale, Nov. 13-15

Active work to keep watch for:

  • New guest article and white paper coming – sans byline - for a leading cloud provider

  • New white paper about to be published for a leading contact center vendor

  • Continued guest posts coming for three clients – Aizan, Upstream Works and TeamMate

  • Lining up several 2024 outlook interviews and guest commentaries

  • Several projects are set to begin with both new and current clients, largely related to networking done at recent industry events

  • My Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February in Ft. Lauderdale – agenda has firmed up, and news about that is coming. If interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?

…my travels took me all over last month, and it sure seems like a blur now. Here’s a quick taste of where I went, as well as spoke. Many photos have been shared during my travels on LinkedIn, and some others have been in my blog posts. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more of my social/fun photos on Facebook, so you’ll have to connect with me there to see those.
Below: first stop, UC Expo, London - Ask the Analyst session (photo – Dave Michels), view from the Shard

Below: NICE Analyst Summit, Peru – Executive session with Barak Eilam and Barry Cooper, and at the top at Machu Picchu (photo – unknown)

Below: Avaya event at GITEX, Dubai – Executive briefing with analysts, skyline at night

Below: SCTC in Raleigh – my panel session (photo – unknown), and the SIPtones (photo – Fran Blackburn)!

Below: Cisco Webex One in Anaheim – Executive Q&A with analysts, my fireside chat session (photo - Cisco)

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - October Edition 2023

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During September, Chris and I both attended industry events in New York City, and we had lots to talk about. First up was the Cloud Communications Alliance Financial Summit, which I attended for the first time and spoke on the analyst panel session. We discussed how the current state of things – crowded and very competitive – is impacting valuations and growth opportunities. Bottom line – cloud providers need to expand beyond UCaaS into CCaaS and CPaaS, and be ready for what’s coming with AI. Chris recapped two events – CREtech and WORKTECH23, reviewing how today’s office spaces are adapting to bring workers back to the office. This is a key element for anybody’s future of work plans, and Chris also shared first-hand takeaways from tours to Cisco, Google and WestCap’s state-of-the-art facilities. Buckle-up, as we covered a lot of ground in this episode!

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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 last month, including my other forms of original content, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – these were listed out last month as a preview for September, and all but one came to pass. October will be just as busy, with even more travel, and details for that are in the next section. Here’s where September took me with industry events:

    • Canadian Communications Technology Consultants Group (CCTC) Networking Event, Sept. 7, Toronto – I gave a keynote presentation and moderated a panel session – highlights are in a recent blog post

    • Avaya Analyst Roundtable, Sept. 12, Toronto – CEO Alan Masarek had to cancel last minute and couldn’t come to town, so this is being re-scheduled virtually

    • Digital CxO Summit, Sept. 13 – I spoke on a panel (virtual event)

    • Huawei Connect, Sept. 20-22, Shanghai, China – blog post coming, along with a feature article in a leading tech publication

    • Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA) Financial Summit 2023, Sept 26-27, NYC – I spoke on the analyst panel, and highlights are in a recent blog post

  • Profile Feature – USA Today – it’s not everyday I turn up in mainstream media, and maybe this will help broaden my reach:

  • Video interview:

    • The Role of Independent Analysts – I was interviewed by Zak Anderson of Evolve IP, Sept. 15 –details here, and the interview was broken up into several segments on their website

  • Webinar:

    • Where to Invest for Long Term Contact Center Success, hosted by ICMI and sponsored by RingCentral, Sept. 27 

  • Guest article – for Frontier Hub, publish date TBA

  • Ghost-writing – one article in a leading tech pub, written for a top executive with a Tier 1 cloud provider

  • Writing Roundup for September – details here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – three citations last month

  • 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 September:

For LinkedIn

  • I had 23,668 views and 28 posts – this is the 7th month from the past 8 with 20,000+ views

  • My top LinkedIn post registered 4,219 views 

  • Overall, 5 posts had 1,000+ views, and 11 had 600+ views 

For Twitter/X

  • Only 1,380 impressions – just up a tick from last month – as per last month, I think the end is near with me for this platform

  • My “top tweet” was for my recap post from the CCA event, with just 116 impressions - yeow


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for October

In terms of industry events, the world tour continues during October…September was busy with five events – and October is even busier:

  • UC Expo, London – Oct. 4-5 – will be on four different sessions, so I won’t be hard to find

  • NICE Analyst Summit, Machu Picchu, Peru, Oct. 10-12

  • GITEX GLOBAL, Dubai, UAE – Oct. 16-20

  • SCTC Annual Conference, Raleigh, NC – Oct. 22-24 – I’ll be doing a presentation, along with a short music set with the SIPtones! 

  • Cisco WebexOne, Anaheim, CA – Oct. 24-25 – attending as an analyst, but also speaking on a panel session

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Attending and speaking at VON Evolution in NYC, Nov. 1-2 – including a special edition live recording of our Watch This Space podcast

  • Three case studies I have written for a vendor in the Teams ecosystem – in the process of being published now

  • New CX Pulse podcast with NICE – should publish this month

  • New guest blog post coming for a leading contact center vendor

  • New white paper being written now for a leading contact center vendor

  • Writing a guest article for a leading tech pub about my recent China trip, where our group toured a smart port facility – I also have a shorter post coming about this on my blog 

  • Continued guest posts coming for three clients – Aizan, Upstream Works and TeamMate

  • Early-stage planning for my speaking role for Enterprise Connect 2024

  • My Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February in Ft. Lauderdale – agenda has firmed up, and news about that is coming. If interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?

… all this travel planning takes a lot work? It just doesn’t happen on its own, and I don’t have a chatbot assistant to handle the details. Maybe soon, but not yet, so that’s all I got for this section. Next month will be a different story, and I should have some nice photos to share from my stops along the way.

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - September Edition 2023

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This month, our attention pivoted to the world of customer service, which is undergoing unprecedented transformation – and disruption. There are many themes to cover, and here’s the gist of what we talked about on this episode. The same technologies that contact centers have now embraced to better understand the customer journey can also be used to determine which customers are the most valuable, as well as those they’d rather do without. Ineptitude isn’t the only reason customers are driven away by bad service, and we explore how bad service can also be by design. Jon and Chris raise some darker realities of how customer service is evolving, and how transformative technologies like AI can be a double-edged sword, depending on how well business priorities are aligned with trying to be customer-centric.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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 last month, including my other forms of original content, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – just one for August, but it was a good one, as I gave two well-received presentations:

    • Cooperative Technologies Conference and Expo, August 8-9, Myrtle Beach, SC – highlights here on my blog

  • Guest blog post - for Aizan:

    • How AI is Transforming Voice Communications for Business, August 31

  • Guest article - for Contact Center Pipeline: 

  • Another guest article – ran Aug. 1, so you might have missed it earlier:

  • Video segments/interviews:

    • Big UC News – topics: Verizon/Bluejeans, Zoom Phone, WhatsApp, Back to Office Woes, Aug. 30

    • ARMdevices.net – my take on Mobile World Congress Shanghai and 5G trends, published Aug. 18

  • Podcast:

    • AI and the Contact Center, with Tim Shi, CTO, Cresta, Aug. 18 

  • New kudo:

  • Writing Roundup for August – just two pieces to share – hope you can read both - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – three citations last month

  • 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 August:

For LinkedIn

  • I had 32,784 views and 21 posts – views are double from July, mainly due to one particular post, but that’s the highest overall tally by month this year

  • My top LinkedIn post registered 11,237 views – by far, the highest post YTD 

  • Overall, 6 posts had 1,000+ views, and 12 had 700+ views 

For Twitter/X

  • Only 1,143 impressions, and 7 new followers – by far, the lowest monthly tally ever – I think the end is near with me for this platform – I’m not a big social media person, and clearly X and I don’t have much in common any more!

  • My “top tweet” was for my video interview during MWC in Shanghai, with a measly 183 impressions - wow  


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for September

In terms of industry events, September is busy with five events – and October is even busier:

  • Canadian Communications Technology Consultants Group (CCTC) Networking Event, Sept. 7, Toronto – am giving a keynote presentation and moderating a panel session

  • Avaya Analyst Roundtable, Sept. 12, Toronto

  • Digital CxO Summit, Sept. 13 – am speaking on a panel (virtual event)

  • Huawei Connect, Sept. 20-22, Shanghai, China – details coming

  • Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA) Financial Summit 2023, Sept 26-27, NYC – will be speaking on a panel; details coming soon

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Webinar hosted by ICMI – Where to Invest for Long-Term Contact Center Success, am a panelist, Sept. 27 

  • Three case studies I have written for a vendor in the Teams ecosystem – all will be published this month

  • New CX Pulse podcast with NICE – will publish this month

  • Two ghost-written articles that should be published this month

  • Was interviewed on a podcast for a leading cloud provider – publishing any time now

  • Was profiled in an article about digital transformation trends – should run this month in a major US publication

  • New white paper being written now for a leading contact center vendor

  • Writing my first guest post about 5G IoT deployments for an online publication – details coming, and will be doing more writing here

  • Continued guest posts coming for three clients – Aizan, Upstream Works and TeamMate

  • Another white paper that a client has started, and I’ve been engaged to help finish

  • Mapping out my various speaking roles for the UC Expo event in London this October

  • Mapping out a speaking gig at an event for a Top 3 vendor in this space for October

  • Early-stage planning for my speaking role for Enterprise Connect 2024

  • My Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February in Ft. Lauderdale – firming up the agenda now, and then I’ll be reaching out to start lining up my speakers – if interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?
… I have a new mascot? Vendors send me lots of stuff, and many of these goodies make for fun mascots. As you can from above, it’s crazy busy already for the fall, and new things just keep coming my way. Some of them don’t make it to the newsletter, but am very glad you’re following along with me here. So, to counter all that busy-ness, it’s good to power down and keep things real simple, especially with the summer weather still here.
What could be simpler and calming – not to mention super soft and soooo cute – than this guy/gal? Yup – an alpaca from NICE – the vendor, not the city in France! They treat the analyst community really well – yeah, nice – last year they took us to Marrakesh, and this fall we’re going to Machu Pichu, Peru for their 2023 Analyst Summit. Wow, huh? Updates to follow on this fantastic event, but for now, how can this not put you in a good mood, and chill out a bit before all the craziness starts again after Labor Day.

Oh – for those who pay attention – bonus points if you know what the alpaca is standing on? There’s a clue in the para above.  

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - August Edition 2023

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We usually cover multiple topics on WTS, but my recent trip to China was so fascinating – and touched on so many tangents – that we didn’t talk about anything else. The main topic was my experience at the Mobile World Congress event in Shanghai, with some sidebars to my broader impressions of going to China for the first time. Technology-wise, 5G is the big story here, and not many Westerners have seen what I got see, so if you want to know what’s coming in the wireless world, this is the episode for you.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all of our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – it took some time to recover from China, and I was not the least bit road sick to have a travel-free July – plus plenty of events on the books for early fall

  • Guest blog posts - 2 for TeamMate:

    • Helping Customers Migrate to Teams Without Compromising on Telephony, July 18

    • Discover the Key Differences Between MS Teams and MS Phone System, July 11

  • Guest article: 

    • submitted a new writeup for Contact Center Pipeline, which will run in the September issue

  • Webinar:

    • NICE Talks – How AI is driving CX, with Lauren Maschio, July 20 

  • Judging – I got to announce the winner for Collaboration Leader of the Year for the UC Awards 2023 event on July 27 – Alan Masarek, CEO of Avaya

  • Writing Roundup for July – summarized here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – three citations last month – apologies, the link to view these as a group has a glitch, and will have this fixed for next issue – however, citations can be viewed individually at the bottom of the home page on my website

  • 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 July:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 16,720 views and 23 posts – views and activity are well down from June, mainly due to my China trip, where most social media was blocked

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 1,570 views, and overall, 4 posts had 1,000+ views, and 10 had 700+ views 

    • For Twitter – there were 1,918 impressions, 211 profile visits, 25 mentions, 10 tweets and 4 fewer followers – very low numbers - same story as with LinkedIn, plus the overall drop-off in general for anyone using X - nee Twitter – with the new name and crazy rules, I expect that trend will only continue

    • My “top tweet” for my writeup about the Avaya ENGAGE event with 441 impressions 


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for August

In terms of industry events, just one for August:

  • Cooperative Technologies Conference and Expo, August 8-9, Myrtle Beach, SC – am speaking on two sessions:

    • Future of Work – What’s AI Got to Do with It? – solo presentation

    • Let’s Ask ChatGPT! – interactive demo with Generative AI platforms

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Guest article about the MWC Shanghai event for RCR Wireless

  • Three case studies in the works for a vendor in the Teams ecosystem

  • Two guest posts already written, and coming for August – each for different clients

  • Two more guest posts to be written for August with a leading UCaaS player

  • Being interviewed on a podcast for a leading cloud provider

  • New white paper and podcast in the works now for a leading contact center vendor

  • Mapping out my various speaking roles for the UC Expo event in London this October

  • Firming up details for two speaking gigs at industry events in the early fall

  • Two more speaking spots in place now – SCTC annual conference in Raleigh, and the CCTC annual event in Toronto

  • Early-stage planning for my speaking role for Enterprise Connect 2024

  • My Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February in Ft. Lauderdale – firming up the agenda now, and then I’ll be reaching out to start lining up my speakers – if interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?
… Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) remains a giant in the world of technology innovation, and his contributions are still very much with us in 2023. I got first-hand evidence of this over the past few weeks - going from East to West - and you’ll be hard-pressed to come across this many far-flung connections in one place, and I have the photos to prove it. Here you go…

From East to West – first, at Huawei’s HQ in Shenzhen, China. During one of our campus tours, they had a rotating photo gallery of Western scientists and inventors who paved the way for modern communications, including of course, AGB. Now shifting West, during last week’s vacation to Nova Scotia, we did a pilgrimage to the AGB museum in Baddeck, which is a pretty coastal town on Cape Breton Island. This was Bell’s summer home, where he did a lot of great work – and telephony was just one of his many passions. You really need to visit to get a full appreciation of just how much he accomplished, and why I would take his legacy over Edison’s any day – and that’s not an easy thing to say. If you do visit, it’s worth noting that his summer home is still standing – but not on the site of the museum – and he’s buried there as well.

And now for something in between, and two telephony artifacts from that era that could still function very well in 2023. First, a very cool party line phone that was part of the décor at a Victorian-era guest house we stayed at in rural Nova Scotia. If you don’t know what a party line was, then that will be your homework for the next issue, and am happy to talk that over with you any time. Especially notable is how the front panel opens up, where you can see a rotary dial, along with all the mechanicals that made it work – I’ve never seen this variation of a party phone before – wow – was just lucky to stay in a place that was full of stuff like this. Next photo – also from the AGB museum – a vintage switchboard – looks good as new. VoIP and packet switched networks made this obsolete a long time ago, so it’s hard to appreciate now just how much ingenuity went into making phone service nearly universal.


JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - July Edition 2023

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While we intended to discuss a few current topics, our current episode ended up being mostly about June’s Avaya ENGAGE event. Given how interesting Avaya’s situation has become – what I now call Act III – our discussion also reflected on the broader state of technology, and how the pervasiveness of Big Tech should be of concern to all of us. Whether you want to see Avaya succeed or fail, I think you’ll find our take of interest, especially if you’re in the former camp.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all of our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – two events last month, and both were notable:

    • Avaya Engage, June 19-21, Orlando, FL

    • Mobile World Congress Asia, June 27-29, Shanghai, China

  • Guest blog post:

    • Raising the Bar for A2P Messaging, Aizan blog

  • Podcasts: 

    • Telecom Reseller – Enreach White Paper, June 21

    • EM360 – Talking Generative AI with Cresta’s CMO, June 1

  • White Paper:

    • Enreach – Converged Contact – Going Beyond Mobile UCaaS to Give Businesses a Competitive Edge

  • Judging – completed judging for the UC Awards 2023 – winners to be announced during the awards event on July 27

  • Writing Roundup for June – summarized here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – two citations last month

  • 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 June:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 24,510 views and 22 posts – up about 20% from May

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 2,303 views, and overall, 7 posts had 1,000+ views, and 13 had 700+ views 

    • For Twitter – there were 7,973 impressions, 598 profile visits, 31 mentions, 16 tweets and 6 fewer followers – as with May, another light month due to travel, but numbers were notably higher

    • My “top tweet” was about the Avaya ENGAGE event with 1,640 impressions, and 5 posts overall with 500+ impressions 

  • SIPtones update – have finally managed to add two recent video clips, both from our 2021 show in San Diego – Heard it Through the Grapevine (Gladys Knight version!) and a more polished version of Oye Como Va, one of my favorites. Others will be added in time for the August newsletter, both from the 2021 show, and our most recent gig in Dallas from October 2022 – hope you check these out!


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for July

For a change, no industry events or travel, and I’m not the least bit disappointed!
Active work to keep watch for:

  • My takeaways from the MWC event I just attended in Shanghai

  • Video interview I did with a tech blogger during my China trip

  • Second podcast segment coming for a contact center vendor about Generative AI

  • Four guest posts coming – one about AI-driven voice applications, two about integrating telephony with Teams, and one about how AI is impacting the contact center

  • Webinar on the role of AI in transforming customer experience for a leading CCaaS provider on July 20 – registration details coming soon

  • Interview to preview my session and what’s coming for UCX USA in September

  • Prep for my presenting role as a judge for the 2023 UC Awards on July 27

  • Prep for two sessions I’m speaking on at an August event in the Smart Grid space about Generative AI

  • Prep for my next guest article for Contact Center Pipeline

  • Prep call to plan out my speaking role for Enterprise Connect 2024

  • In discussion with a handful of vendors and agencies about new projects

  • Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February seems far away, but am already in planning mode – if interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?

…they have Five Guys in China? Who knew? Well, they have a whole lot more than that of course, and being my first trip to Asia, I took a whole lot of photos. Am just going to tease you here with some, and I’ll be sharing others in various places soon.
So, Five Guys is alright, but I didn’t come to China for burgers. If you know me, then you’ll know that I’ll take the local food any day…

At Mobile World Congress in Shanghai – busy place and barely got through one of the five exhibit halls. Here’s a great demo from the Huawei exhibit – 3D video on a PC screen – without any 3D glasses. Can’t do it justice here, but very impressive.

As with all big cities, incredible contrasts, and the same can be said for what Iittle of China I saw. View from a Shanghai river boat - most spectacular skyline I’ve ever seen, and a humbler – but guarded - gateway entrance to an apartment courtyard near my hotel.

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - June Edition 2023

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Our May episode started with my takeaways from Five9’s analyst event in Porto, Portugal, with a parallel discussion about how they’re using AI to transform customer service, along with how broader generational changes are increasingly AI and tech-centric. Our analog lens pre-dates these changes, and we explored how digital transformation is taking automation to new levels. We don’t know where it’s heading, but there’s a big difference between automating tasks and processes and automating thought and emotion. The singularity could be closer than Kurzweil predicted – 2045 – and we left off with the robotics of the mind for our listeners to ponder.

  • For those of you who don’t subscribe to our podcast directly from a commercial platform – you can access it anytime here on the new Watch This Space website. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all of our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – only one May, but it sure made for a great trip:

    • Five9 Analyst Summit, May 8-10, Porto, Portugal

  • Guest blog post:

    • How to Manage Telecom Fraud, Contact Center Pipeline, May issue

  • Podcasts: 

    • Cresta – Generative AI in the Contact Center, hosted by EM360

    • NICE – Improving Fraud Detection Through Training and AI

  • White Paper:

    • Aizan – Re-Thinking the On-Hold Experience

  • Webinar:

    • Mapping Out Your Business Case for a Successful Digital Transformation, hosted by RCR Wireless

  • Judging – returning to be a judge for the UC Awards 2023

  • Kudo – Top 16 UCaaS Influencers to Follow in 2023, 8x8

  • Writing Roundup for May – summarized here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – two citations last month

  • 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 May:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 20,286 views and 21 posts – lighter from recent months, mainly due to higher-than-normal personal travel that kept me off social media

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 1,993 views, and overall, 4 posts had 1,000+ views, and 12 had 700+ views 

    • For Twitter – there were 4,703 impressions, 171 profile visits, 38 mentions, 9 tweets and 5 fewer followers – another light month, and as Elon Musk continues to tinker with the platform, its utility becomes more problematic

    • My “top tweet” was about a new podcast with NICE, with 1,757 impressions 


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for June

Only one industry event at the moment, but two others are still in the works:

  • Avaya Engage, June 19-21, Orlando, FL

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Recording a second podcast segment for a contact center vendor about Generative AI

  • Three guest posts coming – one about AI, one about Generative AI, and one for the contact center space

  • New white paper publishing this month – in the collaboration space for an EU provider

  • In discussion with a handful of vendors and agencies about new projects, some of which could be starting this month 

  • Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February seems far away, but am already in planning mode – if interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch


Hey, Did You Know?
…Even though I had just one industry event, it was a pretty good month for travel. Three trips across successive weeks, with two being to Europe – that was a first for me. From Porto to the Palace, I got a taste of Portugal and the UK. 

If you follow my social feeds, you’ll know I was at the Five9 Analyst and Influencer Summit in Porto; and if you follow me on Facebook, I’ve posted a bunch of photos there from that trip with my partner, Sara. In lieu of that, here are some snippets from those travels.

From Porto – very Porto with that skyline and tile roofs everywhere, bunny house (?), Five9’s Jonathan Rosenberg giving a great overview of ChatGPT, and how this is not about chatbots.

From London – road to the Palace, what’s more British than a British Telecom phone box?, and highlight of the trip – finale from the Jeff Beck tribute concert at Royal Albert Hall – bet you’ll never see this collection of legends onstage together again - wow.



JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - May Edition 2023

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Our May episode took us to Boston and New York, where I recounted takeaways from Extreme Networks’ analyst event, and Chris did the same for Jeff Pulver’s VON reboot. Framing those highlights was a broader discussion about where AI is taking us, and what the new generation of tech entrepreneurs is bringing to a space where events like VON played a formative role. I also provided a reality check about how tech is driving today’s fan experience, and it has very little to do with watching the ballgame.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all of our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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, along with my social media stats. More detail and links for most of these activities can be found on my blog or posted on the website.

  • Industry conferences – just one for April: 

    • Extreme Networks, 2023 Influencer Summit, April 4-5, Boston

  • Guest blog posts – two for last month:

  • Podcast – Enterprise Connect Takeaways, Telecom Reseller Podcast

  • Webinars – busy month, with four:

    • CCSC – State of Play in the Contact Center

    • NICE – AI Building Blocks for Delivering Exceptional CX, with John Willcutts

    • SCTC – Fireside Chat #144 – Enterprise Connect Takeaways (replays only for SCTC members)

    • SCTC – Fireside Chat #146 – AI – Why All the Buzz?

  • Video segments – four more here as well:

    • NICE – LinkedIn Live – How AI Has Changed the CX Landscape

    • ZKast – Enterprise Connect Review, with Zeus Kerravala

    • Big UC News – Microsoft Teams, Enterprise Connect Announcements 

    • UCX USA – How to Keep Your Customers and Employees Happy in 2023

  • Writing Roundup for April – summarized here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – just one citation last month

  • 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 April:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 28,350 views and 27 posts – third month running with 25k+ views

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 1,586 views, and overall, 8 posts had 1,000+ views, and 16 had 600+ views 

    • For Twitter – there were 3,300 impressions, 678 profile visits, 63 mentions, 21 tweets and 6 fewer followers – gotta take the good with the bad, and being a light month for using this app, the metrics show it

    • My “top tweet” was about a ChatGPT webinar with NICE, with 712 impressions 


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for May

Only one industry event at the moment for May:

  • Five9 Analyst Summit, May 8-10, Porto, Portugal

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Recording two podcast segments for a contact center vendor about Generative AI

  • Three guest posts coming – one about AI, one about Generative AI, and one for the contact center space

  • News posts coming both for No Jitter and TechTarget

  • Ongoing series of ghost-written posts for a contact center vendor

  • Two white papers that should publish this month – one in the contact center space, and one for mobility

  • Future of Work Expo 2024 – next February seems far away, but am already in planning mode – if interested in speaking on a panel or helping develop a topic for us to explore, please get in touch

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - April Edition 2023

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With in-person conferences back in full swing, the April episode served as a roundup of recent and upcoming events on our calendars, namely 8x8, Enterprise Connect, VON Evolution and HPE Aruba. Plenty to review and preview, but we also broadened our discussion around the current state of enterprise communications. In particular, we talked about what’s missing to make meetings feel more immersive, as well as inclusive. We even went out on a limb to talk about how collaboration vendors can borrow from the retail world to build their brands and showcase how great their experiences can be. Plenty of food for thought, and we hope you’ll check out the April episode.

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all of our podcasts here on my JAA website. 


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

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, along with my social media stats. More detail for most of these activities can be found on my blog.

  • Industry conferences – just two for March, but Enterprise Connect is the biggest industry event in my world, requiring a lot of preparation, and now being in the rear-view mirror, quite a bit of follow up for new business

    • 8x8 Analyst Day, March 10, NYC

    • Enterprise Connect, March 27-30, Orlando, FL

  • LinkedIn Live event – March 23 with NICE, in conversation with Elizabeth Tobey about the growing role of AI in the contact center

  • Webinar recording – recorded a session with NICE – part of a four-segment series that will be presented over the next few weeks

  • Video chats – two to share:

    • Genesys – State of CX interview done during Enterprise Connect

    • Big UC News segment – March 3 – Avaya Ch. 11, Zoho, and the state of Webex

  • Video segment – this was fun – March 9 – live recording, am interviewed by colleague Dave Michels for his video series Influence Me! – see Did You Know? section below for more detail and how to watch it

  • Podcasts – recorded two segments:

    • Telecom Reseller News – was a guest on Doug Green’s podcast, recorded at Enterprise Connect

    • New episode for NICE’s CX Pulse podcast series – coming soon!

  • New kudo – from 8x8 – 16 CCaaS Influencers to Follow on Twitter

  • Writing Roundup for March – just 2 public writeups last month, summarized here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – no citations last month, but April will be a different story 

  • 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 March:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 31,091 views and 34 posts – up somewhat from previous month, and strongest stats since November

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 2,972 views and overall, 7 posts had 1,000+ views, and 14 had 800+ views 

    • For Twitter – there were 6,945 impressions, 685 profile visits, 78 mentions, 34 tweets and 9 new followers – down overall from previous month – no idea why

    • My “top tweet” was about SCTC speakers who will be at Enterprise Connect, with 541 impressions


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for April

Only one industry event on the calendar for this month, and it’s a new one for me:

  • Extreme Networks, 2023 Influencer Summit, April 4-5, Boston

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Video interview guest on another episode of Big UC News – Enterprise Connect highlights

  • Webinar coming for an industry association, where I’ll be providing a CCaaS overview

  • Guest post is coming for a leading publication in the channel space

  • Guest post coming on the blog site of a leading UCaaS player

  • Guest post coming for a leading publication in the enterprise comms space

  • Executive Q&A interview coming for a leading Future of Work publication

  • Contact Center Pipeline – new guest article coming

  • Two white papers that should publish during April – one in the contact center space, and one for mobility


Hey, Did You Know?

…Dave Michels says I’m “one of the funniest people I know”, so it must be true.

We’ve both been indie analysts for a long time, and Influence Me! is one of Dave’s video interview series, and this one is on the fun side, where he interviews his guests about what makes them tick, and what’s cool to know about our lives outside of tech. 

While at the 8x8 analyst event last month, we recorded this on the fly, so it’s literally Live-From-New-York, via the free WiFi at a Starbucks spot on Broadway. This segment was episode 5 in his series, and it was a lot of fun. We sure could have gone on for hours, and maybe we’ll do it again soon. So many stories, so little time; but hey, now you’ll get to know a whole lot more about me. Chances are you won’t know any of these things, and who knows where things can go from here? Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for having me as a guest, Dave! Click here to watch. 




JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - March Edition 2023

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Our last WTS episode was a Future of Work Expo Preview, and this one is about the FOW Expo Review. Over 3 days, we had 18 sessions, dozens of speakers, and a very engaged audience – to find out what you missed, this is the podcast for you. Chris and I discuss the highlights, and if you weren’t there, we hope this gets the event on your calendar for next February. For more about the event, including photos and press coverage, please visit my blog. 

  • 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. Otherwise, the easiest platforms and sources to find WTS are Apple Podcasts, Google Chrome/Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. Believe it or not, we’re also getting found on LinkedIn, Safari, and Alexa-enabled devices. For a more extensive replay archive, you can access all of our podcasts here on my JAA website.


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

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, along with my social media stats. More detail for most of these activities can be found on my blog.

  • Industry conferences – was just my Future of Work Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, Feb. 14-16 – the event was a success on many fronts, and my recent blog posts show and tell most of the story – hope you check those out, and feel free to share

  • White paper – for NICE, The Business Value of AI Beyond the Contact Center

  • Guest articles – three from last month – see blog for details:

    • Ooma – on their blog – 2023 Outlook for the Business Market: Taking Care of Business

    • Ooma – sponsored post on No Jitter – Managing Communications to Address Operating Challenges in 2023

    • TekVizion – Why Service Providers Need Continuous Testing to Support Microsoft Teams

  • Webinar – Feb. 28, with SkySwitch, hosted by Channel Futures – How to Boost Your Business with White Label UCaaS

  • Video chats – two last month:

    • Big CX News – Feb. 1 – AWS, Avaya and ChatGPT

    • Big UC News segment – recorded Feb. 24, but not published yet

  • Video segment – I recorded some segments for UCX USA, and these will surface over the next few weeks

  • Writing Roundup for February – 5 public writeups last month, summarized here - it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter, Channel Futures, Contact Center Pipeline and BC Strategies

  • Media citings – had 4 citations last month from a variety of media outlets

  • 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 February:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 26,7891 views and 29 posts – up substantially from previous month, mostly due to activity during Future of Work Expo

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 2,313 views and overall, 10 posts had 1,000+ views

    • For Twitter – there were 9,736 impressions, 807 profile visits, 122 mentions, 23 tweets and 5 new followers – up substantially from previous month, due also to activity during Future of Work Expo

    • My “top tweet” was during FOW Expo, with 1,654 impressions 


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for March

At the moment, there are 3 industry events on the calendar for this month:

  • 8x8 Analyst Day, March 20, NYC

  • AudioCodes Analyst Day, March 16, virtual

  • Enterprise Connect, March 27-30, Orlando, FL

Active work to keep watch for:

  • Contact Center Pipeline – working on a new guest article

  • NICE – a new CX Pulse podcast episode is in the works

  • Guest post is coming for a leading tech publication

  • Starting a new series of guest articles for both a well-known UCaaS player, as well as a leading cloud services provider

  • Two white papers finishing up – one in the contact center space, and one for mobility

  • Will be a guest on an episode of a fun video series – stay tuned 

Hey, Did You Know?

… You can save $400 on your registration fee to attend Enterprise Connect later this month? If you or anyone you know can use this towards making some plans to go, feel free to apply the discount code in the visual below. While at the event, I sure hope you attend my session, running Wednesday, March 29 at 4pm. We’ll be talking about the state of AI-driven speech tech for the enterprise, and joining me will be speakers from Zoom, Dialpad and LumenVox.

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - February Edition 2023

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Our February WTS episode is titled “Future of Work Expo Preview, and Highlights from the Leesman Powering Hybrid Work 2023 Study”.  I’m returning as Chair for Future of Work Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, and Chris will be active there too, so with the event fast-approaching, we started this episode with a preview of what to expect, and for those who can join us, you won’t be disappointed. Following that, Chris walked us through five key themes from this new global study, co-produced by Aruba Networks and Leesman. Never a dull moment, and the research confirms many foundational notions that business leaders need to base decisions on for supporting hybrid work.


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

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. More detail for most of these activities can be found on my blog.

  • Industry conference roundup – thankfully, a much-needed break from travel, and with many new projects on the go now, I had plenty to keep me busy from the comforts of my home office

  • Webinars – did two last month:

    • an IR webinar as part of BCStrategies on Jan. 12, 2023 Crystal Ball for Collaboration

    • a NICEtalk webinar on Jan. 26, highlighting a recent white paper I did for them

  • Video chats – two of these ran during January:

    • for UC Today, Biggest UC Trends for 2023, recorded in December, but posted early January

    • return guest on Bix CX News on Jan. 26, talking about Avaya, AWS and Chat GPT

  • Video segment – pre-recorded some segments for UCX USA, and these will surface over the next few weeks

  • New kudo – was named a 2023 Top 100 Collaboration Influencer by UCX USA

  • Here’s my Writing Roundup post for January – it’s a monthly digest of my thought leadership across various channels, including Tech Target, No Jitter and BC Strategies – just one public post this month, so pretty light at the moment on that front

  • Media citings – was a busy month, with 6 citations from a variety of media outlets

  • 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 January:

    • For LinkedIn – I had 16,731 views and 25 posts – up slightly from December, but lower than previous months, likely due to not going to any industry events

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 1,444 views and overall, 7 posts had 700+ views

    • For Twitter – there were 4,135 impressions, 292 profile visits, 22 mentions, 12 tweets and 9 new followers – similar to December, and these lighter numbers reflect my generally declining Twitter usage

    • My “top tweet” was for my upcoming webinar with NICE, with 541 impressions 


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for February

  • Main event for me will be Future of Work Expo, Feb.14-16, 2023 – agenda published now – the program is pretty much complete, and just learned that our sessions will now be running in a larger room – that’s great news, as last time, the room was full most all the time 

  • Running an event is WAY more work than attending one, and the intensity of preparing for FOW Expo pays off when the speakers do their thing, along with having an engaged audience – then, not long after that, I need to shift focus to Enterprise Connect, where I’m running a panel session on speech tech, and am one of the judges for the Innovation Showcase, hosted by colleague Dave Michels

  • Judging – Talkdesk CX Innovator Awards – I was one of five judges, and our evaluations were done a few months ago - and the results are being shared during this webinar on February 1

  • Regarding active client and industry work, all I’m going to say here is that in addition to ongoing work with some regular clients, a number of new projects have started up with new clients, and inquiries from companies looking to see how we can work together have been coming in on a regular basis.

JAA’s Communications and Collaboration - January Edition 2023

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Season 6 of Watch This Space kicks off 2023 with an episode titled “Our 2023 Outlook – High Hopes for AI, But We Think Analog Tech is Still Cool – Plus Future of Work Expo Preview”. As we usually do at this time of year, Chris and I provide our take on what to expect in 2023. We haven’t had this much economic uncertainty in many years, making our outlook more about survive than thrive, but also with a sense of promise for AI. For fellow analog lovers, Chris shares a treat, the NY subway “traintrackr”; and a preview for my Future of Work Expo, running Feb. 14-16 – more on that in this newsletter.


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. More detail for most of these activities can be found on my blog.

  • Industry conference roundup – just one event, where I was a moderator:

    • Internet 2.0 Conference, December 19-21, Las Vegas 

  • Speaking events – I spoke/presented virtually three times last month: 

    • Five9’s CX Canada Summit - on cloud migration strategies for contact centers

    • SCTC Fireside Chat – I’ve Been Everywhere, Man! – takeaways from my recent run of travel to various industry events

    • Big CX News – Episode 3 – roundtable review of recent industry news items along with other analysts – talking about RingCentral, AWS and Salesforce

  • 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 – just one public post this month, but more will be coming for January – if you’ve ever wondered why telecom fraud is so problematic, you’ll find my post a good read

  • Media citings – I had 3 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 15,958 views and 16 posts – big drop-off from recent months – not sure why – but also had half the number of posts last month compared to the last few months

    • My top LinkedIn post registered 2,011 views and overall, 7 posts had 900+ views

    • For Twitter – there were 4,062 impressions, 523 profile visits, 128 mentions, 17 tweets and 6 fewer followers – much lower than November, and these numbers have generally been trending downward most all year, and likely reflects broader trends for declining Twitter usage

    • My “top tweet” was during the Five9 CX Canada Summit, with 1,285 impressions 


What's Coming? JAA Outlook for January

  • No industry events this month to kick off 2023, but two are on tap for February, and a third one possibly being added

  • Two upcoming podcasts/interviews in January

    • IR webinar – Crystal Ball for 2023 trends

    • Clarion Events Tech Tuesday – expert discussion – topic TBA

  • Future of Work Expo, Feb.14-16, 2023 – agenda published now – am full-on in speaker recruitment mode now – contact me if you think there’s a session here you/your company should be on, as well as any interest in sponsoring 

  • In terms of active client and industry work, here are some current highlights:

    • Two white papers - one being finished up, and one due to launch soon

    • Another webinar being scheduled for a system integrator on cloud migration

    • Continued guest posts and podcasts coming for different vendors in the CCaaS space

    • Guest post coming for a vendor in the testing space

    • Ongoing research for a series of articles coming for a VoIP services start-up 


Hey Did You Know....

2022 was my strongest year to date, and 2023 looks to be just as promising. To provide readers with a sense for how this adds up to reflect all the various things I do, below is my annual “by the numbers” tally. First for my social media metrics, trending monthly for LinkedIn and Twitter. Following that is a breakdown of the things that kept me busy during 2022.

Social Media Footprint – 2022 By the Numbers

Diverging trends between Twitter and LinkedIn compared to 2021 – Twitter impressions are now less than half what they were a year ago, while LinkedIn views are up 58%. Even before Elon Musk came into the picture, my sense is that Twitter use has been declining for some time, at least in our space, so on that basis, I’m not surprised at the drop in impressions here.

Interestingly, if you tally these two data sets – the combined gross number is almost the same as 2021. Whereas last year, my total tallies for Twitter and LinkedIn were very close (actually a tad more for Twitter), for 2022, LinkedIn is now more than 3X that of Twitter. Keep in mind that I’m equating impressions and views at face value, and that’s probably not a valid comparison. I’m not expert enough in social media to say if one is more valuable than the other, but for what drives my business, I put much more stock my LinkedIn traffic than Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, I’m not 100% certain I’ll stay on the platform through 2023. I’m not optimistic about where Musk seems to be taking things, but I also don’t have the inclination to cut bait yet and migrate to a new platform like Mastodon, as some of my colleagues have started doing. I’ll give it a few more months, and if things go from bad to worse, I might be done with Twitter.

Thought Leadership and Business Activity – 2022 By the Numbers

  •  7 new clients (not including new work from existing clients)

  • 28 conferences/industry events – mostly live, 10 involved   speaking and/or moderating

  • 50 published articles/guest posts/ghost written

  • 89 posts on my JAA blog

  • 17 podcasts (including Watch This Space for this newsletter)

  • 11 webinars/video segments

  •   5 white papers/e-books

  • 12 editions of this newsletter 

  • 35 JAA citings in the media

  •   6 new industry accolades    

  •   1 event serving as a judge 

  •   1 SIPtones gig