INNOVATION VACATION

What now? Typically at this time of year, new product trials get delayed as project managers pack up their campers and head for their local version of Lake Wobegon. Operations centers run with skeleton crews as technicians begin their two-week honey-dos, and the deuce-levels and above open up their summer homes. Progress takes a vacation. But after two years of stumbling to find its way, can telecom afford to lose the small burst of momentum it found over the last two months for some silly vacation time? Can it spare the big breather? Time off for a job well done? Sure it can. Telecom won't get hurt by the typical summer slowdown this year, but the golf courses might. Discretionary spending, the second cousin to capex and opex, is living up to its name. Yes, times they have a-changed. Former colleagues reminisced earlier this month at Supercomm about that Motorola outing at Medinah, the sweltering heat at that Lucent outing in Florida, the best ball tourney in Denver. They made a toast to the good ol' days and tried to recall which company all those account execs were with now. They talked about resurrecting the Tuesday twilight league, but knew it wouldn't happen. Then they set down their glasses and brushed them aside as they began drawing on napkins and arguing about the best way to manage the router upgrade planned for the Fourth of July weekend. And all was as it should be.