ISPs IN THE BUNKER

The malaise coating everything these days was readily evident at last week's ISPCon event in Las Vegas. The exhibit floor was a shadow of what it once was. Booths were thinly manned, but that didn't matter because attendees weren't queuing up anyway. Despair infected everything. The telecom industry is on that clichéd slippery slope and can't stop sliding, and national angst about terrorism and war only salts the wounds. But industry events are supposed to showcase hope, not encourage self-flagellation. The tone was set from the first day's keynote address. Dan Smith, president and CEO of Sycamore Networks, canceled. He was replaced by David Miln Smith, a thrill-seeking adventurer and author who knows more about bites than bytes. Smith tried to rally a subdued audience by pronouncing that “everyone in this room is a risk-taker” for showing up in today's travel-phobic atmosphere. Telecom, he said, is in “a state of fear — almost.” But he offered hope: “I believe we're at our very best when we're pushed up against our limits.” ISPs and the rest of the telecom industry have been pushed against — and, in some cases, beyond — their limits. It's time to push back. It's time for some mania to counterbalance the depression. ISPCon's bunker mentality last week was no indication that event is ready to start — so maybe, for ISPCon, it's time to end.