WHAT'S COOL

There is a place in Chicago called the Rockit Bar & Grill, operated by Billy Dec, a so-called “nightlife impresario.” Billy, besides being so cool that he can get away with having a little boy's name, allegedly is dating Jen Shefft, late of “The Bachelorette” (and “The Bachelor,” right? And “Survivor: Des Moines” and “Extreme Pet Makeovers”). So he's got that going for him, too.

Because everyone wants to hang with the cool kids, Rockit tends to be a pretty popular place. Apparently, the folks at the U.S. Telecom Association and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions have heard about it, because that is where they are mounting a party this week during Supercomm 2005 to promote TelecomNEXT, the trade show scheduled for next March in Las Vegas and the USTA's “next” move after the end of its five-year partnership with the Telecommunications Industry Association to produce Supercomm.

So, does the choice of venue say anything about whether or not TelecomNEXT is going to become the new, cool, must-attend trade show for the telecom industry? Well, it shows that the USTA and ATIS are trying. Even the choice of name for the event — though it's a blatant attempt at “nextiness”(defined by Webster's as “the usage of the word ‘next’ in a blatant attempt at ‘nextiness,”) — is appropriate and, when enunciated, produces the satisfying, mouth-pleasing sensation of alluding to the future.

In the opposite corner, there's Globalcomm, the TIA's answer to Supercomm — a name that, for better or worse, is headed to the trade show marketing graveyard, where it will reside in a shallow plot between the Personal Communications Showcase and NCF/Infovision. (Remember when it seemed like everyone who attended NCF/Infovision received a product achievement award? Mine is on my mantle next to my copy of “Engineering and Science in the Bell System.” Yes, I do need a “Queer Eye” intervention.)

Globalcomm isn't a bad name, encompassing the entire world as it does. Globalcomm also will be better choice next year for those of us low on brain cells — because it's the same time and place (June in Chicago) as the last two Supercomms, it will be that much easier to plan for and remember.

It may be too early to decide which will be the better event to attend next year. However, it isn't too early to decide which event has the better promotional Web site, and here, TelecomNEXT proves again that somebody knows what's cool. It has an aqua blue background, an interesting logo, photos and quotes from all the heavyweights scheduled and a photo of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center (to get you to think about all the things that will stay in Vegas). Globalcomm's Web site has a baby blue background. Ick. And when you click on the “Globalcomm Buzz” link, there's nothing listed. 'Nuff said?