The new way it should be

Turns out I was right (hey, first time for everything, you know?): Supercomm 2004 does rock, as I predicted in my column in this week's print edition of Telephony. (Please forgive the use of the word "rock" as a verb, but my brain is tired from talking and listening and thinking and learning and writing and...other stuff.)

Seriously, though, this show is really all about action and deployment and progress and momentum. Witness the carriers of all sizes announcing major new initiatives in VoIP rollouts and Class 5 cutovers and enterprise services and fiber pushes and even high-speed mobile data. Witness all the technology developers introducing (and selling) softswitches and gateways and software suites and security platforms and access devices and power gear and more and more and more.

I don't mean to overstate it, even though I know I am. Blame the adrenaline, the excitement, the...I don't know...relief? In an interview this afternoon, one CEO even told me he was giddy. He quickly added that he was jet-lagged and that "giddy" might be a touch strong. But happy, optimistic, confident. The way it should be.

If you aren't here (where are you, anyway?), allow me to plug TelephonyOnline as the authoritative site for everything about this show. Our entire editorial staff is on-site, providing a constantly updated live feed of in-depth news and analysis about all the activity I rambled on about above. There's a stream-of-consciousness blog that captures the every thought of our staff. Our own private paparazzi are also all over the show floor, shooting photos of everyone and everything. And if that ain't enough, we're blogging the show's after-hours activity, which mostly chronicles the hilarity that ensues when an overworked, overtired and overserved staff covers a major trade show in its home town.

Read all about it.

E-mail me at jmeyers@primediabusiness.com