The IMCCA, a leading voice for the UCC industry for more than 20 years, just wrapped up its Collaboration Week Silicon Valley event. From October 28–30, industry professionals and end users attended events at Intuit, Poly, and AWS, as well as joining the industry in honoring Bob Hagerty with a lifetime achievement award at a gala dinner celebration.
[3 Takeaways from NY Collaboration Week’s Kickoff Event]
Highlights of the presenters and topics included:
The IMCCA’s / Poly’s David Danto provided a state of the UC&C industry overview of the hot topics that would be discussed at the event. These included the battle lines between various providers, the team chat hypestorm, interoperability, security, and the new look of the office.
Intuit’s Peter Kolak explained to those gathered how he goes about setting standards for rooms and systems.
Pexip’s Karl Hantho and BlueJeans Robb Woods gave an overview on the state of interoperability and how users can approach that problem in the future.
Dr. S. Ann Earon detailed the war for users’ mindshare, and compared many of the biggest industry platforms talking points and cautions.
Nemertes’ Irwin Lazar explained how UC metrics are evolving from CDR to measuring business value.
Talking Pointz’ Dave Michels explained how “Video is now the cheese on the pizza” as our industry has changed into a video-first posture.
AVNation-TV’s Josh Srago presented an eye-opening series of observations and warnings on security, malware, and protecting AV and collaboration ecosystems.
Shen, Milsom & Wilke’s Mark Peterson detailed how remote workers and societal transformations are changing how offices are designed and built.
AWS’ Sam Chon and Jennie Tietema laid out Amazon’s view of collaboration and the future of UC systems.
Additionally, at a Tuesday evening Gala dinner, industry icon Bob Hagerty was presented with The IMCCA’s Emerging Technology Fellow, Lifetime Achievement Award. Bob was surrounded by many industry peers that he has influenced over his illustrious career.
“Our Collaboration Week events are an important industry initiative that offers the opportunity for organizations and other interested parties to learn more about our industry and how the technology is being used to craft intelligent and cost-efficient UC and collaborative solutions,” said Carol Zelkin, executive director, IMCCA. “We were honored to facilitate important and educational discussions and dialog among industry participants, and we’re looking forward to doing it all again early next year in New York.”
David Danto, Poly’s director of strategy and research and The IMCCA’s director of emerging technology was the event chair. He said that “it was an honor to coordinate expert curated collaboration industry information and discussions. Too many of the larger industry conferences today have abandoned track chairs and just present manufacturer submitted content that are nothing more than glorified sales pitches. The IMCCA events bring all industry players—providers and users—together under a single tent to share valuable content and thoughtful discussions. Everyone who attended left with new perspectives, new network contacts, and a great view of what is happening in our industry.”
