Calysto Communications and Public Relations is a PR company that has perhaps the most customers in the VoIP space and they have a great team of PR people. Their clients are certainly almost all on the telecom "A" list. Since they attend a lot of shows it is worth listening to what they say when they evaluate one show or another. This is what they had to say about last week's Internet Telephony show in Los Angeles. Please feel free to contrast this with their USTA Telecom 05 review.

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Internet Telephony Conference & Expo 2005
Los Angeles

Los Angeles Convention Center

October 24-27, 2005
Attendees: Approximately 6,200
Exhibitors: 139
Media: Approx. 37

Calysto Overview:
The Internet Telephony Conference & Expo came to a close this week with approximately 6,200 attendees.

The session that had the audiences distracted from their Blackberries was former FCC chairman Michael Powell's keynote speech. A standing room crowd of 800 eagerly anticipated Michael's forthcoming opinion on the industry due to this being his first telecom event since he stepped down as FCC chairman.

In his keynote he discussed the power of Moore's Law and the rapid advancements in technology in cars, building systems and the medical field. Storage too has grown exponentially in cost and dropped in price. "There is a technology revolution happening before our eyes," he said. "This is really the information age. Average people now have control and the impact of this on society is profound."

Other keynotes included Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP, Jim Pickerell of Brand X Internet and Commissioner Susan Kennedy of the California Public Utilities Commission. The common thread among other sessions was VoIP 2.0, regulatory concerns and the future of IP communications.

Publications represented at the conference included: The Los Angeles Times, Light Reading, Forbes, VoIP Business Weekly, Business Week, Billing World & OSS Today and Broadband Wireless Business.

The show floor was packed, with many bloggers and exhibitors commenting on the long lines of attendees waiting to talk to exhibitors. Overall, the energy and growth of this conference continues to impress. The combination of educational tracks, quality of attendees and continued growth in attendance puts Internet Telephony Spring 2006 as a show to evaluate for your tradeshow plans.