A couple recognitions from the last 12 months:

AudioCodes' Break Free Campaign (see: www.audiocodes.com/breakfree) - way back in early summer, we were on a conference bridge discussing how to create some new activity with the application developer community, trying to show them how they could abandon their legacy APIs and make the move to SIP+MSCML for their new applications.  We devised a plan that included a combination of web-based advertising, webinars and live speaking slots to introduce the concept and show some specific example applications.  With the fantastic help of the Marcom team at AudioCodes, TMC, Paracon and Alliance Systems we blew the lid off our original plan, making by far the most successful community development program that I have ever experienced.  For those that have participated, there is much more to come next year!

During 2007 I celebrated my 6th anniversary at AudioCodes - the longest I have worked for any one company - something must be going right.

If you know me, you know that outside work I'm deeply involved in Boy Scouts and a wide range of outdoor activities with my two sons.  This year, my oldest son David completed his Eagle Scout rank - the first ever in our family.  We're very proud of him and look forward to seeing him soar like an Eagle when he heads to college in 2008.

Looking ahead:

In January I'm headed to Jerusalem for the AudioCodes Global Channel Partner Conference.  We're bringing together some of our best channels, ISVs and VARs for three days of networking and collaboration.  I'm also looking forward to seeing many of my co-workers and partners face to face - it's been a while.   The old city has captivated me since my first visit a couple years ago.  The history found in Jerusalem is just incredible. 

Spring Trade show season - January to March - while sometimes I dread the time away from home, I always look forward to the "buzz" that comes from spending time around the rest of the industry.  I learn more and make more progress in this time than any other part of the year.  Internet Telephony, VON, VoiceCon... here I come.

My crystal ball

Social Networking will leave the universities - after spending some time on MySpace and Facebook, now I get it.  Social networking is to email and IM what the telephone was to postal mail.  Now the challenge is to make the application "fit" the adult world - too much of Facebook was designed around college kids and doesn't recognize the complex networks that adults work within.  College kids have a relatively "flat" network of friends and the applications need work before adults will be willing to expose themselves like young adults.

Video - going beyond YouTube?  Like many of you, I was a little caught off gaurd by the web-based video streaming application and it's popularity.  Beyond the goofly little humor skits and music videos, it's application in marketing, training and product demonstrations has shown real commercial value.  But will real-time video (not streaming) take off?  It looks like we still have some work to go on this front.

Blade Servers will finally take off in telecom - after spending the year working in this space, it's clear to me now that many of the applications for telecom are perfect fit for blade servers including IBM's BladeCenter and other offerings from HP, Dell...   Few carriers can afford nor need the expensive redundancy found in ATCA or proprietary hardware.  Look for MicroTCA to be successful, but for ATCA, I think the game is already over.

Broadband for all - as you read in last week's entry, I feel strongly that we need to do more to connect the rest of America to the internet, giving a range of business and social benefits for both sides.  Watch for further policy changes that will encourage the wireline and wireless service providers to make the investment.

Thanks

Thanks goes out to all of you that participate in my blog, the folks at TMC for hosting and encouraging its development, my coworkers at AudioCodes for a great year, and finally my wife and kids for their support and putting up with my crazy travel schedule.

Wishing you all have a great holiday season and look forward to next year!