Digium and TMC having dinner
Left-to-right clockwise: Steve Sokol, John Todd, Russell Bryant, Dave Rodriguez (TMC), Greg Galitzine (former TMC), Jane Brooks, Tom Keating (TMC), Bill Miller

Last week I heard Bill Miller, VP Product Management for Digium had left for another opportunity. Bill has been with Digium for as long as I can remember. He's one of the core faces of Digium and Asterisk, and I've worked with him over the years for various Digium news stories, including but not limited to the Skype for Asterisk announcement, which Bill had promised to give me a scoop on, but alas the eBay folks (public company) wouldn't allow me to have the news before everyone else. You win some, you lose some.

In any event, I've been in the VoIP industry since the beginning of time - back to it's core roots when I was testing and reviewing NetMeeting and VocalTec's Internet Phone. So I've been in the VoIP industry when you could count the major players on one hand and got to know many of them personally. Although Bill joined Digium in 2006 which was at least 10 years since VoIP started & 5 years since Asterisk was created, Bill was at Digium to partake in its phenomenal growth. So it's always sad when I hear one of the VoIP industry's core guys leave.

Recently, Chris Lyman, CEO of Fonality left the organization he co-founded. I hope this isn't the start of a trend. But if it is, this just goes to show you that the VoIP industry is constantly evolving and perhaps new blood will be a good thing. It's easy to get sentimental when people I've worked with for years leave an industry I love. I wish Bill Miller the best of luck in his new venture. What that is I'm not sure, but when I find out I'll update this post.