There were some bright spots in 2014.

Canadian and UK companies reached out for consulting in 2014. Opportunities in LATAM also peaked on the horizon. But most of the attention was right here in the USA. Looks like service providers want to be able to take advantage of the boom.

Despite a plethora of shows, it seemed like the energy at most of the shows was pretty upbeat - especially shows not in Vegas.

Shows did seem to have a problem keeping attendees corralled. For some attendees, shows are a time of respite and play as well as work. The format for shows hasn't changed much in 20 years -- maybe it is time that they do. Trade show budget dollars are at a higher premium than ever.

Being a presenter at Comptel in Dallas for Comptel TV was different. I've never done that much video before but the crew they put together was fantastic and made it easy for me. Thanks to Beka Publishing for getting me that gig.

It seemed as if carriers are easier to deal with this year than in the last couple of years. At least the ones that I dealt with - primarily ACC Business, AT&T and tw telecom.

It seems that most people have heard of Hosted PBX by now. We are passed the phase of having to explaining it from scratch. Yeah! Only took 11 years. But don't forget that you still need to educate your prospects on the on-boarding, outcomes, and why you are different than the alternatives (like BSFT, Asterisk, Avaya, premise PBX, Cisco, Lync, Mitel, et al).

It looks like mainstream marketers understand that content is king and social media can't be ignored. That didn't take long. Google's many algorithm changes probably helped push that along. When your website disappears from page 1 and 2, someone has to find an answer - and fast!

It was the year of the App. If you had a messaging app this year, you were worth a lot of moola (at least for a short while.)

Thanks to all the breaches to iCloud, retail, banks and Sony, security should become a good space to be in during 2015. But then that's only if the attitude about security changes from "it's one department's problem" to "security is everyone's business". Breaches come with a tremendously high cost - agains ask Sony, Target, TJ Maxx, Home Depot.

No natural disasters in 2014. No Sandy's or Katrina's. That's good - but that also means that the anti-global warming folks can say, "See?! It's fine." While Glacier Park in the US melts. It also means selling BR/BC will be harder since folks have a short memory.

The TCA rolled out a cable certification and Comcast required it of its agents. That's a big deal for the TCA and the channel.

Many master agencies - like COLOTRAQ and Microcorp - celebrated big this year due to important milestones. COLOTRAQ hit 15! Microcorp hit 28 with a new President and a party in NOLA! TBI and Intelysis also hit milestones of commission numbers.

Women in the Channel had a big year of growth with extra events and large attendance numbers!