Watch This Space Podcast

Our May episode took us to Boston and New York, where Jon recounted takeaways from Extreme Networks’ analyst event, and Chris did the same for Jeff Pulver’s VON reboot. Framing those highlights was a broader discussion about where AI is taking us, and what the new generation of tech entrepreneurs is bringing to a space where events like VON played a formative role. Jon also provided a reality chec...

Our April episode served as a roundup of recent and upcoming events on our calendar, namely 8x8, Enterprise Connect, VON Evolution and HPE Aruba. Chris and Jon also reviewed the current state of enterprise communications - in particular, what’s missing to make meetings feel more immersive, as well as inclusive, especially for remote workers. We also went out on a limb to talk about how collaborati...

Over the course of 3 days, we had 18 sessions, dozens of speakers, and a very engaged audience – to find out what you missed, this is the podcast for you. Chris Fine and I discuss the highlights, and if you weren’t there, we hope this gets the event on your calendar for next February. For more about the event, including photos and press coverage, please visit my blog .  

Jon is returning as Chair for Future of Work Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, and Chris will be active there too, so with the event fast-approaching, we started this episode with a preview of what to expect, and for those who can join us, you won’t be disappointed. Following that, Chris walked us through five key themes from this new global study, co-produced by Aruba Networks and Leesman. Never a dull mom...

As we usually do at this time of year, Chris and I provide our take on what to expect in 2023. We haven’t had this much economic uncertainty in many years, making our outlook more about survive than thrive, but also with a sense of promise for AI. For fellow analog lovers, Chris shares a treat, the NY subway “traintrackr”; and a preview for my Future of Work Expo, running Feb. 14-16.

I attended three more industry conferences during November, and along with Chris, we explored the future of work implications – and there were many. Being the December episode, we closed things out with our 2022 takeaways, and will resume next month with our 2023 outlook.  

Industry conferences were in full swing last month, and the topics in this title provide a sense of what Chris and I talked about. October travel took me to three continents, so our perspectives are broad, and we don’t think you’ll mind this being a longer-than-usual episode.

The hybrid work pendulum continues swinging back and forth, and following our discussion of quiet quitting last month, we look at the flip side this episode with quiet firing. We also examine new drivers for evolving workspace design, and what we think Salesforce is on to with their bold launch of Digital HQ.  

Quiet quitting has become the nom du jour in hybrid work circles, and in this episode, we examine the implications, as well as if there might be a connection to what’s behind the drastic falloff in tech stocks - especially those in the collaboration space. Hybrid work continues to face headwinds, and we also discuss how this is as much an HR problem as it is a tech problem.

Our last podcast focused on highlights from Future of Work Expo, which included a keynote about this new study from Ernst & Young. The findings reveal some worrisome disconnects between employees and employers, which we explore in this episode, along with what enterprises should be doing to strike a tenable balance to support the hybrid work model. 

Having just returned from the Future of Work Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, Jon recaps the key themes, and co-host Chris Fine adds his perspective as to why hybrid work is harder to do than it looks. Having served as Chair for four years now, Jon explains why this year’s Future of Work Expo was the best to date, and provides a strong foundation for the 2023 edition, coming in February.  

What started as an exploration of the continued challenges faced by businesses to get workers back to the office, veered into the unchartered waters of the metaverse. Jon shared some future of work perspectives from his recent metaverse experience during the NICE Interactions event, and how workers can manage this along with physical workplace experiences. The led to our takeaways about how busine...

With in-person conferences back in full swing now, Jon and Chris had some follow-on takes on Enterprise Connect, along with perspectives from the Channel Partners Expo that Jon recently attended. One main theme is the growing role Big Tech is playing in shaping workplace collaboration experiences to support hybrid work, and another is the role private equity seems poised to play now in consolidati...

The title says it all, and with Spring and baseball around the corner, the timing was great for Enterprise Connect 2022. This is the most important event in the communications technology space, and we haven’t gathered since March 2019, so it was enough just to be there. The vibe was good, and I covered the highlights here with Chris.  

Jon and Chris examine the relationship between personal identity and communications in today’s digital world, which lacks the security safeguards natively built into analog technologies. We discuss the challenges to keep technology innovation such as Web3 moving forward where trust is compromised, even for everyday communications. New narratives will be needed, and the concepts of synthetic media...

There’s a lot to unpack in that podcast title, and that’s what we did, not just as attendees of Jeff Pulver’s VON3, but as speakers as well. Communications is an elastic concept, and VON3 explored emerging possibilities that go beyond the world of telephony and collaboration that Jon and Chris know so well.

With Omicron extending the pandemic, Chris and Jon explore the longer-term implications of hybrid work, including how virtual experiences are becoming normalized, and how the metaverse isn’t that far-fetched now. With virtual modes becoming the new reality, we bring our analog lens to look at where technology innovation is going, especially for developing new models that are not bracketed by space...

2021 did not lack for interesting developments, and Chris and I summed things up by focusing on two broad trends that we feel will set the stage for 2022. One would be the emerging hybrid work environment, and second would be industry consolidation, which saw both large and small deals. As AI’s star ascends, we consider the impact on who will be driving the buying decisions, and what’s driving the...

Recent news regarding British Telecom’s plans to decommission their copper telephony network spurred us to explore the implications of Copper Sunset, as telephony companies look to move on from legacy networks for good. The universal access to phone service we have long enjoyed does not apply to Internet access, where the digital divide is  becoming a key driver of economic success today. Chris an...

Flipping the switch from summer to fall seems much easier than coaxing workers to shift from home to office, and we explore what’s behind the current trend known as The Great Resignation. There are good reasons why many workers aren’t just not coming back to the office, but leaving their jobs altogether. Chris and Jon examine the role collaboration technology plays in all this, along with what els...

Labor Day is a good time to think about the longer-term implications of virtual work, and on this episode, we explore how this checks many boxes for workers, but less so for management. We also discuss how the world of consulting represents a good model for making this work, along with where emerging technologies can serve a higher purpose to build culture.

Our timing was good to talk about the acquisition of Five9 by Zoom. Many implications to consider, especially for the remaining pure play contact center vendors, with more moves, no doubt to come. With summer beckoning and pandemic fears easing, we also explored how crowds are back now for many sporting events, live music, etc., but return to office – not so much.  

On this episode, we review the emerging dynamics of the post-pandemic workplace between employees and employers. Both will need to be flexible in new ways, and while there's lots of great collaboration technology to make all this possible, there's more to a healthy workplace than work, and we have some thoughts on what's really important.  

With AT&T spinning out Time Warner, it’s not hard to understand why Amazon just acquired MGM. Jon and Chris examine parallels here to last month’s podcast about the history of telecom, and it’s another example of how IP – Internet Protocol - has disrupted industries evolving from analog to digital technologies.

Telephony has a long and rich history, and provides the template for the rise and fall of all forms of technology innovation that have followed. Chris and Jon connect the dots here, and more to come during our first PulveREDU online course on May 13.