I am SO glad it’s spring. These two-foot snowfalls and ice cold nights here on the “north coast” are enough to drive even a tough kid from Detroit batty. And with spring comes Spring VON, arguably the biggest IP convergence tradeshow of them all. Even though I’m not there, the Spring VON event has generated some consulting work for me. I’ve been on the phone setting up appointments for people who ARE there. Hey, it’s a living.

But check out some of the news bits pouring from the Pulver event (I’ve hand-picked my favorites):

Grand Central is teaming up with Global Crossing.  Microsoft launched a PBX in firmware. Didn’t see that one coming did ya. I remember just 18 months ago (or so) talking to somebody at Microsoft who said QUOTE Microsoft has no interest in the PBX market UNQUOTE. Well, it seems, the passage of time does not occur without some irony. Andy also had a chance to catch up with some people in the newspaper business–this subject is apparently near and dear to His Andyness, as it is with me. Indeed, my biggest client is a newspaper. Another of my clients, who was also at VON this time around, remarked that he thought the show was small and undertrafficked. It’s no Comdex, of course, but I recall Fall VON being quite a hefty thing indeed. Of course, I’ve never been to a Comdex. Do they even still have Comdex? This sentiment seems to be echoed by Iotum’s Tom Howe, who thinks ETel is perhaps now a more pervasive event than Spring VON.