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June 2009 | Volume 12 / Number 6
The VoIP Authority

Time for Goodbye, Again

Dear Reader,

Forgive me my self-indulgence.

On December 2, 1996, I pulled into a parking lot in Norwalk, CT, stepped out of my car and into my new role as an associate editor for TMC (News - Alert)’s nascent CTI Magazine.

My first assignment was following up on a Dialogic product innovation code-named “Pyramid” that turned out to be the latest iteration of their DM3 fax board.

Shortly thereafter I booked travel to my first telecom trade show, CT EXPO in Los Angeles, when Zippy was still “the competition.”

Twelve-plus years and hundreds of trade shows (and hundreds of thousands of airline miles) later the time has come for me to retire my TMC jersey. I have been granted an incredible opportunity to work outside the sphere of publishing and it’s something that after much deliberation I have decided to pursue.




I’ll miss the deadlines, the magazine meetings, the inevitable delays that somehow seem to be a part of print publishing no matter how well you plan… as well as the feel of a freshly printed magazine when it hits your desk, and you realize, “Hey, I helped make that.” And the genuine look of excitement on my three-year-old’s face when he flips to the picture of his dad staring back from the back page.

Internet Telephony (News - Alert) magazine has been a part of my life so long I’m thinking of painting a yellow border around my passport photo.

I’ll miss being on the leading edge of technology and innovation in the communications space. I think I speak for many of my journalist colleagues when I say that we have a wonderful front-row seat to watch the future of communications unfold before our eyes, and we get to interact! We get to ask the first questions, we get to see the first demos. We are among the first to cringe when the vendors’ PR teams use words like “first,” “leading,” “unique,” “flexible,” “extensible,” and all the rest.

I’ll miss the invites, the wining, dining, and partying that often accompany a new product launch.

Chicago, Robert Cray, The Temptations, Buddy Guy, the Blues Brothers, Heart, Counting Crows, Bruce Hornsby, Buckwheat Zydeco… too many bands to list… Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Pete Rose, Mike Eruzione… You get the picture — companies spend lots of money on this kind of stuff.

And yet sometimes, in some strange way a flying monkey can be viewed as a better investment.

I’ll miss the people with whom I developed great relationships — working and personal. All too often, the relationship begins and ends with a press release, or a story pitch, or a briefing invite. I’ll miss those people who took the time to bring something of themselves to the relationship. For example, the shared misery of being Mets fans, or a shared flight delay in an exotic locale like Boise… or the ability to spontaneously break into a magic trick or a Mel Brooks quote-a-thon… or sharing stories about the kids feeding reindeer at Christmas time, while enjoying a beer and a Las Vegas 51’s game.

There sure are a lot of characters in our industry.

Most of all, of course, I will miss my team here at TMC. I wish to thank the Tehrani family — Nadji and Rich in particular — for inviting me to be a part of this great journey, for giving me the opportunity to work in an exciting industry, with such a great group of people over these past 12 years.

Again dear reader, I beg your indulgence as I run out a list of names that you may or may not know or remember. These people are the cream of the crop and they deserve mention, and at the very least it’s my small way of saying thanks. Thanks for the opportunity to work alongside you. Thanks for the chance to learn something from you. Thanks for just being there as I went through the trials of life from the birth of my children, through illness and the passing of key people in my life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

The entire team of talented editors and designers who are currently charged with bringing you the best magazines and Web site in the industry: Erik, Stefania, Zippy, Brendan, Michael, Patrick, Jessica, Tim, Max, Scott, Jean, Thapa…

Lisa, who makes our magazines look so good.

The twin towers of Tim: Zacc and Goins

Stephanie and Jaime and ‘Tash without whom I would be woefully unprepared… and most likely lost.

Heidi – the glue that keeps the ITEXPO (News - Alert) Conference together

Tom and Vahid and Shirley, who still remember TMC before GG.

My awesome team from TMC 1.0: Dara, Laura, Kevin, Erik, Linda, Tracey, Chris, Mike (who rightly believes that objects are nouns), MaryBeth, Ann…

Hilary, Jaime, and Frank — may you rest peacefully.

Johnny Eyeballs.

Frankie Show.

Joe Fabiano.

Alan Urkawich.

Mike Genaro.

Dave Rodriguez (News - Alert).

With apologies to Billy Joel and Michael Kay, “Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again.”

Just remember, I’m still the Commissioner — and all trades go through me. IT

» Internet Telephony Magazine Table of Contents



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