I don't go to many conferences - lack of travel budget more than lack of interest - so the ones I do attend have high expectations to meet. VON in Boston last week was interesting, highlighted by my participation on a blogging panel and a lively dinner with fellow bloggers at Fleming's. For me, VON was more about context and contacts than content as it wasn't a show where big news emerged. For me, the show was useful valuable as a way to get immersed in views about how and where VOIP is heading. As a financial/tech reporter, I got a lot out of two sessions on VC investments. It was also interesting to spend some time with Digium Inc.'s CEO Mark Spencer, whose take on the IP-PBX market's progress is always insightful. As for the companies on the exhibition floor, BridgePort and NewStep grabbed my attention as they work to converge wireless and wireline traffic.While NewStep, an offshoot of Bell Canada, doesn't get as much glory as BridgePort, it appears to have some good momentum.
In terms of the show's disappointments: Niklas Zennstrom's video appearance was delayed because of  technical problems and, from what I hear, he was flat. To be frank, he should give up the whole video-conference gig and work on getting his U.S. legal problems resolved so he can appear at events in person. I also would have liked to have seen some more major CEOs provide their strategic outlooks for the industry. Perhaps Jeff Pulver can work on getting SBC's Ed Whitacre or Verizon's Ivan Seidenberg? For some other views on VON, check out Alec Saunders, who provided extensive intra-conference coverage here and here, and Jon Arnold - here and here.

With some trepidation, I've decided to reactivate this blog's comments and trackback features. It looks as though the spam onslaught, which saw more than 1,500 comments, has been resolved by Blogware. (If you're interested in why blog spam occurs, here's a Wired Magazine article that explains it). If Blogware was smart, they would pore over  the criticism that emerged about the shortcomings of a platform that needs a major overhaul. I have a long list of feature improvements that, if asked, I'd be pleased to fork over. Back to you, Blogware.