So I skipped a week. Lots of content below, so I will be brief here.
NICE hosted my first in-person analyst event since Feb 2020. Wow! At first, it seemed odd that they only scheduled presentations for (two) half days, but it was perfect. Many virtual events are sadly longer and less effective (VEF: Virtual Event Fatigue). Presentations are important, but there’s a lot to be said for live-interaction too. I have to say, NICE nailed it in many ways.
Check the tweets, additional thoughts coming.
I find virtual events to be better after the fact. I prefer to view recordings after the fact. Pro tip: get the recordings out fast. Reserve live time for interactive sessions. Don’t expect to retain a captive live audience for more than 90 minutes.
Several events coming up this year: Virtual: Google Cloud Next, Twilio Signal, WebexOne, MS Ignite, Genesys Analyst, Slack Frontiers,
In-Person: GITEX, CCW, Crexendo/Netsapiens*, Teams CommsvNext*, SCTC, AWS ReInvent*, and Avaya Engage (* indicates I will be there)
Also, it’s been an interesting week of conversation about Five9 and Zoom. I did two posts below. I am increasingly convinced that Five9 shareholders made a big mistake. Valuations are heading south across the sector. It’s possible that Zoom will make another attempt with Five9, but I doubt it.