The Time is ISPCON

As ISPCON time comes around again, the trade show reflects the industry, with some things old and some things new.

by Mike Cassidy Managing Partner, ISP-Market [April 14, 2004]

So it's ISPCON time again.

Gone are the days of 40x40 booths, iBeam's cigar parties, Cobalt's KC and the Sunshine Band parties, Cisco's secret events, and Avi and Deb Howard speaking. X2 vs. 56flex, and Livingston vs. Ascend vs. U.S. Robotics—these companies have been acquired and are gone.

Missing are exhibitors such as HurlNet, Capella Worldwide, Computone, Microcom, Livingston, Priori, Shiva, and Whistle Communications. No longer will there be 13,000+ attendees and 450+ booths. The show that was once dubbed ISPCON/ASPCON/CLEC Expo is again ISPCON and no one is going home with a HUMMER.

I remember attending the first ISPCON in San Francisco in 1997 I was working for Capella Worldwide and the buzz at the show was loud and strong. (Who still has their coffee mug from the show?) In 1996 it was called ONE ISPCON, and before that it was ONE BBSCON! (Anyone still use a BBS?)

There was a lot of blue hair, both long and short. The show was pure chaos. The show organizer could not get badges printed before the start of the event so everyone was let in to get things moving along, and they had the same problem at the next show in Baltimore for the second ISPCON. These shows were great!

This will be the first ISPCON where the dialup acceleration vendors will be squaring off in force. Accelnet, Artera, ByteMobile, Propel, Proxyconn, Nuvio, and Slipstream. It should be a battle royal. It will be interesting to see who can make the most noise at the show.

The wholesale dial up guys is also marching on D.C. GlobalPops, Grande, Ikano, and YourNetPlus. Seem like a few are missing here? (Of course, others who should be there aren't.)

Will you be Adwise or have Adknowledge? Targeted online advertising and messaging solutions from these companies will most likely be put to the spam question test.

The spam filtering companies are filling booth space as fast as spam fills inboxes. Barracuda, Boardtown, Brightmail, NetCleanse, TurnTide, and Vanquish will be in a food fight on the main floor. Did you know that the first ISPCON in 1997 had a session on dealing with spam?

Netsweeper and Kidsnet will be fighting it out in regards to Parental Controls. Didn't Bob Holly (One, Inc.) work with Kidsnet?

Of course Motorola will be at ISPCON showing off their Canopy gear and their new 2.4 gear.

Emergecore Networks will be there. They will be talking about their "IT in a Box" solution again. Are they ready to be the Cobalt replacement?

CoyotePoint has an F5 killer. Seen it? And RLX will bring blades to the floor.

Sessions of interest
Looking at the session grid, there are a lot of great sessions. Here are a few.

The acceleration guys will be paneling Getting the Most from Dial-Up Acceleration. ISP industry veteran Russ Intravartolo is on the panel. Representatives from Propel, Slipstream, and Proxyconn are on the panel also. Intravartolo's Starnet offers both Propel and Slipstream to its customers.

ISP to ISP/CLEC Workshop (3 parts). To be, or not to be a CLEC? Weren't we hearing about this before the crash? Do the new recent FCC, state PUC, and court decisions make this an interesting track again? The process and burdens of becoming a regulated CLEC will be covered and information will also be provided on finding the money to fund an affiliated CLEC.

The Real World VoIP Deployment Workshop (3 parts) will be a big draw. Internet Telephony, believe it or not, was a session at the first ISPCON in 1997. The first part of this workshop will cover VoIP fundamentals, key technologies, basic equipment and financial requirements as well as some of the more important logistical and legal considerations of VOIP.

Living in a World of Multiple Service Providers with Elliot Noss should be interesting. Elliot is one the handful of people left that understands the tier 2-3 ISP markets. Elliot is also doing "The Best and Worst of Value-Added Services" session with one of my favorites, Doug McDonald.

WISPs in the Hot (spot) Seat. How will WISPs take advantage of the burgeoning hotspot market? Learn how to effectively and efficiently operate WLANs across multiple hotspot locations in order to maintain a profitable and functional business and secure the best hotspot locations. How to make money with hotspots?

Speaking of hot seats, who would miss the ISP CEO panel or the WISP CEO panel? Or the entire regulatory track, called Public Office?

What was old is still new.

I find it fascinating that since the first ISPCON in 1997 we are still dealing with some of the same issues in 2004 such as spam and VoIP. I look forward to talking and meeting with some old and new friends at the show.

— End