RSS 2.0 FeedLetter from the Editor
Welcome to TeleMedia Strategy. The idea for this magazine was conceived when a fair number of my friends and I found ourselves continually "talking shop" at dinner parties; thereby alienating just about everyone else at the party, not to mention having to face the infamous "silent treatment" (or worse) from our significant others on the way home. As a Strategy Principal for a large consulting organization serving telecom service providers, a lot of my time, energy, and thought processes has been spent recently trying to figure out what the future holds for AT&T, Verizon, and the like in an increasingly Google and iTunes world.
Not that I came up with any answers, but the more I thought about it, the more hooked I became on the question. The convergence of Telecom, Entertainment, and Media realms simply fascinates me with the sheer speed and amount of disruption that is being created in technology, business, - and most importantly – our lifestyles, not to mention those of our children and grandchildren. I know 10 year olds with iPhones for Pete's sake! Although to them, it's not really disruptive. It's all they know.
The funny thing is that many of my friends were as equally as addicted as I in trying to understand the thousands of changes that were shaping our lives as we knew them. We all had kids on MySpace, knew someone that met their spouse on Match.com, counted our connections on LinkedIn, regularly laughed at someone else’s expense on YouTube, and marveled at the pure brilliance of Steve Jobs. We just couldn’t really talk about it in public, lest someone check us for slide rulers and pocket protectors. That left us with getting in trouble at dinner parties or trying something else.
Now my friends are an interesting lot. Some famous, some infamous, rich, poor, spread the world over, and one stuck in a very small town outside Bristol, Tennessee (where?), but by and large a decent crowd of very smart people happily engaged doing some really interesting things. And coincidentally, many of them held some rather senior positions in – you guessed it – Telecom, Entertainment, or Media companies. Either within the TeleMedia companies themselves or within the large eco-system of consultants, systems integrators, vendors, and other companies serving the industry. Seems like almost everybody's a consultant these days.
So I took an informal poll (i.e. sent an e-mail) to see if anyone would be interested in creating an on-line forum where we could share ideas, catch up on the latest goings on, publish some of our latest work, and generally talk to people that were as interested as we were in the amazing things that are happening all over the globe as the digital economy really starts to take off. Much to my surprise, they all said “yes!” So after a few rounds of brainstorming (i.e. drinks at Happy Hour) it was settled. I would become a digital publishing magnate and TeleMedia Strategy was conceived.
Now my friends have their friends and chances are pretty good that if you’re reading this you’re no farther than a 3rd level connection to someone we both know in LinkedIn. So take a look, read what we have to say, write something of your own, or send a nasty letter to the editor (just kidding!). Most importantly, if you like this forum – get involved and get your friends involved.
For my part, I’ll try to bring you great content from some of the real thought leaders in the respective industries, some interesting viewpoints in our columns, and a place that you too can express your expert analysis and opinions (expert or not). I'll try to keep it as unbiased as possible and do my best to keep the sales agendas out of the articles. It won't always be perfect, but it will be my best effort. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know how I'm doing.
To my many friends… this one’s for you. Happy Reading,
John Lee