Tag: Conferences

Nov 23

Video and Slides Now Available For My AstriCon 2015 Keynote: Open Source and The Global Disruption of Telecom

If you're interested in what I said last month at AstriCon 2015 in my keynote on "Open Source And The Global Disruption of Telecom: What Choices Will We Make?", the video and slides are both available.

As I wrote about previously, the context for this discussion was to talk about the changes that are happening all around us in terms of the ways in which we communicate. Here was the abstract:

There is a battle raging for the global future of telecommunications and the Internet. Taking place in networks, board rooms and legislatures, the battle will determine how we all communicate and what opportunities will exist. Will telecom support innovation? Will it be accessible to all? Will it give us the level of security and privacy we need to have the open, trusted Internet? Or will it be restricted and limited by corporate or government gatekeepers?

The rise of voice-over-IP has fundamentally disrupted the massive global telecommunications industry, infrastructure and policies. Open source software such as Asterisk has been a huge driver of that disruption and innovation.. but now what? What role do platforms such as Asterisk play in this space? And what can be their role in a telecom infrastructure that is now mobile, increasingly embedded (Internet of Things) and more and more using proprietary walled gardens of communication?

How well I delivered on that will be up to you to decide... but I felt good about how it all came out and received many great comments and feedback throughout the rest of the event and afterwards. And, as a speaker I could see from the crowd (about 500-ish people) that they were NOT looking down into their smartphones or laptops... which is always a good sign! ;-)

A key point of what I aimed to do was to bring people up to a higher level to think about how their own actions fit into the broader context of what is happening in the world today.

It was fun to do! And I loved all the questions I was getting after that. My goal was to make people think... and it seemed that at least for some I did.

My part of the video starts after 15 minutes of introductory items (this was the opening of the event), so if you watch in the embedded video below you'll need to move forward to the 15:00 mark. You can also follow this direct link to the start of my segment with an introduction to me from Mark Spencer, the creator of Asterisk.

(And yes, this was the first time I had ever given a presentation wearing a ponytail in the long hair experiment I've been trying this year... I'm still not 100% sure I'm going to keep this style. This may be the first and only presentation you see with me like this.)

Unfortunately, the video only shows me talking on stage and doesn't show the slides I was using... so you don't understand what I'm talking about when I reference the slides.

I've posted the slides to my SlideShare account but as you'll see without the video or audio they aren't of much value. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to present in the very minimalist style I prefer where I only use images or a few words - and I thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

However, syncing the slides to the video is not something you'll probably find easy. At some point perhaps I'll create another video showing both my speaking and the slides... but I don't know that it will happen anytime soon.

Meanwhile, here they are...

Some of the links I reference in the presentation include (in the order of their appearance):

If you enjoyed this presentation and would like to have me potentially speak at your event, please do contact me. I've been speaking for many years and very much enjoy giving these kind of presentations at all types of events.

Jun 10

SIPNOC 2014 Begins Today In Virginia – I am speaking about TLS and SIP (and DANE)

SIP Forum SIPNOC 2014 OverviewToday I'm back at the Hyatt Dulles in Herndon, Virginia, for the fourth SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC) event. These SIPNOC sessions are great because they bring together the people actually operating the SIP-based networks that make up our telecommunications infrastructure. SIPNOC continues to be THE best place I've found to interact with the people actually taking SIP standards and making them happen in the "real world".

I've been to all four SIPNOCs - and I continue to find them outstanding events, not only because of the excellent technical content, but also because of the people.

In many cases, these are the "phone guys" (and gals) who have found their way to IP. The "Bellheads" of the age-old "Bellhead vs Nethead" debate. The "telcos". The people who have been doing telecom for decades... and are now evolving to IP.

In other cases, the people here are the new contenders. The cable companies are here - and they are strongly challenging the legacy telcos, and they are creating entirely new IP-based infrastructures. The "Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs)" and "SIP Trunking" providers are here, too... companies that are reimagining what telecom can be in an IP space. Newer vendors... newer application providers... etc.

It's a wonderful mix of people.

All here talking about telecom in the age of the Internet... sponsored by the SIP Forum.

As I mentioned in a post yesterday on the Deploy360 blog, I will be speaking today at SIPNOC 2014 about TLS for SIP. The abstract for my talk is:

With concerns about large-scale pervasive monitoring on the Internet, many groups are encouraging the increased use of Transport Layer Security (TLS, what we used to call “SSL”). While SIP has had TLS support for quite some time, it is often not used. This session will look at concerns of using TLS with SIP and discuss opportunities for providing higher security for SIP-based communication. The session will also outline some newer innovations such as the DANE protocol that when coupled with DNSSEC can provide a higher level of trust for TLS encryption.

This relates largely to the "TLS for Applications" work we are doing within Deploy360, as well as our advocacy for the use of the DANE protocol to add a layer of trust to TLS/SSL certificates.

As I note in that Deploy360 post, I'm delighted to see on the SIPNOC agenda that speaking before me will be Carl Klatsky from Comcast providing a case study of the lessons they have learned so far in moving to IPv6!

It's kind of fun to scan my list of presentations and look back at what I've spoken about at the past SIPNOC events:

SIPNOC 2011 (employed at Voxeo)
1. SIP Adoption and Network Security
2. Lessons Learned in Large-Scale SIP Interoperability
SIPNOC 2012 (employed at Voxeo)
1. SIP and IPv6 – Can They Get Along?
2. Panel Discussion: SIP Adoption and Network Security
3. BOF: SIP and IPv6
SIPNOC 2013 (employed at Internet Society)
1.IPv6 And SIP – Myth or Reality?
2. Who are You Really Calling? How DNSSEC Can Help
3. Panel Discussion: Anatomy of a VoIP DMZ (moderator)
SIPNOC 2014 (employed at Internet Society)
1. Is It Time For TLS For SIP? (also includes some DNSSEC/DANE)

It's nice to have someone else talking about IPv6 this year!

Of course, you'll also find me in the VoIP security BOF tonight... and listening to the other sessions. Unfortunately I have something else happening tomorrow evening back in New Hampshire and so I'm only here at SIPNOC today and will be flying back tomorrow. The SIPNOC event continues all day tomorrow and half a day on Thursday.

Sessions are underway now... here is photo proof:

Sipnoc2014 start

Unless you happen to be located in the DC area, it would be very hard for anyone to join into this year's SIPNOC event... but if you work with SIP or VoIP networks, I would strongly encourage you to put SIPNOC 2015 on your calendar for next year!

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Apr 22

At SIPNOC 2013 This Week Talking About VoIP And IPv6, DNSSEC … and Security, Of Course

Sipnoc 2013 logoOne of the conferences I've found most interesting each year is the SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC) produced by the SIP Forum, a nonprofit industry association. Part of my interest is that it is only an educational conference, i.e. there's no massive exhibit floor or anything... it's all about education. It also brings together pretty much all the major players in the "IP communications" space - certainly within North America but also from around the world.

I'll be there this week in Herndon, Virginia, talking about how VoIP can work over IPv6 and how DNSSEC can make VoIP more secure. The sessions I am directly involved with include:

  • Panel Discussion: Anatomy of a VoIP DMZ
  • VoIP Security BOF
  • Panel Discussion:  IPv6 and SIP - Myth or Reality?
  • Who Are You Really Calling? How DNSSEC Can Help

There are quite a range of other topics on the SIPNOC 2013 agenda, including a number of other talks related to security.  

It should be quite a good show and I'm very much looking forward to it.  I'm particularly looking forward to my "DNSSEC and VoIP" talk on Thursday as that is a topic I've not presented on before... but I think there is some quite valuable potential about using DNSSEC with VoIP.

If you are there at SIPNOC this week, please do say hello!

P.S. While SIPNOC is not being livestreamed, you may find some people tweeting using the hashtag #SIPNOC.

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Apr 22

VoIP Security Major Topic This Week at SIPNOC 2013


sipnoc-2013This week the SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC) takes place in Herndon, Virginia, and the SIPNOC agenda turns out to have a great focus on security as it relates to VoIP and IP-based communications in general.   The security-related sessions include:

  • The Growth of Robocalling SPIT
  • Communications Service Providers and Threat Intelligence Sharing
  • Panel Discussion: Anatomy of a VoIP DMZ
  • VoIP Theft: Werewolf or Hydra
  • Who are You Really Calling? How DNSSEC Can Help

There will also be a “VoIP Security Birds-of-a-feather (BOF)” session tomorrow evening where we’ll be sharing information about VoIP security issues and learning from each other about what issues people are seeing.

Sponsored by the SIP Forum, SIPNOC is an educational event that brings together primarily technical and operations staff from a wide range of telecommunications and VoIP service providers.  It is not a trade show, i.e. there is no exhibit hall.  It is just focused on providing educational sessions and networking opportunities.

I’ll be there at SIPNOC speaking about DNSSEC, IPv6 and moderating the VoIP security BOF and the VoIP DMZ panel . I look forward to meeting up again with many of the folks who have attended SIPNOC in the past years.   The event is not livestreamed, but if you are in the DC area and want to attend, registration is still open.

If you are there at SIPNOC 2013, please do say hello!

Jan 25

Last Day To Submit Speaking Proposals for SIPNOC2013

Sipnoc 2013Got a great idea for a talk to give to an excellent gathering of SIP/VoIP network operators? Have a new way of handling security? Have a case study you'd like to present for how you solved an operational issue?

The SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC) is an outstanding event happening in Herndon, Virginia, USA, from April 22-25. It brings together network operators working with SIP / VoIP networks for several days of talks, networking (of the human kind) and education. I've gone the past two years, speaking about IPv6, and they are truly excellent conferences. Not too big, not too small... and with an extremely high quality of people both attending and speaking.

If you think you'd like to present, TODAY, January 25, 2013, is the end of the call for presentations for SIPNOC 2013. They are seeking presentations on topics such as (see the CFP for more detail):

  • Peering
  • SIP Trunking
  • Congestion Control
  • Applications/content Development
  • Interoperability
  • Call Routing
  • Security
  • Monitoring/Troubleshoooting and Operational Issues
  • Testing Considerations and Tools
  • Availability/Disaster-Recovery
  • WebRTC and SIP
  • SIP-Network Operations Center Best Practices
  • Standardization Issues and Progress
  • FoIP/T.38 Deployment
  • User-Agent Configuration
  • IPv6 Deployment Challenges
  • Emergency Services
  • Scaling and Capacity Issues
  • HD-Voice Deployment Challenges
  • Video Interop Issues

They are seeking individual talks, panel sessions, research sessions and BOFs.

Even if you just have an idea for a session, I'd encourage you to submit a proposal so that the SIPNOC 2013 Program Committee will know of your interest and can reach out to you for more details. More info about the process can be found on the CFP page.

If you aren't interested in speaking, but are now intrigued by SIPNOC and would like to be learning from all the excellent sessions, you can go to the SIPNOC 2013 main page and find out information about how to register and attend.

If you work at or for a telecom/network operator who is involved with SIP and VoIP, I highly recommend SIPNOC as a conference you should attend - you'll learn a huge amount and make great connections.

P.S. I have no affiliation with SIPNOC other than being a speaker there in the past. SIPNOC is a production of the SIP Forum, a great group of people focused on advancing the deployment and interoperability of communications products and services based on SIP.

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Nov 07

Brilliant Video – Every Presentation Ever: Communication FAIL

How many of the issues in this video have you experienced while in a presentation? Either one you have attended or perhaps one you have given yourself?

I learned of this today via a link in Facebook or Twitter (I can't remember which) pointing me to a post from Mitch Joel back in January titled "How To Do Everything Wrong In A Presentation". It is related to the book Habitudes for Communicators by Dr. Tim Elmore. I've not (yet) looked at this book but I'm definitely intrigued. In his post, Mitch also recommends three other books, one that I have (Presentation Zen) and two others that I've heard high praise about. All of these kind of books will only make you a better presenter... and I've added these to my queue of books to read.

Kudos to Dr. Elmore and his team for coming up with a funny and brilliant way to highlight so many of the issues we unfortunately do experience in presentations.

How many of these have you experienced?

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Nov 01

Sadly, The Big "C" Curtails My Participation Next Week At IETF 85

IetflogoSadly, the Big "C", the current unwelcome guest in our family, has claimed another activity that I enjoy. Next week is the 85th meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Some 1,200+ engineers will gather in Atlanta, Georgia, to discuss/debate/argue/evolve the open standards that make up the Internet. Things like TCP, HTTP, DNS, SIP, IPv6... all those protocols and their many, many offspring.

For people who enjoy the process that creates these standards - and who enjoy the people that make up the IETF - these three-times-yearly face-to-face meetings are amazing places to be. One of the many aspects I enjoy of my work with the Internet Society is that I get to go to the IETF meetings and be part of all that is going on.

Unfortunately, I won't be in Atlanta.

As I've mentioned in the past and written about publicly, my wife is in the second year of treatment for breast cancer. Every three weeks she goes in for an infusion of a drug called Herceptin, which is an antibody that goes after the HER2 protein. She has the treatment on a Monday and then is usually extremely fatigued for the next few days. Generally by Wednesday afternoon or Thursday she's feeling a bit better, but still fatigued. Unfortunately it seems that she's perhaps experiencing more of a "cumulative fatigue," as the recent treatments seem to have had more of an effect - it seems like they are getting harder instead of easier. As a spouse, it's rather painful to watch what these treatments do to her. We can only hope that these are in fact helping fight her cancer.[1]

Next week happens to line up with one of those treatment weeks. I was away for a couple days during the last treatment week and while we have truly incredible friends and family around to help (and they have been helping), the reality is that they can't be there all the time. And so with me away my wife is single-parenting two very active children while feeling like she is moving through molasses.

So I need to be here. The good news is that we only have a few more of these treatments and she'll be free of them by mid-January. Hopefully after that our lives can start to return to a bit more of a normal routine, albeit our "new normal" of a post-chemo-and-still-taking-Tamoxifen world.

The other good news is that the IETF provides multiple ways for people to participate remotely in the meetings. With thousands of engineers all around the globe participating in IETF activities, I'm obviously not the only person who can't attend a given meeting face-to-face. Some people can't travel for family or work reasons... some can't for financial reasons... some can't because they can't get visas to visit the country where the meeting is taking place. Many folks need to participate remotely.

The great aspect for me is that Atlanta is in the same time zone as I am so I won't need to be up in the middle of the night to participate. I can just work "regular" hours and be listening to the audio streams and participating in the jabber chat rooms.

No, it's not as good as being there. You miss out on all the hallway conversations, side meetings, meals, etc., and you can't be there at the microphones to make your points in your own voice. But it is at least possible to participate.

To all the folks I know who will be there in Atlanta, I hope you have a great and productive event! I'll look forward to seeing you all at IETF 86 in March... meanwhile, I'll see you all online during IETF 85. :-)

[1] And yes, sometime I need to write a rant in my series of cancer columns about the fact that the current research regarding Herceptin has so far only shown that "52 weeks" of treatment is effective. It might, in fact, be equally effective in a much shorter timeframe... but the studies have apparently not yet been done to show that.

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Sep 07

AdhearsionConf 2012 Call For Speakers Ends Tomorrow (Sept 8)

Adhearsionconf2012Do you like building telephony apps with Adhearsion? Have you built a really cool app that is worth sharing? Or used Adhearsion in an unusual way? Are you planning to attend AdhearsionConf 2012 in Palo Alto on October 20-21? Or would you attend if you could speak?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, why not consider applying to be a speaker? The call for speakers is at:

http://adhearsionconf.com/call-for-speakers/

The only catch is ... the deadline is TOMORROW, Saturday, September 8th!

Ever since I first saw Jay Phillips present about Adhearsion back at one of the early ETel conferences in maybe 2006 or so I've been intrigued by how easy Adhearsion made it to develop telecom apps. It's just incredibly simple to make powerful apps.

If you are a Ruby developer (or want to be) and you are interested in building telephony apps, Adhearsion is definitely worth a look... and if you do use Adhearsion, why not consider signing up as a speaker?

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Aug 24

SIPNOC 2012 Photos Now Available On Flickr

At this year's SIP Network Operators Conference (SIPNOC) on June 25-27, 2012 in Reston, VA, I was shooting photos of the various presenters as well as trying to take some shots that captured the general feel of the excellent event. As with shooting any event, I find the actual taking photos to be the insanely easy part... it is the curation of the photos that takes the longest amount of time. Over the past bit, though, I finally was able to reduce the 500+ photos I shot down to a meaningful set and I've now posted the SIPNOC 2012 photos up to Flickr:

Sipnoc2012 photos

A special thanks to Spencer Dawkins who took some shots of me speaking.

I've licensed them all under a simple Creative Commons Attribution license so that they can be used by others. If you're in the photos and want an original, you can download them from Flickr... and you're also welcome to contact me if you have any issues downloading a file.

SIPNOC 2012 was a great event and kudos to the SIP Forum for making the event happen! I'm looking forward to next year's event!

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Feb 20

Inspiring Video: LeVar Burton’s TOC Keynote On The Power Of Stories and Storytelling

One of the highlights of attending O'Reilly's TOCCON last week in New York turned out to be a short but incredibly inspiring keynote presentation by LeVar Burton, who some of us may forever know as "Geordi LaForge" from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and others may know from his 25 years with "Reading Rainbow" or as Kunte Kinte way back in days of "ROOTS". As he is of course a professional actor, his delivery was wonderful to listen to, but even more I enjoyed what he had to say about the power of stories and storytelling. Some key quotes to me:
I am a firm believer in the link between that which we imagine and that which we create.

The stories that we tell each other, and have told each other, throughout the history of the development of civilization, are integrally important, are inextricably linked, to how we continue to invent the world in which we live.

That, upon which we focus our attention, is what we manifest in the third dimension.

The stories that we tell each other inform us about who we are, why we're here and where we're going.

You come here to use your imaginations in the service of storytelling.

He spoke, too, about the transition we are in now with publishing and the road ahead.

It was a very inspiring presentation and a great way to start the day... enjoy!

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