There is nothing as exciting as our annual customer and partner gathering each year, and this year, for the first time, we are bringing over 600 people together in my backyard, downtown Los Angeles. The energy in LA is unlike any other city, bringing a cool vibe to a hot town, with everything from music and entertainment to technology and a vibrant economy. As part of the real-time communications industry, we are in the networking business, and there will be no better networking happening than at this gathering which has grown each year over the past five years. 

Talk about collaboration! While our stellar marketing team puts in a huge amount of effort to plan an amazing experience for every attendee, from the presentations, to the Solution Showcase, to the technical training sessions, and of course the events and entertainment, we all recognize that the greatest value in bringing people together is the magic that happens when unexpected creative sparks are lit. 

Perspectives17.com offers a more detailed view of the program and all that we'll be covering over the five-day event, from July 16 - 20.

Here are some top ten trends I'm personally looking forward to learning more at Perspectives17:

1. Network Modernization and where we stand in the evolution towards next-generation and LTE 
2. Network Virtualization and preparing for the world of fully software driven network creation, operations and management 
3. Software defined networking, and the SD-WAN phenomenon
4. Hyper-Connected computing and communications, and how network operators and enterprise IT teams are planning to support increasing demands on already strained IP networks 
5. The Cloud of Everything, and getting ready, beyond public, private and hybrid clouds, for the "MultiCloud" future
6. The Exchange of Everything, which is now become even more a part of how we live and work, as cognitive communications emerges 
7. The Intersection of RTC and IoT: how real is the promise of massive service provider revenues when machine and human communications come together 
8. The Internet & Industry 4.0: how governments are coming together with enterprises and service providers to improve everything from how Smart Cities to Smart Schools and Smart Factories operate and make our lives safer and better 
9. The Service Economy and how modernized networks are now supporting new services rapidly spun up by software developers, and how service providers can address continuing pressure from challengers like Facebook and WhatsApp by creating better apps for their subscribers 
10. XaaS and how platforms are making it possible for service providers to dramatically reduce the time it takes to develop, test, brand and market awesome solutions for communications, collaboration and embedded contextual interactions to enterprises and SMBs 

What's exceptionally exciting about this year's event is the number of very accomplished guest speakers we'll be bringing to the main stage, including customers and partners with whom we've been working since the last event to bring to life visionary solutions that are now part of the real world, and rocking new revenues. This year’s line-up of great keynotes includes executives from Deutsche Telekom’s immmr, IBM, Intel, Polycom, CenturyLink and Five9 just to name a few. We have several more from today’s leading technology companies who are scheduled to be part of some great panel discussions. 

I am also really excited about the great entertainment that we have planned for attendees. This year’s anticipated main performance on Wednesday night will be BOSTYX featuring David Victor formerly of BOSTON. BOSTYX brings all of the great hits of BOSTON and STYX together in one amazing live show. The opening act will be Merge Factory, an immersive high-energy multimedia performance that combines live visuals with various genres of music and live instruments and other performance mediums. Both acts have performed around the world and are going be an awesome addition to our Perspectives17 line-up.

I am also excited that GENBAND will be hosting the Women in the Channel Networking Event on Wednesday, July 19 from 5-7 p.m. as part of the official conference program; all registered attendees are welcome to join this gathering.  Women in the Channel will also have a presence on the Solutions Showcase floor to share their vision in support of women in tech.  Be sure to stop by their table to meet their team.

Perspectives would not be possible without the great support of our partners and sponsors. I want to personally thank each and every one for helping make Perspectives one of the best events in our industry.

The work we do together, being showcased once a year, is truly that - collaborations that have resulted in innovations that are changing the way we connect and communicate. It's important to celebrate the successes we share, and to share those stories with our colleagues, particularly given the importance of truly real-time communications that address matters of public safety, public health and public awareness, which attendees will learn about as one of many topics in July. 

Looking forward to seeing everybody there, and to the ideas and innovation that will surface this year!