Slow, Steady and Fast

Crazy weekend for food, it was, even for me. I was on the road all of last week in Nashville for ILTA 2011 and Chicago for Channel Partners. In Nashville, I ordered hot fried chicken which is quite popular in the region. It was interesting but seems to focus more on heat than flavor. In Chicago, I had steak and Italian and the restaurants did not fail to delight. Gene and Georgetti for steak and Carmine’s for Italian were can’t miss choices. When I returned home on Friday, my wife asked for pasta, so I thought about what sauces I had readymade and decided I needed to make one on Saturday. I chose Bolognese. Now this is an understated sauce without the usual oregano or basil to develop flavor. Rather, done well, this sauce delivers an older Italy to the plate. It is easy to make but it takes around three hours to prep and cook. There are faster versions but not better versions. The result of patience and time is absolutely delicious. I served the sauce over fettuccini for Gay and penne pasta for me. And remember, San Marzano tomatoes are worth the extra cost for that extra burst of flavor they bring to the dish. Sunday, I lightly smoked a rib eye steak, grilled it to medium rare and served it with a balsamic reduction blended with butter, sort of a vinegary beurre blanc. So for the slow and easy, make the Bolognese Sauce, the recipe for this week. Enjoy!

Steady

Today is the 10th anniversary of Broadvox. From its humble beginnings, we are now generating over $100 million in annual revenues, have nearly 300 employees and are recognized as a leader in IP communications. Steady is our progress even during difficult times. I attribute that to our founders and management team. So, congratulations to our founders, Andre Temnorod, Eugene Blumin and Alex Bederman. Congratulations to our employees, partners and our customers. At the Dallas office we are celebrating this momentous occasion with an upscale potluck lunch featuring a lightly smoked then roasted New York Strip with Marsala mushroom au jus and grilled pork loin.

Fast

Channel Partners was the best it’s been since I joined Broadvox. I have never been so busy meeting with our channel partners, OEMs and business associates. The fast pace of Channel Partners caused the three days to fly by in a blur of activity. While we stopped exhibiting this year, we are conducting education sessions. This year’s session was on succeeding in selling hosted communications. The session was well attended with a very interactive audience. Next year we will conduct sessions on Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and, of course, SIP Trunking. The fast pace of Channel Partners merits your attendance. I hope to see you in Las Vegas in the spring for the next one!

David Byrd is vice president of marketing and sales for Broadvox , and is responsible for marketing and channel sales programs to SMBs, enterprises and carriers as well as defining the product offering. Prior to joining Broadvox, David was the vice president of Channels and Alliances for Eftia and Telcordia. As director of eBusiness Development with i2 Technologies, he developed major partnerships with many of the leaders in Internet eCommerce and supply chain management. As CEO of Planet Hollywood Online he was a pioneer in using early Internet technologies to build a branded entertainment and eCommerce website company partnered with Planet Hollywood. Having over 20 years of telecom sales and marketing experience, he has held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Sprint and Ericsson.