By David Byrd

This past weekend was very interesting as I did a homework assignment for one of my wifes students. Gay teaches at a small college in Dallas that has a culinary school. One of the tests is to look at a list of ingredients and put together an appetizer and main course. The student, having read a few of my Monday blogs, asked me to work with a flat iron steak and puff pastry for an appetizer and rabbit as a main course. The list contained everything needed to make mini-Wellingtons as an appetizer (Dijon-style mustard was missing). I decided to go in that direction anyway. Since she is more comfortable with a food processor than her knives, making duxelle (seasoned mushroom mixture) would be pretty simple. The rabbit I did a classic braise. Although, I did substitute sherry wine for white wine, this was not in the basket. I wanted to serve over mashed potatoes but had to use turnips instead. I think the three recipes are all very good. Give them a try. As for what we ate this weekend that consisted of burgers, cassoulet (white beans with various sausages and chicken), grilled bacon wrapped scallops and grilled Italian seasoned vegetables. The grilled vegetables were our favorite tastes for the weekend. However, I created three recipes and therefore, Mini-Beef Wellingtons, Braised Rabbit and Mashed Turnips are my recipes for this week. Enjoy!

The Big Show

Last week I conducted an audit of the Big Show, or the 2012 National Retail Federation Conference. It is a big event with over 400 exhibitors. I was curious to see if it might be time for Broadvox to exhibit. The show is so large I think we would be swallowed up by its sheer size and diverse subject areas. However, one major message delivered by most of the application and solution providers was Get into the Cloud.” Cloud computing is clearly the delivery mechanism of applications for some time to come. This includes hosted communications as MegaPath, Sprint and EarthLink were touting their hosted offerings. Given an attendance of 22,000 attendees, there should be enough business there for additional service providers with hosted communications solutions. 

Next week is ITEXPO in Miami. I will be there and look forward to sharing more of whats going on in Unified Communications and SIP Trunking. If you want to me up while there, send me an email ([email protected]) and Ill do my best to find time in my schedule.

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.