What a difference a year makes.

Last year’s Avaya Engage conference took place just a month after the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. There was uncertainty in the air as conference attendees were anxious to hear more about the company’s plans to work through and emerge from chapter 11.

Flash forward to this year’s Engage in New Orleans and excitement replaced uncertainty as Avaya has emerged from chapter 11 as a public company with a little less than half the debt it had when it filed, and has outlined plans for aggressive growth in the coming months.

The conference, Avaya’s biggest Engage ever, drew more than 3,000 partners and customers to the Big Easy. Borrowing a famous quote from Mark Twain, Jim Chirico, Avaya’s president and CEO, told attendees the “rumors of Avaya’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Click through our gallery below for highlights of the event and for people you might know, then read our daily stories from the event: