Inbox 2004 East: Is Microsoft up for a duel?

September 27 2004

Inbox 2004 East is scheduled for November 17-19, 2004, in Atlanta, GA USA.  As with the inaugural Inbox conference this past June, the event is shaping up to be quite interesting, with a number of insightful sessions, panels, and workshops.
Conference organizers contacted IBM Lotus about participating in the conference several weeks ago.  The answer was an unhesitating "of course".  You can see the agenda on the Inbox site; I, or other representatives of IBM Lotus, will be part of several sessions, including the Notes/Domino workshop (of course) and a panel that is part of Stowe Boyd's Real Time Collaboration workshop.
One of the other sessions I agreed to participate in doesn't yet appear on the agenda.  The Inbox team asked if I would be willing to participate in a messaging platform/vision "debate" with my respected industry peers from Microsoft Corporation.  It has been years since this type of session has occurred -- each vendor has respectively taken competitive positions on our own, but there hasn't been a "great debate" in five years.
On Friday, I learned from Martin Hall, the Inbox conference organizer, that Microsoft surprisingly has not yet agreed to participate in this session.  I wonder why Microsoft would not have readily agreed to such a discussion?
After thinking about it over the weekend, I decided was worth a bit of blogger attention; probably better done on the InsideLotus weblog but ah, well.  Anyway, drawing inspiration from the event's location in Atlanta, and the sparring approach of the senior Senator from the great state of Georgia, I'm making the proposal public.  Thus, hereby, the Microsoft Exchange team is challenged to a duel over messaging marketplace perspectives, at the November, 2004, Inbox East conference.  Hope to see you there :)

Ed Brill Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Messaging  Add/View Comments [4]

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  1. 1  Darren http://www.dadams.co.uk | 9/27/2004 9:21:27 AM

    Perhaps they're worried someone will ask them about the Exchange roadmap.

  1. 2  Bob Brodsky  | 9/27/2004 10:36:15 AM

    Ed,

    I actually work in the neighborhood of this conference.

    I am willing to accept passes for the date that you are speaking. I will be VERY supportive of your positions

    =:-)

    Bob

  1. 3  Alan Lepofsky http://www-1.ibm.com/partnerworld/pwhome.nsf/weblook/index.html | 9/27/2004 11:33:30 AM

    You should get t-shirts made with the images from your MS graveyard slide. :-)

  1. 4  Martin Hall http://goldengroup.typepad.com/inbox/ | 9/27/2004 4:49:34 PM

    I'm on the "no more mediocre conferences - don't stand for it" horse. Too much PR-based spin control keeps real debates that reflect the competitive realities of the marketplace from happening. Blogs are a way back to real debate that bypass the PR control channels (right, Ed?). And I'd like to see the same thing happen to conferences across the board - not just the one I happen to run. Assuming I can get an OK from an Exchange representative, this should be a humdinger of a session in Atlanta.

    I'm glad Ed's got a perverse streak running through him because, as he pointed out, he'll be in the session on what analysts do, hot on the heels of debate started here on his blog. David Ferris has agreed to join Ed there and there's an open invitation to Sara Radicati to join in and continue the conversation.

    And, you heard it here first, I got agreement today from Scott Richter ({ Link } and Pete Wellborn ({ Link } to debate each other at the INBOX event in November. Look them up if you want to understand why this is match and powder keg stuff.