Last week a variety of CP-TA members participated in Light Reading’s “xTCA and COTS Virtual Event”, an all-day online soiree consisting of the “who’s who” of standards-based telecom infrastructure, including Continuous Computing, Emerson Network Power, Kontron and RadiSys. View the archived event here.

Hosted by Simon Stanley, the ever-present (and well-regarded) industry analyst covering all things ATCA, the virtual event commenced at 6 am PT and concluded at 2 pm PT – early for us West Coasters but a good scheduling compromise in order to include our colleagues on the East Coast and in Europe.

Anthony Ambrose of RadiSys kicked things off with a strong morning keynote address touting the many advantages of ATCA – time to market, strength of the ecosystem, 40G innovation, and more.

Next, a webinar-style panel discussion on “Building 40G Platforms for Emerging Applications” ensued consisting of Mike Coward (Continuous Computing), CP-TA President Sven Freudenfeld (Kontron), Eric Gregory (RadiSys) and Fredrik Johansson (Procera Networks).

Motorola’s Paul Steinberg delivered the afternoon keynote (which was well received) and then another panel discussion on “Delivering System Solutions for Next-Gen Networks” took place featuring (again) Mike Coward (Continuous Computing), again CP-TA President Sven Freudenfeld (Kontron), Paul Phillips (Genband) and Chandresh Ruparel (RadiSys).

Of course all throughout the day there were folks “walking the show floor” and dropping into the virtual booths of Continuous Computing, Emerson Network Power, Kontron, Light Reading and RadiSys. Booth visitors could have open or private chat sessions with booth staff (or with each other) as well as view videos, download collateral and product content, take surveys, etc.

Was the event a success? Well, I say it was 100% better than last year’s event primarily because folks seemed more willing to engage in chat sessions and actually communicate something more than simply, “Hi, I’m just looking around.” Light Reading writers and editors (e.g., Craig Matsumoto, Carol Wilson) attended the sessions and engaged in after-party discussion, while key industry leaders including Chuck Byers were there to listen, observe and provide feedback.

Could the event be better? Yes, absolutely. For example, one of my suggestions to Simon for next time is to have a few different “themed lounges” (e.g., transition to 40G, LTE core, DPI platforms, Make vs. Buy, etc.) in which folks could talk shop in more detail than the higher-level chats in the post-webinar lounges; this might get more visitor interaction and spark more dialogue. Having more “public discussion” (as opposed to private chats) would allow more people to graze, listen and possibly pipe up with questions and comments. Having more network equipment providers and operators would be useful as well; everyone wants more feedback from the field.

These are my thoughts – but I’d love to hear what others have to say. Note too that another xTCA virtual event (this next one hosted by OpenSystems and Conference Concepts) will be taking place on Thursday, June 24. I encourage everyone interested in the xTCA community to drop in and check it out. Together we make for a stronger ecosystem and a stronger CP-TA.