I'm humbled once again to be considered one of the best. Words cannot express how I feel about being named number two behind pal Jeff Pulver when it comes to being recognized as an authority on the subject called VoIP. It was Jeff who first agreed to my suggestion that a bloggers panel at VON back in 2005 would be a great way to propel blogging as a mainstream news and analysis source of information for the VoIP industry.
What's more meaningful though is that as I look at the list I see many of the people I consider friends right there too. These are not people who just know each other. Many are comrades in arms.
For example, if it wasn't for Om Malik wanting to learn about which wines go with which Indian dish I would not have met the woman who is now my wife, Helene. Alec Saunders is both friend and client. Our similar passions for all things tech, wine and travel give us more to talk about when we see each other (which isn't often enough) I also never would have participated in a DEMO God award ceremony if he and Howard hadn't conceived iotum, and had the good fortune to brainstorm in my white board room that DEMO would be the defining event for iotum. Rich Tehrani's events have provided a springboard to moderate panels at in VoIP. Guys like Jim Courtney, Phil Wolff, Russell Shaw and others are regular dining companions at industry events, with and without my wife who has gotten to know them all as well.
Thank you to the judges. But most of all, thank you to the readers. You are why this is all possible.
P.S. No list is ever complete. I'd add Ted Wallingford, PhoneBoy who deserves credit for the listed CreativeWeblog VoIP blog and pal Aswath to the list immediately. All are far more technical than I can ever dream of being and provide the kind of counter balance we need to know not only what works, but why it works better.
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