So, our 2014 annual party in Las Vegas is now officially over and one thing that we can say for sure is that we had a ton of fun! We hope you enjoyed it too!
For those of you who couldn’t make it, our Vegas party was the biggest yet, with close to 400 guests in attendance. It was held at the beautiful TAO nightclub which is famous for its Buddha theme and amazing miso-glazed Chilean sea bass (we swear, it literally melted in your mouth… yummy and incredibly flavorful!)
We also LOVED the amazing décor, specifically the statue of the Indonesian monks holding the candles! And let’s not forget TAO’s amazing signature martinis, the “TAOtinis” (which, in our opinion, has to be one of the best martinis out there)!
Besides the delicious food and friendly service, TAO also offered an amazing ambiance: spectacular decor, great music, super trendy and sleek (perfect for this event!) and filled with most of our favorite people: you! Oh, and one more thing: there was some dancing too this year, which was a very nice surprise!
As all good things must come to an end, we would like to thank you for joining our party and making it the success that it was. We sincerely hope to see you again next year. If you took some pictures of the evening and would like to share them with us, please send them to marketing@ibwave.com.
Here is a selection of images from the party. You might even see yourself in one of the pictures! To see the rest, check out the photo gallery which is now posted on our Facebook page! Powered by Boohle
As is often the case, the return of the warm, sunny days of summer signals the beginning of the tradeshow season, and what better way to kick it off than with a trip to the “City Beautiful” (aka Orlando, Florida)?
So naturally, our lucky team (Vladan Jevremovic, Director of Engineering; Alex Jovel, Manager of Sales Engineering; German Guzman, Sales Manager, Mid W & North E. and Debra Mercier, Sales Manager, Mid West) all jumped at the opportunity to participate in the 2014 edition of the PCIA Wireless Infrastructure Show to make “MORE CONNECTIONS”!
Once again this year, the show didn’t disappoint, drawing record crowds and providing a perfect opportunity for us to catch up with old friends and make new ones! And based on our discussions (in the networking sessions as well as in the exhibition hall), one thing was clear: the demand for mobile data continues to put pressure on network operators and infrastructure players as a whole, and new, smarter solutions are needed to alleviate and address the pressing speed, coverage and capacity challenges.
In fact, this message was also reflected in the opening remarks by the FCC Commissioner who clearly stated that:
“It’s time to make it easier for carriers to deploy their networks, particularly small cells and DAS systems that increase capacity.” – Ajit Pai, FCC Commissioner
So, despite the jam-packed agenda (which included over 35 lectures, panels, roundtables and special events), and everyone’s hectic schedules, our booth attracted great attendance, with visitors showing an active interest in our iBwave Design and Mobile platforms and wanting to schedule live demos. In addition, the need for ICP certifications also seemed to be high on everyone’s agenda, particularly as many were starting to get involved in an increasing number of DAS and small cell deployment projects.
The team however did manage to escape the tradeshow activities to attend interesting keynote speeches and expert panels from Ericsson, AT&T and others. Of particularly interest was the “Viva Brasil! Preparing for the World’s Biggest Sports Events” panel discussion which featured Boingo and highlighted the need for upgraded networks in order to ensure a world-class wireless experience during the upcoming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Qualcomm EVP Peggy Johnson also gave a very insightful talk about their small-cell deployment trial with Sprint and NASCAR.
iBwave (or rather Vladan) was also honored to present in the “Wireless Trends Driving Demand for DAS” session where he got to talk in depth about the RF Design considerations surrounding large and complex venues such as stadiums, campuses, subways and airports. (For those who might have missed it, you can watch the recording, courtesy of our friends from RCR Wireless News here).
Discussing the trends driving the demand for I-DAS and O-DAS in the HetNet including the need for in-building coverage and capacity; the business model for neutral host systems; opportunities for O-DAS in dense metro areas; and how DAS can support future network technologies…
Overall, the event was extremely productive and we all had a great time, but all good things must come to an end; already, we are packing up our suitcases as we get ready to set off for the next leg of our Summer Tour. Rendez-vous in London, UK for the highly anticipated Small Cells World Summit. If you happen to be in town, do come and say “hi”: we will be exhibiting at booth #6! Looking forward to seeing you there…
Because we believe that all work and no play makes for no fun!
Who says that you have to be indoors to talk about in-building connectivity?
As the temperatures in Texas are quite pleasant at this time of the year, our Dallas team was keen on shaking off the winter blues and going beyond the standard four walls to inject fresh energy into their next event. And what better place to do it than at the Nylo Plano Legacy, with its convenient location, relaxing atmosphere and delightful courtyard?
Despite the unusually windy conditions (but hey, as they say in Dallas, “If you don’t like the weather, give it an hour and it’ll change”), our networking cocktail turned out to be a success, drawing participation from Black Box, T-Mobile, Ericsson, Solid Technologies, Sprint and Airtel to name a few, and providing a perfect opportunity to reconnect with existing customers, meet new ones, and further strengthen our ties within the local in-building ecosystem.
The day started with some brief introductions from the team and an invitation to enter the Super iBwave Man contest (Super iBwave Man is the one & only in-building wireless game out there. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should go and check it out!).
Corey McLaughlin, our account manager, used this opportunity to highlight the upcoming 2014 iBwave User Group which will be held for the first time in Dallas, where we have one of the largest customer-bases.
By sharing ideas, experiences and best practices, the User Group will help raise and address key issues, thus providing valuable recommendations on product enhancement and development. Feedback and participation to the meetings are therefore greatly encouraged.
Corey also brought up another Not To Be Missed event: our much-anticipated Annual Party! The event, which will be held in conjunction with the DAS & Smalls Cells Congress, attracted close to 300 guests last year. It is therefore THE place to come and eat, drink and network with industry peers. The festivities will be held at the beautiful Tao Beach, so save the day (or rather the evening): June 16th, and keep an eye out for your official invitation later on this week!
With this done, it was time to turn it over to Scott Pereira, our Director of Partnerships, and the team. Scott started by talking about iBwave’s product portfolio, illustrating how it can be leveraged to effectively and efficiently facilitate the flow of information across the in-building ecosystem and standardize the entire network lifecycle.
Scott also dived a little bit deeper into iBwave’s Mobile Offering, explaining how the in-building application can transform your smartphone and tablet into the perfect tools to document your site surveys, keeping you connected with your peers and project information while on the road.
Our two Sales Engineers (Nazim and Mekki) also conducted a live demo which was very interactive and illustrated the real use case of Mobile, Design, Unity.
Not surprisingly, this generated a great deal of interest and prompted a few questions on our latest Mobile Planner app which was launched early last month, and which now allows field technicians to perform basic indoor designs for small cells and Wi-Fi directly from their smartphones and tablets!
But as always, time goes fast when you are having fun and already it was time to conclude the session with a few closing remarks before announcing the names of our lucky winners.
Congratulations to Chris Cloud from Sprint and Ben Jones from Innerwireless/Black Box who both went home with free seats for the next iBwave Certification Program.
On behalf of the iBwave Dallas team, we’d like to thank all the members of the in-building ecosystem who took some time out of their busy days to join us for this networking cocktail. We greatly appreciated the opportunity to get to know you a little bit better and look forward to seeing you again soon!
