Watch This Space Podcast

Labor Day is a good time to think about the longer-term implications of virtual work, and on this episode, we explore how this checks many boxes for workers, but less so for management. We also discuss how the world of consulting represents a good model for making this work, along with where emerging technologies can serve a higher purpose to build culture.

Our timing was good to talk about the acquisition of Five9 by Zoom. Many implications to consider, especially for the remaining pure play contact center vendors, with more moves, no doubt to come. With summer beckoning and pandemic fears easing, we also explored how crowds are back now for many sporting events, live music, etc., but return to office – not so much.

On this episode, we review the emerging dynamics of the post-pandemic workplace between employees and employers. Both will need to be flexible in new ways, and while there's lots of great collaboration technology to make all this possible, there's more to a healthy workplace than work, and we have some thoughts on what's really important.

With AT&T spinning out Time Warner, it’s not hard to understand why Amazon just acquired MGM. Jon and Chris examine parallels here to last month’s podcast about the history of telecom, and it’s another example of how IP – Internet Protocol - has disrupted industries evolving from analog to digital technologies.

Telephony has a long and rich history, and provides the template for the rise and fall of all forms of technology innovation that have followed. Chris and Jon connect the dots here, and more to come during our first PulveREDU online course on May 13.

Microsoft's new report has timely data around a hot trend these days – hybrid work. This is going to be the way forward as we come out of the pandemic, but with challenges that are distinct from both work from home, and working in the office. Chris and Jon have it covered on Episode 35 of Watch This Space.

For our latest episode, Chris and Jon look ahead to a post-pandemic world, but also to a new course we'll be offering on a new learning network, PulveREDU. We provide the backstory, and what founder Jeff Pulver is striving for, along witha  preview for the topice - The New Voice. Target date is later in March for our course, and watch for registration details.

For this episode, Jon and Chris explore issues around trust with the Internet, social media and Big Tech, and the challenges that poses to keep the work from home experiment going. The future of work is very much tech-driven, and we raise some questions about tech going too far or being used for the wrong reasons.

Season 4 of Watch This Space kicks off with an episode looking ahead to 2021 for the future of work, and thinking bigger about AI. There is nothing more pressing for the world to solve than COVID-19, and this is the moment AI is really built for. If that doesn’t catch your interest, I don’t know what will, so I hope you give this episode a listen.

To close out Season 3, Jon and Chris recap a year like no other, looking at what went well and not-so-well with tech and the future of work in the age of  COVID-19. In particular, we examine the challenges employers will face trying to bring workers back to the office in 2021, and the role AI can play can make work for both parties.

In this episode, we talk about highlights from three major events from last month – Zoom, Slack and Twilio – with Zoomtopia commanding most of our time. There’s just SO much innovation happening with cloud, AI, and collaboration technologies, but we also added a new segment  to the podcast that’s all about music, touching on Keith Jarrett and Alicia Keys. Check it out to see how we tie all this together.

In this episode, Jon and Chris talk about how the growing need for broadband access presents challenges and opportunities for service providers, especially as work from home becomes the norm. Citing examples from pro sports, the film industry and live music, the role of technology is examined for creating better virtual experiences that in many ways are becoming the new reality.

COVID has been good for business in the collaboration space, and in this episode, Chris and Jon explore what's driving this success, and where we should expect to see innovation coming from as the Work From Home trend continues through 2020.

Today's technology is so good and so easy to use, and it's a major reason why Work From Home is even possible. Chris and Jon explore both the pros and cons of this reality, and how it drives employee engagement when remote working is the norm.

Our July 2020 podcast was spurred by the recent announcement of Connect from Slack, which draws a clearer line in the sand for those who do or do not use email in the workplace. This may be more about disruption than innovation, but it was the starting point for this episode.