Telecosm - Ike Elliott

Blogging Hiatus

Well, I've been back at Level 3 for two weeks, and I have to say I am really enjoying working with the great people at the company, many of whom I had the pleasure to work with before.  In my last blog post, I promised that I would keep you posted on whether I could continue blogging about telecom, and that I'd have to see how the new job went first.

Unfortunately, given my role in corporate strategy, it has become clear to me that not only would it not be appropriate for me to blog about Level 3, but it really wouldn't be appropriate for me to blog about telecom in general.  If I were to blog about telecom, then some of my readers would undoubtedly be wondering if my blog posts were somehow influenced by what I am working on at Level 3, and would be trying to read between the lines to see what they could glean about what is going on inside of Level 3.  And of course, even if I thought I could segregate my thinking and only blog about stuff that I'm not working on at Level 3, I couldn't be sure if I could really pull that trick off.  Sadly, that means I am going to have to put this blog on a telecom hiatus...so no telecom posting from here on out, unless and until something materially changes in my employment situation. 

I want to thank all of my readers...the give and take was really fun and I learned a lot from you.  I still hope to meet many of you face to face at some point. 

I'll leave the blog archives up at least until my TypePad subscription runs out in a couple of months...I can't promise it will continue after that. 

All the best,

Ike 

Back To The Mother Ship

After exactly five years of part-time consulting, I have decided to get back into the full time work force with a return to Level 3 Communications, where I'll be working in Corporate Development, starting tomorrow.

I'm thrilled to be joining the Level 3 team.  In my five-year absence, the company has performed a magic act, growing into their balance sheet by doing a string of acquisitions.  The team, from the rank-and-file all the way up through the management ranks, has perservered through the hard work of acquisition integration and the uncertainty of the inevitable post-acquisition layoffs.  Now, thanks to the efforts of that team, Level 3 may be on the verge of becoming the company it has always believed it could be.  I am humbled to be accepted back into the ranks of such a scrappy, battle-hardened group.

Readers of this blog may be wondering what my return to Level 3 will mean for my blogging, and the short answer is that I don't know, at least not yet.  Clearly, I will be subject to the standard restrictions of working for a public company, so at the very least, I won't be able to blog about Level 3 in any specific way.  I don't know how far those restrictions will extend, though, so I'll let the readers of this blog know what to expect, as soon as I know what to expect. 

Also, the time demands of the new position could limit the amount of time I have for blogging.  Again, once I figure out my new schedule I'll let you know what you can expect in terms of how frequently I will be writing new posts.

Since starting the blog in late October, 2007, the readership here has grown to nearly 400 subscribers. For the loyal readers of this blog, thank you for taking the time to visit this little corner of the Internet.  I hope to continue writing, and will keep you "posted" on whether I can do that.

 

Podcast - September 2, 2008 - Unity Business Networks, Guest: Bob Paulsen

How does one of the earliest hosted IP PBX service providers run their business these days?  Today's podcast interview is with Bob Paulsen, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Unity Business Networks.  Listen in as Bob tells us how the Denver-based business VoIP provider was born and how the company is thriving in challenging economic times. 

  (About 33 minutes)

Download Paulsen_Interview.mp3