UBM TechWeb's Enterprise Connect Announces Winners of the First Ever Innovation Showcase

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Connect, formerly VoiceCon, produced by UBM TechWeb, today announced the winners of its first-ever Innovation Showcase competition. The four winners of the competition will present their ideas and approaches during opening sessions at Enterprise Connect Orlando at 9:00 am on both Tuesday and Wednesday, March 1 and 2. Enterprise Connect opened today and runs through March 3 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, FL.

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Innovation Showcase is the inaugural competition exclusive to Enterprise Connect seeking innovative, start-up companies that push the agenda in enterprise communications and collaboration. The criteria for eligibility included having at least one enterprise reference customer for the nominated product or service, and the applicants had to focus on enterprise communication and/or collaboration and have revenues of less than $5 million. Submissions for the Innovation Showcase were judged based on the new idea, product, or service presented for improving enterprise communications and/or collaboration.

• Fonolo (Wednesday March 2 at 9 am from the Keynote Stage)
• harmon.ie (Wednesday March 2 at 9 am from the Keynote Stage)
• ProtonMedia (Tuesday March 1 at 9 am from the Keynote Stage)
• Radish Systems (Tuesday March 1 at 9 am from the Keynote Stage)

"The response was greater than we anticipated and it was very challenging to pick the top four companies. It's clear that IP communications and the Internet are far from finished disrupting this space," said Dave Michels. "It was invigorating to see these new fresh ideas to very old problems."

"Enterprise Connect is delighted to recognize these startups, whose products and services address important areas – Cloud-based communications, training and collaboration via Virtual Reality, visual response systems and the integration of document management, Unified Communications and collaboration," said Fred Knight, Enterprise Connect's GM and Co-Chair. "We're proud to be able to showcase these companies and the energy they bring to the marketplace and industry."

In addition to their presentations from the Enterprise Connect keynote stage (Osceola C), the four winners will be showcased during the Enterprise Connect Exhibition in the Innovation Theater, Booth 329.

The Enterprise Connect Innovation Showcase was managed by Dave Michels, CEO, Verge1, who blogs frequently on NoJitter.com, Enterprise Connect's editorial Web site. Michels, who has his own blog at http://www.pindropsoup.com/ also served as one of the judges, and was joined on the Innovation Showcase judging panel by Jamie Libow, Director, Voice, Travelers; Larry Lisser, Principal, Embrase; Mike McLaughlin, Interim CIO, Books Are Fun; and Larry Riba, Senior Voice/UC Engineer, Brocade Communications.

About Enterprise Connect®

Enterprise Connect® (formerly VoiceCon) is the leading conference and exhibition for enterprise IP Telephony, Converged Networks and Unified Communications in North America. Enterprise Connect® brings corporate IT decision makers together with the industry's vendors, analysts and consultants to focus on the issues central to enterprise networks and communications. Enterprise Connect® owns and produces No Jitter, (http://www.nojitter.com/), providing daily blogging and analysis of enterprise communications, and it also serves the community with a weekly email newsletter, a Webinar Series and Virtual Events. For more information, visit http://enterpriseconnect.com/.

About UBM TechWeb

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology. Through its three core businesses – media solutions, marketing services and paid content – UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands and media applications in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs and IT managers, Web & Digital professionals, Software Developers, Government decision makers, and Telecom providers) actively engage in UBM TechWeb's communities and information resources monthly. UBM TechWeb brands includes: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and Enterprise Connect; award-winning online resources such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Network Computing; and market-leading magazines InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, and Advanced Trading. UBM TechWeb is a UBM company, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

SOURCE UBM TechWeb