Title:  Government Solutions Director at Avaya, Member of the PBX/Multi-Line Telephone System technical subcommittee of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
Employer:  Avaya
Nickname/Alias:  The French prononciation of Guy (Gee) laissez les bon ton roulette!

What I'm Best Known For (in the Telecom World):

Helping people use telecom applications to prepare for and respond to emergencies. Bringing a rock band to our booth at Educause 2005 (Give me the beat boys to free my soul …)

Other Primary Areas of Expertise:

State and local government communications
Public safety telecommunications
Using communications applications to make government more responsive to the citizen

Summary of Professional Background:

27 years in the telecommunications industry including Avaya, Lucent Technologies and AT&T. Experience in sales, marketing, solutions management and customer service. Managed large groups of personnel. Frequent spokesperson at various conferences and forums. Have had some really cool experiences in demonstrating bleeding edge technologies at pubic events such as, in the early years of WiFi, combining video conferencing and WiFi to “broadcast” live action of the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Prediction on the Future of Telecom & Telecom Managers:

Real-time communications applications become increasing ubiquitous to the point that people come to expect to be able to “reach out and touch” anyone, anytime, anywhere, and in the way each personally desires at any moment. Real-time communications will become expected like the oxygen in the air we breathe and communications applications will become increasing sophisticated to the point that they will anticipate the user’s preferences and needs.

Weirdest Thing People Usually Don't Know about Me:

I occasionally enjoy jumping in the freezing cold ocean in the middle of winter.

When I'm not talking or doing something in relation to telecom, I'm usually...

Playing pond hockey with my sons or running alone through the local forest. 

Book and author I'm currently reading:

Ken Follett: The Pillars of the Earth (In no hurry to finish, but can’t wait to start the sequel).

CD currently or most recently in my car stereo:

The Very Best of the Doobie Brothers (O’l Blackwater keep on rollin …)

The stupidest thing I've ever seen anyone do or say in relation to a phone:

Well, it doesn’t involve a real person, but in the movie “In & Out” there’s a fashion model who is stranded in a run-down motel and forced to use a rotary phone: She tries to push the holes in the number wheel and promptly falls apart when it doesn’t work.