And, even more painfully, just six months ago we led you to believe that we were somewhat close to finishing the list, just lacking a few suggestions from our smarter-than-average readers (see Pick Your 'Movers & Shakers').
Boy, were we wrong.
So, while we roost here with egg on our faces – and why not? It's good for the complexion – we present our newest, most updatedest list for your edification.
But first, a note of explanation:
This Top Ten Movers and Shakers list follows a familiar format at first, but then it gets kinda weird (well, okay, weirder). .
Our new list still has pictures and descriptions of each Mover and/or Shaker. We want you to know them. We want you to walk up to them at tradeshows and pat them on the back with one hand, while thrusting your resumé into their gut with the other, all the while droning on about how they're just the kind of person you've always "envisioned" yourself "working with."
Unlike our past Top Ten lists (see The Top Ten Movers and Shakers in Optical Networking ), however, our "Has Been Bin" has been upgraded with a special new feature: Really Horrible Haiku™. We've decided that in the post-bubble environment, just about every former Mover and Shaker needs to be moved into the "Has Been Bin," so it's time to find a more elegant manner of trashing them.
What about those who came close to making the list? We chose not to recognize them this time around. And it really would have been a stretch to include them. Need an example? Well, okay, we'll share one nomination:
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I pick CEO Barry Nalls of Masergy Communications.
While AT&T, Qwest, and everyone else tout IP/VPNs, Barry started a company 3 years ago that does MPLS. No one, and I mean no one, does Native IP with MPLS.
Barry’s Chief Scientist heads up the MPLS Forum, Mr. Nalls has raised $100 million in a non-VC funding period, and Barry is at the forefront of truly revolutionizing the industry... If you rally take a look at the Website, there is no smoke and mirrors... I say, last year, Light Reading missed Barry. This year, it’ll be hard to ignore him.
Thanks so much. While we appreciate Mr. Nalls's accomplishments, his name poses a problem. Too many jokes. Fish in a barrel really. Also, we're familiar with Masergy and the wonderful things they do with Native IP with MPLS (and native martinis with olives) – but we couldn't find anybody to corrobate the idea that Nalls has truly revolutionized the industry (without smoke and mirrors).
Okay, enough mucking about. Peruse the following lists at your leisure, ponder our choices, and then use the message boards – or this handy email link: [email protected] – to let us know how wise or silly you think our choices are.
Thanks for your kind attention. Here's the list:
Position | Name |
1 | Hossein Eslambochi |
2 | Hong Lu |
3 | Ron Martin |
4 | Greg Mumford |
5 | Ed Kennedy |
6 | Bobby Johnson |
7 | Niklas Zennstrom |
8 | Bill Smith |
9 | Brian Protiva |
10 | Jim Dolce |
Table 2: The Has-Been Bin
Position | Name |
1 | Carl Russo |
2 | Pat Nettles |
3 | James Wei |
4 | Paul Ferri and Ed Anderson |
5 | David Huber |
6 | Kevin Kalkhoven |
7 | Milton Chang |
8 | Dan Smith |
9 | Wu-Fu Chen |
2. Is there a typo in Really Horrible Haiku"? Is it supposed to be Hagger The Horrible?
3. I think you missed one more deserving entry in the "Has Been Bin". I would have included the lightreading staff member that had picked the previous top 10 movers and shakers :-)