Highlights from DTW Ignite 2023

with many vendors mentioning that the intimacy of the event was what made it appealing. When compared to the gargantuan display of telco wealth that is MWC Barcelona, attendees found that DTW23 – Ignite actually allowed you to see all the people you wanted to see (if they turned up, of course) and make meaningful conversations with them. Alex Hawker from AwareX noted that DTW23 – Ignite still feels “real,” unlike MWC, which is “too busy for its own good.”

Ian Hood from Red Hat was pleased with the turn out and mentioned that it was busier than last year and “lots of Red Hat’s customers are present.” But a CEO of a large telco claimed that there were fewer telco people this year and was disappointed to see that Orange wasn’t represented at the event. Ericsson didn’t have a booth either—just some meeting rooms upstairs. These notable absences draw into question the TM Forum's relevancy across the broader telecom and technology ecosystem, beyond those whom were physically present.

Figure 3 - DTW23 – Ignite Catalyst Programs

Courtney Deinert from ServiceNow felt that it was a wasn’t an effective use of her marketing budget to have a booth in The Quad and instead opted for a meeting center in The Village, a very quiet part of the event. She felt that DTW23 – Ignite should have put the meeting centers in a more central part of the event to drive traffic and excitement. I agreed with her that it was a cold time of year for a trade show, something DTW23 – Ignite seem to have picked up on with next year’s show being in June.

The show was easy to navigate and only felt overwhelming for the first few hours. By day two it was just a bigger version of the office, as everyone knew where they were going and executives power-walking like they’d missed a flight was no longer a sight. 

“More generally, it was an excellent venue, and the size of the event was manageable, making it easy to move around and have productive meetings. It was good to see the TM Forum making important announcements around projects such as Autonomous Networks Manifesto and Ready for ODA," said Susan White of Netcracker.

Being forced to use an app for a show is usually an annoyance, as they never seem to work well—DTW23 – Ignite wasn’t handing out physical maps—but the features were seriously intuitive. The ability to search both company names and booth numbers was a huge bonus. It was pointed out by a member of Covalensedigital that it was an oversight of DTW23 – Ignite, however, to not put booth numbers on the booths themselves. The app also allowed you to set reminders for talks and helped people to network with a chat feature and access attendees’ emails upon request, a feature that I saw people use multiple times. 

Complimentary coffee was available everywhere in machines and barista-quality service was an option as well, thanks to the Nokia cafe—a nice addition from the telco giant. A good standard buffet lunch was also served daily and DTW23 – Ignite did keep it different each day, appealing to most dietary requirements and preferences, too. 

All in all, the show was well laid out and functioned well, you didn’t have to be on high alert dodging people to make it on time to the next talk, and a lot of stages were open-plan—allowing for a less awkward exit if you needed to leave a talk early. For an initial insight into the industry, it was a small, but focused and easily digestible event. However, what DTW23 – Ignite lacks in grandeur, it makes up for in the ability to truly make connections with other human beings in this fractured industry. Ironic, considering one of the persistent themes was how AI is poised to take over virtually everything.