Back from iMedia Breakthrough

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Breakthrough was pretty intense, but I'm back in the office chugging away once again.  Some highlights: Good things

  1. Updates on what's going on in the advergaming and in-game marketing sectors, particularly the stuff from DoubleFusion.  Dynamically inserting Jeep vehicles into connected console games, anyone?
  2. Refresher courses on the mobile space.  Most mobile advertising providers are still talking about potential usage rather than actual usage, but at least we have an update on the numbers.  Networks seem to be making headway, and to my mind, that's one of the only ways to get scale behind mobile web because it would be tough for a single content site to be able to deliver the numbers mass marketers are looking for.  Notable exceptions are Yahoo, ESPN and a handful of others.
  3. Bob Garfield's Chaos 2.0 talk.  Man, that guy can be funny when he wants to be.  I think people are still whispering about that reference to Sir Martin "chasing skirt."  Joking aside, Garfield is serious about the collapse of traditional media models and has fired yet another warning shot that will hopefully motivate all of us to get our butts into gear with respect to developing compelling programs that can absorb some of the dollars coming out of TV spending.

Not So Good Things

  1. Sponsored presentations.  The good news is that the vendors who are listening (e.g. ESPN, Sprint) are creating better presentations that aren't simply "Here's who we are and here's what we do..."  Not even these good presentations, however, can make up for the suckitude of the bad ones.  We won't name names.
  2. Activities.  Wine tasting?  Hoover Dam tours?  No offense to the iMedia crew, but some of the more insane among us want group activities that - how shall I put this? - take advantage of the environment.  Kevin Ryan and I didn't pass up the chance to fire real machine guns or plunge off cliffs on rented ATVs.  That's more like it.
  3. "Speed Dating."  What's not to like about a few dozen one-minute meetings with media and tech vendors?  I was barely able to give a business card and run down the client list before the bell rang and the rep had to move on, that's what.

All in all, though, it was a great summit.  Terrific location, awesome networking opportunities, and fun with industry friends.