MODERATOR NOTE: Ad:Tech takes off

From: Cliff Kurtzman <moderator_at_o-a.com>
Date: Wed 18 Jun 2003 12:10:42 -0500

The Ad:Tech conference is truly energized. Attendance is over
2000--more than double the attendance of the Ad:Tech six months
ago and more than three times the attendance of the Ad:Tech of
a year ago. The exhibits are jammed, and many of the sessions
are standing room only. Last night I attended industry parties
hosted by Yahoo! and Tribal Fusion. I'm looking forward to
writing up my reports (sponsored by Gator and NetIQ) on some of
the sessions for this list during July and August.

There tend to be two types of industry conferences... those that
focus on hands on knowledge for practitioners, and those that
focus on broader industry trends and networking amongst company
decision makers. The eMetrics Summit (held next week in Santa
Barbara) and the Internet Marketing Conferences (the last one was
in Montreal in May) tend to fall into the first group. Ad:Tech is
in the second category. Only the Internet World conferences have
been large enough to attempt to span both categories.

If one attends Ad:Tech expecting to come away with detailed
execution level knowledge then one will be disappointed. But if
one attends wanting to understand how the major industry players
are thinking and moving, then it is a great experience.

What are people really excited about?: 1) the growth of
broadband; 2) TiVo; and 3) lead acquisition through search
results. It is interesting to see the excitement here
regarding paid per click and paid per inclusion search--those
of us in the trenches that attended the Internet Marketing
Conference in Vancouver in April 2002 saw and discussed what
was coming more than a year before the more "mainstream" crowd
at Ad:Tech found the same religion.

I'm looking forward to stops in Monterey, Big Sur, and San
Simeon as I make my way this weekend from San Francisco to
Santa Barbara. The stars are so much brighter when you get
away from the big cities, and the beaches are so much cleaner.

Hey, it is a tough job, but someone has got to do it, right ;) ?

Your eternally diligent moderator,

--Cliff

Clifford R. Kurtzman, Ph.D.
Moderator
Online Advertising Discussion List
http://www.o-a.com/
(281) 480-6300




Received on Wed Jun 18 2003 - 12:10:42 CDT