What a gold-mine of information this conference is turning-out to be....  I was fearful after receiving free admission that I might be attending some kind of time-share pitch....  just the opposite... this is serendipity.

I've got so much information--I couldn't write-down my ideas fast enough; but I'll just review some highlights here.  Go here for more information on speakers.

Ron Belanger from Yahoo! did an inspiring presentation on the future of Search Marketing.  This presentation centered around understanding "Consumer 2.0"

Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and sharing
Consumers 2.0 are:

• over-worked
• over-whelmed
• addicted to leisure
• information junkies
• master hyper-taskers
• creators
• engaged (47% email to a friend)

This leads to "Participation Marketing"

• identify your best customers
• listen to them
• collaborate with them
• give them tools to share
• "Flip the Funnel"

Examples: Yahoo!'s campaigns with Shakira and Special K


Bill Wise of RightMedia (recently acquired by Yahoo) gave a quick, stupefying overview of online advertising and how the relationships btw Publisher, Advertiser,  Networks, and Technology have totally been re-arranged.  Where in models of the past, these relationship lines were clearly delineated, now we are in a truly open and transparent marketplace.  The big concept that stuck-out of Bill's talk was that of "Ad Exchanges."  They're still only being used by early-adopters, but this is where we're headed.  I need to do more research to completely understand the process, but basically any network can auto-bid for your click-throughs in real-time.  Check out more

Kim Malone, the Director of AdSense for Google, presented examples of Google's various services including: Cost-per-click (CPC), Cost-per-impression (CPM), and the emerging Cost-per-action (CPA) models.  She emphasized the importance of clarifying objectives.  Each of the models focuses on a different phase of the marketing process; to get to people's wallets (Action), you have to get to their minds (Awareness) and their hearts (Consideration) first.

Chas Edwards, of FederatedMedia.net,  gave what was to me the most inspiring talk of the day.  He presented about "Conversational Marketing" and what lies beyond Google, Yahoo, etc...   In regard to relevance, he talked about campaigns that use "author-assisted copy", "co-branding", and turning Ads into content.  (symantec example) 
Another example using RSS ads, shows that as people notice that the ad-space is consistently updating with relevant content, they pay more and more attention to it over time.  Another example went into co-branded, author-driven invitations to conversations where "human networks" are established.
Co-branding examples: Cisco, Ask.com enlists "Ask a Ninja",  Intel sponsors Digg Labs visualization app Arc!

The main thing I received from this presentation was that we need to Find the conversations that are happening and realize that the conversation is the customers, not ours; and that good conversations involve listening, not just speaking.

Babak Maghfourian from VideoClix.com gave another mind-blowing presentation.
This technology is a revolution as far as video monetization is concerned.  The software allows tagging within the video and provides analytics to the creator once the video has gone viral.  Please visit the site to see their portfolio.  Once you tag the objects in your video, the objects are tracked throughout the video and you can enable any kind of interaction you want: hyper-linking, mouse-overs, etc.  This info is then stored within the video file so it goes wherever the video goes.  Then whoever streams, downloads, or watches the video in any way has their interaction statistics, IP (regional info), etc captured and sent to the creator.  With this "lean-forward" model of advertising, the cycle between ad->content->viewer is completed so the viewer is connected back to the publisher.  Powerful stuff!

The next talk brought a real point of contention to the table.
Ted Murphy presented his organization: PayPerPost.com (a primary sponsor of the event) and the evolution of blog advertising.  The PayPerPost (PPP) model as he presented it basically recruits (pays) well-read bloggers to blog about specific topics.  Ted's presentation was quite inspiring as he discussed PayPerPost's marketplace where bloggers can search through offers from publishers to write about their products.  This all sounded very exciting to me on first blush and I couldn't wait to tell all my blogging buddies how they can start earning extra cash.  As I began to sober-up, I realized that this presents other issues, such as the perversion of the blogosphere.  I'm sure there will be examples of both honest posts that are being funded as well as perverted, contrived posts; I just hope that blogs that are sponsored are clearly delineated from those that are not.

Henry Copeland from BlogAds.com was coming from the opposite side of the spectrum.  He gave a history of blogs and advertising within them.  I never realized that it was in the '04 campaign that blogs really got going and how effective of a role they currently play in politics.  In his break-down of blog readers, they are:

• older
• richer
• more influential
• but most importantly, loyal....

summarized from the presentation:
In this day where we are leaving Media Monopolies; "marketing is like a cocktail party" (Chris Locke)--you really need to be interesting to get attention, not just in people's faces.  The blogosphere is made-up of sophisticated people who don't want brands flashing all over the place... this isn't AOL.
BlogAds.com ads emphasize the hand-made look, not "designed."  They are enigmatic and therefore invite clicks to solve the mystery.  The most designed ads get the least click-throughs statistically.

Some Case Studies:

• "Vote Carrie" ad campaign
• Audi A3 "Art of the Heist"
• Budget Rent-a-car's "Tale of Four Iterations" where they redesigned the ad four times til they found what worked

During the Q&A, it became apparent that Henry was not a fan of PayPerPost and he said it "makes him sad" (or something similar...)

~~~~~~

I'm afraid that tomorrow I'll get so much info I'll overflow...  hence the blog.  Genpo Roshi ended a big mind session at an Integral Institute seminar describing the zen concept of bringing an empty glass to your teacher so you have room for new teachings.  Roshi said it actually has to be a cyclinder; since you must pass on the information you've received to make room for more.

Thanks to Corey for the link...
from:
http://www.xkcd.com/c273.html

My family and I were walking through Central Park over the weekend and talking about how much safer the city feels after Giulliani came in. 

What frequently happens when I'm in places where I feel nervous is I like to imagine the scenario and determine how I would respond to a confrontation.  When there's a gun involved, the universal answer 90% of the time is to do what they tell you--give-up the wallet/purse/whatever...  But the resistance to give it up tends to swell-up considering how attached you may be to the possession; which could potentially lead to foolish hesitation and reaction.

In my case this attachment comes from the uncertainty of how much of a process is involved with loosing my wallet.  So last night, I spent all of 10 minutes going through and documenting everything in my wallet and the process involved in turning-off/replacing each item.  I then emailed myself the document so I'd have access to it form anywhere.  This process also gave me the opportunity to decide if I really needed everything I carried on my person.  I made note of the neccessary items (lisences, CCs, insurance, etc) and realized I could leave the others in my checkbook, brief-case, car, or leave at home filed.

I'm not going to go around showing people my wallet or leaving it on buses; but I'm much more relaxed having a comprehensive knowledge of what the follow-up is to such an eventuality; and hopefully if I ever get "fronted," my mind will not be caught-up in uncertainty and can focus on making the right decisions in the moment.