The best seminar/workshop/panel I went to so far this week was yesterday morning's Mediaweek Conversation between my former Mediaweek colleague Michael Burgi, and Michael Davies, the television producer who brought "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "The Power of Ten" stateside. And a completely one-on-one conversation it almost was, as only about ten people showed up. Now, looking back at the agenda, I can see why it was so sparsely attended. There were a total of 8 (eight!) seminars/workshops/panels going on yesterday morning, ranging from Craig Newmark's keynote about "The New Empowered Consumers" to the Advertising Research Foundation's seminar on word of mouth. If Advertising Week has been at times been accused of overscheduling, its organizers certainly haven't gotten the message that it still is. It's sad, though, because Davies, a Brit and sports fan, intermingled humorous anecdotes with insights on the collision of advertising, content and new distribution platforms. Oh, and then there's the World Series of Darts. The Series, which he hopes will be a huge success here, treats "these big, fat" dart throwers like WWE stars, and it plays overseas to crazed audiences both watching on TV and watching live—the people watching live doing dances and drinking lots of beer. The one thing that Davies admitted is missing is a domestic beer sponsor, something that he doesn't think will happen right away, since he claims that brewers here want to position their products these days as upscale. "That's not what beer is," he said.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
You missed the World Series of Darts!
The best seminar/workshop/panel I went to so far this week was yesterday morning's Mediaweek Conversation between my former Mediaweek colleague Michael Burgi, and Michael Davies, the television producer who brought "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "The Power of Ten" stateside. And a completely one-on-one conversation it almost was, as only about ten people showed up. Now, looking back at the agenda, I can see why it was so sparsely attended. There were a total of 8 (eight!) seminars/workshops/panels going on yesterday morning, ranging from Craig Newmark's keynote about "The New Empowered Consumers" to the Advertising Research Foundation's seminar on word of mouth. If Advertising Week has been at times been accused of overscheduling, its organizers certainly haven't gotten the message that it still is. It's sad, though, because Davies, a Brit and sports fan, intermingled humorous anecdotes with insights on the collision of advertising, content and new distribution platforms. Oh, and then there's the World Series of Darts. The Series, which he hopes will be a huge success here, treats "these big, fat" dart throwers like WWE stars, and it plays overseas to crazed audiences both watching on TV and watching live—the people watching live doing dances and drinking lots of beer. The one thing that Davies admitted is missing is a domestic beer sponsor, something that he doesn't think will happen right away, since he claims that brewers here want to position their products these days as upscale. "That's not what beer is," he said.
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