Friday, March 23. 2007
Guardian Changing Media Conference 07 - so what's changed then?
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Thanks Alan, we're still getting a few more posts up including the closing session with Tom Loosemore, Andy Duncan and Alan Rusbridger.
I couldn't agree with you more about the conversation being stuck. Without wanting to sound too much like New v Old Media, there is a glaring divide between digital natives and Big Media. It's a fundamental clash of world views. Suw and I will write more about that in our roundup posts.
But in brief, Big Media spent most of yesterday talking, no obsessing, about Brand. They think that the power of their brands will keep them relevant. God, if I have a pound for everytime someone said Brand yesterday, I'd be a rich man.
Tom Loosemore of the BBC and Geert Linnebank of Reuters were about the only ones to really move the discussion forward and be honest not only in the challenges they face but also in their response.
You may be partially right about people playing things close to the vest because they are in execution mode. I got that sense from Channel 4's Andy Duncan, who managed to say next to nothing. He's either a) completely clueless b) a really poor public speaker or c) not wanting to give his competitors a leg up. After subsequent discussions with our Media Guardian team, I'm tending towards A, to be brutally honest.
I think the main problem with a lot of conferences these days is that they roll out CXO's who are so far above the execution that they can't talk about it. The folks at the sharp end of innovation are out there, and they do occasionally speak, but it's more at technical/internet conferences than media conferences.
Thanks again for the link.
I couldn't agree with you more about the conversation being stuck. Without wanting to sound too much like New v Old Media, there is a glaring divide between digital natives and Big Media. It's a fundamental clash of world views. Suw and I will write more about that in our roundup posts.
But in brief, Big Media spent most of yesterday talking, no obsessing, about Brand. They think that the power of their brands will keep them relevant. God, if I have a pound for everytime someone said Brand yesterday, I'd be a rich man.
Tom Loosemore of the BBC and Geert Linnebank of Reuters were about the only ones to really move the discussion forward and be honest not only in the challenges they face but also in their response.
You may be partially right about people playing things close to the vest because they are in execution mode. I got that sense from Channel 4's Andy Duncan, who managed to say next to nothing. He's either a) completely clueless b) a really poor public speaker or c) not wanting to give his competitors a leg up. After subsequent discussions with our Media Guardian team, I'm tending towards A, to be brutally honest.
I think the main problem with a lot of conferences these days is that they roll out CXO's who are so far above the execution that they can't talk about it. The folks at the sharp end of innovation are out there, and they do occasionally speak, but it's more at technical/internet conferences than media conferences.
Thanks again for the link.
I was being charitable re execution mode 
.
Brand obsession is interesting, its been the never-emptying feeding trough for the service industries who rely on advertising business models for at least two generations (I include nearly all Olde Media in this), and of course the "new" New Media, being far more telecomms based, is upsetting this.
Funnily enough we have a reverse discussion with Telcos, where there subscription based business model is increasingly being attacked by Ad supported ones (cf our recent report on the subject).
Re your point on CXO's, I think thats true - but I also see many of the other same faces on panels time after time, banging much the same drums. I know there are plenty of other digerati out there who could add interesting views.
. Brand obsession is interesting, its been the never-emptying feeding trough for the service industries who rely on advertising business models for at least two generations (I include nearly all Olde Media in this), and of course the "new" New Media, being far more telecomms based, is upsetting this.
Funnily enough we have a reverse discussion with Telcos, where there subscription based business model is increasingly being attacked by Ad supported ones (cf our recent report on the subject).
Re your point on CXO's, I think thats true - but I also see many of the other same faces on panels time after time, banging much the same drums. I know there are plenty of other digerati out there who could add interesting views.
If I may add a thought or two as well. I think the problem is not just that this is all CXOs, or the same faces, but the format really doesn't allow for in-depth thinking. Five people on a panel of 40 mins, including questions, are never going to say anything interesting, even if they do have something interesting to say.
I think too that there's a real fear amongst conference organisers of doing anything new, because they're scared no one will sign up to attend a conference if there aren't any CXOs talking. This is less prevalent in the tech world, where if you do good stuff that's enough to get you on the schedule, but the number of times I've had events managers say 'Oh, we have to have the CEO of X talking... he'll put bums on seats' when the CEO of X hasn't got a damn thing to say worth saying.
I think there's a lot of exciting stuff happening in the media at the moment, but you won't see any of it at conferences like this because they won't put people like Adrian Holovaty on stage - he's too "geeky" for them. Which is a shame as I think that's exactly the sort of stuff more mainstream media people need to be thinking about, but there seems to be a sort of geekphobia that gets in the way.
I think too that there's a real fear amongst conference organisers of doing anything new, because they're scared no one will sign up to attend a conference if there aren't any CXOs talking. This is less prevalent in the tech world, where if you do good stuff that's enough to get you on the schedule, but the number of times I've had events managers say 'Oh, we have to have the CEO of X talking... he'll put bums on seats' when the CEO of X hasn't got a damn thing to say worth saying.
I think there's a lot of exciting stuff happening in the media at the moment, but you won't see any of it at conferences like this because they won't put people like Adrian Holovaty on stage - he's too "geeky" for them. Which is a shame as I think that's exactly the sort of stuff more mainstream media people need to be thinking about, but there seems to be a sort of geekphobia that gets in the way.
Good point, Suw re comms dynamics of an event - giving every person their 15 minutes of fame is probably better.
Agree re exciting stuff, we are doing a lot of consulting on some really cool stuff in broadband TV, interactive media, metrics, digital print - heck, even DRM in value chains! But I saw not a dicky bird raised of the sort of stuff we are doing in your notes, I guess you are seeing the same dearth.
Maybe we should organise a Changing Media Mashup or Barcamp or something - you guys up to collaborate on that?
Agree re exciting stuff, we are doing a lot of consulting on some really cool stuff in broadband TV, interactive media, metrics, digital print - heck, even DRM in value chains! But I saw not a dicky bird raised of the sort of stuff we are doing in your notes, I guess you are seeing the same dearth.
Maybe we should organise a Changing Media Mashup or Barcamp or something - you guys up to collaborate on that?
Yeah, I think there's a lot of room for a media-focused Barcamp-style event. If nothing else, it'd give those of us interested in innovation and better idea of what others are doing. Email me and let's talk about it.
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