Press Room Faux Pas
Open power outlets are rare, and rarer still in the press room. Never, ever monopolize an outlet to charge your computer and cell phone at the same time—while you, Considerate Guy, attend sessions.
It’s evil.
read more...Overheard on the exhibit floor
All quotes guaranteed authentic: “We can build a customized solution” . . . “Oh, yeah, we’re involved in that stuff all the time” . . . “So, it’s all performance-based?” “Ummmmm” . . . “You know what an intervention is?” . . . “When it really comes down to it, it’s all the same thing” . . . “Like anything else, it just takes a media kit, I guess” . . . “I’m formerly with AOL.”
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And the Schwag Award Goes To…
Someone told me today that the word “schwag” came from the name for the bag that thieves used to carry their stolen booty in days of yore. Of course, Google thinks it is bad marijuana so don’t quote me on that.
Regardless, anyone at ad:tech who came within 50 feet of the exhibit hall soon becomes very familiar with this term. If you’ve ever seen those videos of people scrambling over each other at a Walmart midnight opening the day after Thanksgiving, then you’ll understand the seriousness with which some people scour the exhibit floor for tchotchkes.
Now, before you head out tomorrow to get you some of that, let us guide you to the real gems. Fellow blogger Brad Waller and I searched to find the best and brightest goods from all over the hall today. And now, we present them to you.
After gathering the goods we recruited an expert panel of judges, who all happened to be in the press room at that exact moment, to determine The Top Five Tchotchkes of AdTech 2007. So, without further adieu here are the results:
read more...Proposed New Rule: No Bathroom Texting
Steve was mentioning a few images from the exhibit hall he’s trying to purge from his brain. Well, is it just me, or is it strange to see guys standing at the urinal “hands free” because they are too busy typing on their blackberry?
What are the rules of etiquette here?
read more...Exhibitors Rest After Arduous Set Up
Following the theme of today’s New York City Marathon, ad:tech hosted a party for its exhibitors giving them a selection of food and beverage alongside a racetrack adhered to the floor of on of the Hilton’s function rooms. Hot dogs, pizza, ice cream ans drinks were served.
Interestingly, to get to this off the beaten path function room, a trip through the exhibit hall and up an escalator was required revealing yet another exhibit hall space with about 30 more exhibitors. That, in addition to the number of exhibitors on the main floor brings this to an all time high for the show. We’re told upwards of 7,500 people will attend the show this week.
Booth Babes Still do the Trick
Each conference requires the ubiquitous booth babe coverage if only to reinforce the notion that ad:tech is about advertising and, in advertising, it’s well known that sex does sell. As before, SEO Inc. hired several beautiful women to attract attendees to its booth so its search engine optimization services could be described. From the throngs of people swarming the booth, the strategy, once again, has paid off.
read more...ad:tech chicago 05 Unloads, Sets Up
Per usual, on the eve before the first day of an ad:tech conference, the exhibit hall looked like King Kong’s playground with large crates strewn about the floor, booths half built and trade show staff furiously working to put the puzzle together before the throngs of attendees swarm the floor the next morning. Without fail, the hall will look pristine by the time the doors open and attendees make a mad dash for free pens and other assorted tschotchkes. Admire King Kong’s playground here.
read more...Two ‘Hottest’ Apps Nowhere on the Show Floor
As I walked up and down the aisles of the show floor yesterday I was struck by two things I didn’t see. No one was talking about blogging and social media. And no one was talking about mobility applications. Meanwhile, I had just exited a keynote where mobility and blogging were mentioned as part of the ‘Next Wave.’
read more...Exhibit Hall Sadly Lacks Male Booth Babes
Brad may feel that booth babes were few and far between, but from my perspective…there weren’t any.
read more...Attendees In Search of the Next Party
Depending on one’s viewpoint, Tuesday afternoon, with no sponsored parties and exhibitors packing up, is either a great chance to flood the hotel bar and chat and have dinner with associates or it’s the sad beginning of the end of AD:TECH - even though the conference still has a half day to go. Traditionally, companies pack their events into Monday night rather than spreading them across both days. The exception, of course, is the usual AD:TECH Wrap Up Party. However, this year, there is no official Wrap Up party but rather a party, sponsored by a host of companies most have never heard of but that claims, as we indicated yesterday, to be “The After Party People Will Be Talking About For Years.” Whether that comes to pass, we won’t know until tomorrow but we’ll do our best to let you know.
read more...Wayward Trade Show Temp Staff Given Booth
At the last AD:TECH show, attractive representatives of affiliate network iTraffic, Mandy Ashford and Michelle Moya were roaming the halls, boothless, promoting the companies “got traffic” business mission. Well, it seems iTraffic has made them into honest trade show attendants, giving them their own booth this time around.
read more...Best or Worst Promotion?
Omniture wins the award for best scheme for getting hundreds of show attendees to wear their bright green t-shirts everywhere during the show. The idea was that if the roving Omniture crew saw you wearing the shirt you could win from $100 to $5,000. Every once in a while, you would hear a ruckus and look over to see three people in green shirts making a lot of noise as they approached the lucky winner and then loudly counted out their cash.
read more...Booth Babes and Other Attractions
This year the number of wacky attractions and booth babes seems to be quite low. In addition to the usual flashing LEDs, funky tchotchkes, logo wear, and free t-shirts, I found only a few truly noticeable gimmicks. In my first walk through the exhibit hall I saw booth babes at Search Engine Optimization, Inc. (booth 221, if you must). They’re wearing t-shirts reading “Wanna Be On Top?” as captured here by a picture from Steve Hall. Also present were strolling babes for Partner Weekly, a beer tap at Adknowledge (Booth 115 if you are thirsty), and Alyssa the contortionist at FindWhat, right inside the door to the exhibit hall doors. I’m sure I’ll see more as I explore further.
read more...Omniture Winner of Best Strategic Banner Placement
Winning best banner placement at this year’s San Francisco AD:TECH is Omniture. Every one of the 5,000 attendees filing in and out of the session rooms and exhibit hall must pass under this to enter the exhibit and session areas.
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