NATPE: The Marketing Message

Just in case any of our esteemed members are wondering why their new president is blogging rather than formulating the strategic vision for the organizatioin, rest assured that I'm a master multitasker, submitting this blog entry via my BlackBerry directly from the market floor.

And I've got to tell you that this has to be the coolest television conference I've ever attended. I'm completely surrounded by flashy media content playing on myriad devices with the attending public completely transfixed on the multimedia displays.

Music blares, lights flash and the audience appears to be engaged. And looking around, I'm amazed at how hip television people have become. Nary a face passes by that isn't studded with piercings. Barely an individual without a bodyful of ink. Television executives abound decked out in skater shoes, hoodies and low-hanging jeans. And suits? What's a suit? It seems the Sweeney crowd has finally tapped into a key demo mindframe, trading their briefcases for boarding gear.

And then it dawns on me. I'm at the wrong conference. Yes, somehow I've missed the escalators and ended up at SIA, the action sports conference that shares the hotel convention center with NATPE. I ask a 22-year-old androgynous snowboarding hipster with blue hair and a tongue ring for directions, and it tells me to follow the suits. Great.

Will I ever be exposed to the golden answer of the new business paradigm? Will I have the opportunity to profess the fundamental importance and new-found relevance of Promax/BDA? Wiill I ever get to that Jeff Zucker keynote? Follow the suits... Follow the suits.