Best of IAB's Big Day in Toronto

By Joy Boyson

Editor's note ... This IAB content is a bit delayed - the video editing elves apparently don't make housecalls so the One Degree crew had to learn some mad vid editing skillz.  Our thanks to Joy and the interviewees for their patience.  The videos will go up over the course of the week.

A few weeks ago, the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada came to town with their "Interactive to the Max, Genius Edition Big Day" seminar.  Long titles like that take time to digest, and so did the content.

And so here, a mere 3 weeks later, are some thoughts and reflections on the event:

Best Title of a Breakout Session: "A Computer is NOT a TV set!"

The session spoke to the differences between the online world (namely, online has been an interactive medium from day one) and the offline world.  The session's title reflects a growing frustration with those who attempt to repurpose content that was created for broadcast consumption.  That which is designed for 1-way broadcast will fall short (online) where the expectation is often for 2-way dialogue.

A computer is not a TV set even though it is now a rich enough medium to handle the bells and whistles of mass branding and advertising work.  A computer is not a TV set because it is inherently more complex in the type of conversations it can facilitate, the variety of metrics is can produce, the multitude of networks it relies on for success, and the massive diversity of engagement that its users experience.

Best Timely Commentary: "With the arrival of TiVo in Canada, on top of the existing writers strike, TV as we've known it may never recover."

Best Use of the Audience's Time: The 8 Road Show Case Studies including presentations by Bell Sympatico MSN, Canwest MediaWorks, Yahoo, The Globe and Mail, AOL, Askmen, Rogers & Canoe.ca

Most Fun during an interview: Teasing Sean about us being Facebook friends without even knowing it.

Most Fun overall: Watching the agency smack down!

This was bright idea and thoroughly enjoyable for the audience - ­ kudos to the organizers for coming up with this one.  Mike Kasprow, VP and Creative Director at Trapeze went head-to-head with Geoff Roche, Chief Creative Office, Lowe Roche.  Both sides managed to land some solid punches and I felt that the referee, Paula Gignac, ensured that the smack down did not turn in to a K.O.

Big thanks also go out to my four interviewees for their willingness to share ideas and go on the record here at One Degree.

Stay tuned for quick clips with Sean Moffitt, President & Chief Evangelist at Agent Wildfire, Warren Jansons, National Account Director at Canoe.ca, Anwar Sumar, Canada eBusiness Director and Stacey Grant-Thompson, VP Strategic Projects, Rogers.