It is Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting on a blanket at the edge of a dusty baseball field on 112th street watching my son's Little League game. Each week, I promise myself that I am going to invest in some folding chairs so I can elevate myself above the dirt, but I can never seem to find the time to make it happen.
For the next five days, I will clear my calendar with the intent to raise myself out of the muck by gaining some fresh perspective and ideas at Advertising Week. In between innings, I have been planning my itinerary. With so many intriguing sessions, I'm finding it difficult to choose. In no particular order, here is a sampling of sessions I will be attending and why.
I know for a fact that during the course of her career, Colleen DeCourcy spent many Sundays writing proposals, returning emails and fielding calls from the sidelines of her daughter's soccer games. Colleen rose to the top in the digital and social space proving that Xs and Ys have no bearing on success in the world of 0s and 1s. I'm sure it was and still is challenging being a woman in a male-dominated industry. I'm interested in hearing how she handled it so masterfully.
Content is king! More and more, advertisers are looking for deep integrations with editorial content and asking their partners to help in the development of custom content across a variety of channels. Once upon a time, I just sold ad pages. That was a long time ago. This new paradigm has made my job more interesting, but also more challenging. I'm looking forward to learning from some of the best in the industry on how they are dealing with this complex content ecosystem.
In advertising sales, by the time we are invited to the party, objectives and strategies have been set. It's my job to work with the agency and client to develop a platform and media plan that will assist in achieving these goals. This session will give me the opportunity to gain some insight into the process that happens before the RFP goes out. I think this peek behind the curtain will enable me to gain a better understanding of the challenges of selling through ideas -- particularly the riskier ones.
It's a two and a half hour summit with an all-star lineup of presenters including: B. Bonin Bough, Gary Vaynerchuk, Sharon Feder, Ben Lerer and fourteen other equally impressive names. I am certain that I will walk away with valuable insight and some pearls of wisdom from this group. I'm also guaranteed to have a couple of laughs with Baratunde Thurston on board.
Also, full disclosure: Fast Company is moderating or speaking at over half a dozen sessions. I know they are all going to be thought-provoking because I have the privilege of working with this dynamic and talented group of people. And just as I am sitting here today cheering on my son's team Empire South, I will be there, too, because it's important to support your own.
I hope you enjoy my thoughts and insights over the course of the week, but please note that as associate publisher at Fast Company, I oversee sales and marketing. In other words, I am not a journalist and my personal blog is in no way a reflection of the quality of journalism at Fast Company.