I’ve had a somewhat wistful weekend. This time last year I was in The Big Apple. I had a spent a lot of time there in the mid – late 1980’s, and it was great to be back!
In between visiting friends – obligatory visits to the MET and MOMA and nights out - seeing Macbeth on Broadway and the American Ballet Theatre perform a tribute to Jerome Robins – I managed some work! Although it didn’t seem like work, attending the first day of Mediabistro Circus – their first ‘conference’ focusing on digital trends and changing media. Mediabistro.com, a division of Jupiterrmedia Corporation , generates more than 6 million page views each month as a resource which includes daily media news, classes and seminars, and recruiting services. Jupitermedia Corporation is a leading global provider of images, news and original information.
Rather than ‘deadly panel discussions, rehashed conference fodder or self congratulatory case studies’ – the Media Bistro Circus 'conference' promised a ‘roster of Internet rock stars presenting fresh takes on topics crucial to their businesses’.
Held at the Skylight Studios, downtown Manhattan – the first day’s sessions comprised Publishing: Form Print to Digital – with speakers including Paul Cloutier, CEO 8020 Publishing, James Daly Editor In Chef of Eduotopia and Paul Rossi, Publisher of the Economist. Paul spoke of the ‘clickatorial’ and reader engagement advising that every article published online received 200-300 comments, totalling 13-15000 comments per month.
The Blogging session examined how the ‘blogosphere has revolutionized communication and the world of media’. Elisa Camahort, co founder and COO Blogher spoke of how blogs enable expression and connection with people of like minds in the formation of communities and their motivation to find information. We were told that more than half of US women online reading blogs which are influencing what is and is not purchased. Amongst the speakers were Anish Dash, Vice President (or ‘Chief Evangelist) of Six Apart, the maker of blog platforms including this one – Typepad. Amongst many messages were ‘blogs are the web'.. 'the centralised model is not how media works and won’t be the path forward – rather it will be user controlled.'
A highlight was the keynote presentation by Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired magazine and author of The Long Tail – the bestseller which examines the value of market fragmentation, niche markets, their significant value if aggregated and how the Internet has made this possible. Chris advised ‘content first, networking second, urging to firstly establish sites that are about something, then build in social networking features’.
The event had its own twitter wall – a bit like the stock exchange ticker - tracking the steady stream of tweets.
Although I was fighting the jetlag – and drinking a lot of coffee to counter the effects – it was fantastic to hear some of the best in the world speak about the phenomenon which has changed the marketing landscape.
One year on – it is great to see so many Australian businesses and marketers embrace the technology and platforms. The marketing landscape has changed and as marketers we need to demonstrate the value of these platforms to our clients.
This year’s Media Bistro Circus is taking place in June – again in New York and promises to be equally stimulating with presenters including author Tim Ferriss of 'The 4- Hour Workweek'. Let’s go!

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