Live from New York, it’s Ad
Tech 2004. Good thing I didn’t try writing this article on
Monday or Tuesday. I wouldn’t have had the mental bandwidth
to put words to digital paper. The number of meetings and
time on the floor was not to blame. Instead, I can only
blame myself for enjoying the late night entertainment a
little too much. As productive as Ad Tech is, I can’t escape
the slightly guilty feeling of having so much fun while on a
business trip.
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The
unofficial theme songs to this year’s show should be Andrew
W.K’s “It’s Time to Party,” and “I Love New York City.” I
flew in from the west coast and going even by Pacific
Standard Time, I still went to bed late each night I was
there. That’s because if there is one thing that Ad Tech
offers indirectly, especially in New York City, it’s
parties. This year, the sponsoring companies put on some
great parties and memorable venues. The locations are such
that it makes it worth going to Ad Tech just to get into
places that most of us couldn’t get into during the
non-conference season.
This year
saw two types of parties – the single sponsor party and the
group sponsorship. The Ad Tech blog captured one of them
with a thumbnail of a dancer at Tuesday night’s Blue
Lithium’s romp. I don’t know about you, but I spent a little
too much time on Tuesday checking out the scenery and not
enough time on the sponsors. Check out adrants.com for even
more pictures.
Of the
two styles of parties listed above, you’ll find them being
divided along another axis – those that are open to any in
the industry and those that are invite only to existing
clients. The latter are good but not likely to have the
debauchery of the former. Being a performance-based
marketer, these parties lead one to ask, “What’s in it for the
sponsors?” When it comes to those parties open to all
industry people, almost all require a business card or email
address to get in. If you were a solo sponsor spending
$25,000 for a party and 1,000 attended, you netted a cost
per contact of $25. Let’s say you co-sponsored a party where
your co-sponsored cost ran $5000, but you received the same
amount of names. Your effective cost just dropped to $5 per
industry contact. Not too bad all things considered. The
parties certainly offer more than simply a contact list, and
not that this hypothetical situation even means much, but
it’s certainly a fun mental exercise.
I give
all the companies that threw parties a lot of credit and my
thanks. It takes not just money but a lot of time to offer
an evening that leaves a positive impression on people.
Lines that are too long, drinks that are too small, and poor
music can all lead to a negative impact that runs counter to
goodwill that went into throwing the party. Companies must
also decide what night to throw their party and at what time
to insure the best mix of people and avoid as much
competition for partygoers as possible.
More than
just fun, the parties also helped express the overall mood
of the industry. The events were grander, the parties more
numerous, and people more willing to let loose than in years
past. Having seen the more somber years at Ad Tech, this
year’s show with alcohol flowing quite readily each
afternoon and its parties going until early morning was a
nice change. The parties had a good mix of people from a
variety of companies, and in sign of maturity, while the
people acted more freely, the attire of the participants was
more formal.
Each
year’s show offers something new. In Trends, I called
this year’s NYC conference the year of the CPA. I could have
called it the year of the Party. In the end, it’s not a bad
thing. The parties are a reflection of the health of the
companies and the attitude of the people. So many of the
companies at the show told stories of impressive growth, and
it showed. We won’t always have this, and as a result we
won’t always have such entertaining shows. I certainly hope
we do. This year’s nightlife reminded us just how enjoyable
and even productive a few days together chatting and
unwinding can be. Other, more serious articles can talk
about the show as it really is. I’m just here to rationalize
the fun and indirectly encourage others to continue throwing
such memorable events. P.S. Any and all VIP invitations will
be much appreciated!
