IAB Annual Leadership Meeting: Day One Highlights

More than 850 advertising thought leaders—publishers, brand marketers, media and ad agency executives, and technologists—gathered on Sunday, February 24, to kick off the sold-out IAB Annual Leadership Meeting in Phoenix.  With “Big Data & Big Ideas” stealing the spotlight, Randall Rothenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of the IAB, welcomed the crowd and quickly brought the meeting to order.

Randy Kilgore, Chief Revenue Officer, Tremor Video, took the stage for the first time as the newly elected chairman of the IAB Board of Directors. He made a point that television has become unboxed. TV used to be the experience coupled with the delivery mechanism. Now, it’s just a form of media that can be viewed in numerous ways through numerous devices. But what truly matters is still one thing—connecting brands to consumers in meaningful, human ways. He made note of three truths in this industry. First, digital advertising can and does sell brands. Second, the path forward is in the data. And finally, the more time a person spends with a brand message, the better. Better content means better advertising opportunities.

In the tradition of previous meetings, the 2012 IAB Service Excellence Awards went to IAB members who have demonstrated strong leadership and provided exceptional contributions to one or more significant, completed IAB initiatives over the past year. Review the winner’s list here and be sure to congratulate your peers.

Nate Silver, Author, Statistician, and Founder of FiveThirtyEight.com—one of the nation’s most influential political forecasters—shared several cautionary tales about dealing with the rapid increase in consumer data. Just because the formula came from a machine, doesn’t mean the formula is right, he said. Computers don’t see the relationships, they only execute on the design, potentially producing a nonsensical result. Computers also know what a company’s goals and objectives are, he reminded. They are tools to help businesses reach those goals and monitor progress toward them. Companies need to foster a culture of data, so their teams can learn to use the data the right way.

To close the day’s business IAB recognized individuals and organizations that have demonstrated remarkable success in interactive advertising sales, as determined by the ad buying community, with the IAB Sales Excellence Awards. This year the presentation included a new Leadership in Mentoring Award that went to Dave Simon, Regional Vice President, BrightRoll. Review the winner’s list here and be sure to congratulation your peers. Lastly, everyone in the audience was encouraged to take—and have their teams take—the new IAB Digital Media Sales Certification Exam because a stronger digital sales force makes for a stronger digital industry.

Participants congregated on the Squaw Peak Lawn to chat with old friends, connect with new contacts, and shake on important deals during the welcome reception sponsored by Adobe.

Stay tuned to this space for updates, recaps, photos, and videos as the 2013 IAB Annual Leadership Meeting commences.