Ad:Tech - The Good, The Bad and well, The Ugly

Fall is here and the ad conferences are happening weekly. Ad:Tech is probably the largest event for our industry bringing together folks from all walks of life and more interactive advertising than most of us even knew existed. It was exciting to see so many people in attendance, I walked into the show late in the afternoon yesterday and was immediately greeted by a half dozen friends and colleagues that I hadn't see in a few months. Then I took a quick stroll around the show and noticed many meetings happening (not sure I saw any IOs being signed but business was being done for sure!)

During my walk I also realized that something was missing - something very obvious to me - there were no publishers, premium ad networks, social media or technology providers that one would expect to see. All the exhibitors and attendees were largely focused on search, lead gen and direct response tactics. This wouldn't be so bad if we were at a DMA conference but Ad:Tech New York! We are in the advertising capital should there be some companies here promoting the next generation of marketing and technology services?

Ad:Tech is bigger than ever this year despite the economy but in some ways it seems worse than ever too. Are the DR companies the only ones thriving? Is this what we have to look forward to as an industry, are we destined to be glorified direct mailers? Let me know what you think.