I was at Kid Power 2007 in Orlando this past week, where Erik Hauser and I were talking about kajeet and Whyville. (The positive reaction to what kajeet is up to, by the way, was truly amazing.) I’d heard about Kid Power for years, and I was really looking forward to it. I have to say, though, I was disappointed.

I’d had this vision of Kid Power as being the top of the line of kid marketing conferences. And maybe it is. But my main impression upon walking into the booth area was, “This is it?!” Not that I expected three floors of booths, as at ad:tech New York, but I definitely expected that there would be a lot more going on.

The same goes for several of the sessions, which displayed a 101 level of information that was surprising. The presentation of basic info has no business at a conference like this. It should be an assumption going in that everyone has a working knowledge of marketing to kids.

Give me good solid case studies (there were a few of those, thankfully), useful hard data (which is always hard to find at functions like this) and ultimately some real food for thought — that makes it worth my being at the conference.

I talked to a lot of people during and after the conference and my reaction isn’t unique. Disappointment seems to be the biggest takeaway from Kid Power this year. Then again, most conferences are disappointments, aren’t they? At best you get a few nuggets of good info and a confirmation that the things you know and are doing are on the right track. And some decent swag.

Oh, and by the way: If you’re presenting? At a conference like this? And you’re standing in front of a room of people? And you’re speaking almost exclusively in uptalk? The way no professional person should? What you’re saying might be the most valuable thing possible, but it doesn’t matter because I’ve already left the room. And I did.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 9:17 am and is filed under Marketing Stuff.