“White Knowledge”
November 4th, 2010
That’s one of my new favorite phrases. It’s from Neil Gaiman, who uses it in chapter one of Neverwhere, defining it as “like white noise, only more informative.”
It stuck in my mind yesterday as I approached the Javits Center (pictured above) for yet another ad:tech. That I was listening to the Neverwhere audiobook on the train into New York probably had something to do with that, I suppose.
Anyway, I’ve been attending Internet marketing conferences for 15 years or so, and ad:tech certainly provides plenty of white noise: the sprawling exhibit floor is jam-packed with ad networks, “advertising solutions,” more ad networks, “integrated media companies,” still more ad networks, and companies promising to deliver “digital marketing solutions,” a “more engaging online presence,” full service, and lots and lots of lead generation.
Indeed, you can’t swing a dead cat on the exhibit floor without hitting a dozen or so “innovative leaders,” “leading providers,” “industry leaders,” “leading companies” and “leading firms.” Lonely at the top? Not on Buzzword Mountain.
To break through the deafening white noise to discern the white knowledge that buzzes through the halls of the Javits Center this week, it’s not a bad idea to monitor the #adtech hashtag for pithy conference takeaways like these:
Behave less like a brand and more like a friend.
Media jobs are changing. Take the time to retrain people.
People will pay for high-quality curated content.
Social media is not technology for teens, it’s their culture.
Nothing quite in the category of profundity as “markets are conversations,” but solid common-sense takeaways … especially if you’ve only been involved in digital marketing for a few months. Oh, and there was this one:
Apple will sell 40 million tablets next year.
I think half of them were available at ad:tech through booth sweepstakes.
So the bottom line of ad:tech, I think, is pretty much the same as any other ad:tech I’ve attended: plenty of white noise, plus a little white knowledge.
If nothing else, there seemed to be an enormous amount of energy and optimism among attendees — on the exhibit floor, in the hallways and on the hashtag feed. And as Ambrose Bierce defined “optimism” in The Devil’s Dictionary:
optimism, n. The doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything is good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong. It is held with greatest tenacity by those most accustomed to the mischance of falling into adversity.
Yep: The state of the online advertising union is optimistic.
And that’s the way it is, November 2010.