So, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I had gone to Mobile Mondays for the first time in NYC. This week's topic was Mobile Video and its future. Can't remember what the exact title was, but you get the idea.
Anyway, my trip there was pretty exciting as I sat at the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel for nearly an hour. Yes, an hour. Apparently, the powers-that-be thought that 2 lanes would be overkill, so they narrowed it to one during rush hour. Genius at work.
With 15 minutes to spare, I raced up 8th Ave and found parking, running like a complete nerd to the Samsung Center where it was held. When I asked the police officer out front where "10 Columbus Blvd" was, he replied "Columbus BLVD??", perplexed by the "blvd" part apparently. I then corrected myself: "no, CIRCLE." He held up his index finger and put on a shit eating grin, pointing to the giant building in front of me.
"That's the Samsung Experience Center?", I asked.
This is where it gets funny.
"You see those big letters where it reads SAMSUNG?", he said, smirking as if he was a guest on Leno.
"I guess not", I replied and walked off.
Of COURSE I hadn't seen the letters on the inside far back of the building behind the multiple layers of glass---I wasn't standing there in front of the building doing NOTHING. All. Day.
Jackass.
Anyway, got into the building, sat down and was right on time. There were about maybe 50 people there and I couldn't believe it was FREE! The place was decked out in tech stuff of all sorts with the people to match.
They had some great guests from both the digital and tv worlds---a mix of tech and content people. After some speakers spoke about their companies (Qik, Ringleader), there was a panel with a moderator, Lubna, who had some great questions, but none of which sparked any debate. The panelists were all in agreement on most things.
The big topic for me was content. I became a little concerned when panelists kept mentioning that mobile ads should be 30 seconds to a minute long and that long form content (20 minutes) is the future! 30 seconds for an ad??? And where are you watching a full 20 minutes on your phone?
Later on at the bar, I was talking to some people about this and they backed up their story with some studies saying that people are watching content from their homes---okay, that I understand---but long form content---in their homes? Isn't that what TV is for?
Despite their "studies", I still disagree. Mobile content is all about context---on the bus, waiting for a friend, yes even at home. But even this mobile head has to admit---I watch it most at home when I'm waiting for coffee to brew. No long form here.
Right before I left, a reporter (JP) from NJBiz.com had asked me a few questions. I'll be in their paper Monday and I hope I got the answers right!
All in all, a great night. I'll be back for more.
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The powers to be over there need to be careful and not cloud their judgements by their obvious bias and love for everything mobile! I think you have a safer skepticism there and I think even though I may have biases in the other direction,..I think media in the shorter form has a HUGE future in this distribution format. I personally hate cell phones,...BUT...when looking at this beyond my narrow personal preferences,..the generation that this is targeting LOVES these phones. The entertainment distribution is merging. We can all see this. I think TV, Internet and Communications are blending together faster than ants on a sugar cube, and I can only hope that these companies understand that they need to share in this future wealth potential.
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