Posted by Jay Levin, President/COO of MediaPoint Networks, Inc. It's 3P. The hallway outside of the exhibit hall on floor 4 is packed. Inside the floor traffic is good. Lots of movement now that late lunches are ending. Everone's engaged looking to play their particular angles. The mood is great inside and out of the sessions. I'd like to see more advertisers walking the floor and while some say they've seen 'em at their booths others say they see mostly media, agencies and infrastructure...

Read More "The Scent of Success at #ResponseExpo"

3 of the best of the best at Direct Marketing... Jeff Aronson of Cash4Gold Scott Boilen of AllStar Marketing AJ Khubani of Telebrands They cover a wide range of topics, from analytics to retail, from deficit spending on media, to leveraging retail display space and in-store placement. The primary take-away for me from this great roundtable is:  DR is an item-driven business, a problem/solution business.  Success comes from offering a simple (easy to understand and use) solution...

Read More "#ResponseExpo Marketers of the Year"

9:30 - 10:30 Getting the Best Retail Space For Your DRTV Product   Standing room only.   Best part of session for me was the practical/relevant, where the rubber meets the road discussion about the relationship balance between margin and gross sales. And the trade off of lowering one for the other.   Walmart mentioned. Question asked which do you want lower margins or 50 million dollars of TV advertising. Some time it comes down to that.   Two way respectful conversations...

Read More "Getting The Best Retail Space Live from #ResponseExpo"

 The keynote audience spills like water over its mark out onto the patio overlooking the bay for the Euro sponsored reception. Am standing at a table with Steinbrenner with Euro now for 13 years and Sean Simon Simon with Euro going on eight years. Paul scores a signature from Sir Bob on the old Boom Town Rats ablbum cover he brought. Some score. Hanah Bubis exhibiting with her company Vantage Media says, so far so great for the show's beginning. Doug Kerzner, says Sir Bob was brilliant...

Read More "After the Keynote Reception at #ResponseExpo"

Posted by Jay Levin, President/COO MediaPoint Networks, Inc. For me what's his message to us?  Committment. Intent. Action. Passion.  If you were there you felt it.  If you missed it connect with it.  Become it.  Use it.  Re-brand with it.  Sell it to yourself.  Bring it into your work. And bring others to it.   Packed eager crowd. High buzz. Electric air. Gripping intro video. Band Aid concert. At its time that now historic concert was...

Read More "Sir Bob Geldof Opens #ResponseExpo Redux"

Sir Bob Geldof took to the stage after a stirring multimedia presentation and proceeded to blow everyone away with a searing and incisive Keynote Opening Address!

He was on fire!

The take-aways: Commitment, passion, intention and action. 

He expertly and seemingly effortlessly built bridges between his life experience and DR.  His story is mesmerizing and his points riveting as he spelled out just how he's lived the life of a DR marketer from a very young age.  The key to his 'success', which transcend so many definitions, has been from unabashedly following his passion, with an intention that matches his commitment, that he's persistently put into ACTION.

You see, his revolution of ideas has catapulted change on a global scale; we saw and heard how he filled an empty space... more accurately, he created a space and then filled it, with his passion, his intention, his commitment... all of it as a result of his actions!

There's more to come on this, which Jay and I will write about extensively, but I wanted to get these thoughts down for you now, so you can see where our theme of commitment in our blogging is coming from!

-Peter

Pre-show Intensive Presented by Lockard & Wexler Direct Rm 410 @ 2PM is packed. 200 poeple there. Still packed @ 3:10PM with a captive audience. Not an emply seat. Four panalists. Each well spoken. Organized. Clear. Conscise. Instructive. All  points integrated into .ppt. Despite no initial web access in this session room this session is clearly a big success. Audience mix is good blend between advertisers, suppliers, agencies, rep groups and major media in attendance. Simple to follow...

Read More "Turning losers Into Winners"

The masses are here, arriving in waves, with the buzz being DR, and people reconnecting, doing more, bring more! The Hilton Bayfront went from sleepy and quiet yesterday to alight with life today... One observation: there's been a lot of change since last year's show. Lots of people shifting positions, switching companies, taking their expertise from one place to another...and seeing fun success in the process. Like last year I've heard great optimism for what the coming year holds....

Read More "An Amazing Start to #ResponseExpo"

 I'm proud to be writing along side Peter on his official Response blog. 

Now that Response Expo is over and everyone is either headed home, or is already back, I can look back at the week and offer up a one paragraph glimpse of what I saw and experienced; then I'm going to want your feedback, your comments, your observations, your thoughts and perhaps most importantly, what you took away from the conference and my blog. Here's my snapshot:  I came to Response excited to see people I hadn't seen since September, or since last year's Response Expo, but I also...

Read More "Post Expo Recap"

Sorry for the late check in but it's been a busy morning... was up at the crack of dawn, tackling the business I wasn't able to get to yesterday.  I wonder who else among us is doing double-duty; taking care of existing business (email and voicemail) while also being here at Response full time for 3 days? Had a great breakfast with one of our most valued partners and enjoyed hearing about new opportunities and sharing what's new with our company that can help them.  The best relationships...

Read More "Thursday at Response"

The day has been about as wall to wall with activities as I'd imagined it would be!  And that's a good thing.  I've attempted to carve out time to write on a couple of occassions today, but instead chose to engage in conversations with people I know, and just as rewarding, with people I didn't know... until now! I've asked just about everyone I've met with what they thought of this year's Response Expo (Day 2)...here's a sampling: Dynamite... we're getting to see everyone we...

Read More "An Invigorating Day at Response Expo 2009"

This morning started early... a 7:30 breakfast with a person who's name was eerily familiar, but from another part of the country.  I just assumed someone I knew in Phoenix would never move and live somewhere else.  So we meet up and in about 15 seconds realize we know each and instantly reconnect the dots to all that we've done in the intervening years. We talk about what's working, what's not and decide that there's more for us to be doing with and for each other.  I dropped...

Read More "It's All About Clear Communication"

I was recounting my day to my partner, telling her of the overall sense of optimism I felt from all my interactions of the day.  She asked me what I thought about that.  After a few moments reflecting, I was struck with the idea, that upon even further contemplation, I believe clearly has merit.  Mind you, this is inspired thinking, not of my own doing... coming from my Higher Power (yeah, the God thing... no NOT religious, just spiritual)... so relax into this, knowing the only...

Read More "DR and PI as the Barometer of the Economy"

Putting a close to the day, I wanted to share comments I've heard from attendees from a variety of perspectives: One of our Media Partners told me, "We're getting good offers but there seems to be a disconnect from the agency to the client, like the agency isn't telling their clients what they're doing"  When I probed for a little detail what came out was that a misunderstanding had developed between the client and the media, the the client assumed leads were coming in from one...

Read More "The Evening"

The biggest difference I note between this year's Response Expo and last year's is a positive sense of hopefulness among attendees.  Last year's attendees seemed to me to be preoccupied with why results were down and costs were up... there seemed a sense of fear that something was wrong that needed to be fixed and there was a general groping for answers...none of which seemed readily apparent. This year, thus far, in a matter of just a few appointments there's a palpable sense of optimism. ...

Read More "Appointments and Fun"

Yeah, I know, corny, but it was the first thing that came to mind, so I went with it! The day has so much promise in front of it... I've got several appointments, the first of which start 24 minutes from right now (so I better be brief and to the point, right?), phone conversations, educational sessions, this afternoon's Keynote Address, and then dinner.  It's going to be a full day.  I fully expect things to change on the fly, as they always seem to at every trade show I've ever attended,...

Read More "Let the Games Begin"

Nearly right across the street (and the light rail) from PetCo Park, the new Hilton Bayfront San Diego is home to this year's Response Expo.  It's clean, white, with lots of vertical design lines... giving it kind of a beachy, retro look (to me). There's a Fox Sports Grill, and Starbucks that you actually have to go downstairs from the main lobby, then outside to get to... There's a spa and a work out facility with several treadmills, elipitical machines and a recumbent bike, as well as...

Read More "The Hilton San Diego BayFront"

It's 9:02am and I've been feeling that pre-show nervous energy that I experience before every show.  I know, I know, it's not like I'm on stage, speaking or anything that puts me out there in such a personal way, but I'm not going to pretend I don't have butterflies about doing a good job blogging for you during the Expo.

So it's not cold feet, it's pre-show jitters.

Everything I've read and personally experienced shows me that when I experience pre-anything jitters, I'm most open to being inspired and sharing that inspiration in such a way that everyone who receives it can understand it.

Write to you later!

-Peter

Here it is the Sunday night before Response Expo...my introduction, of sorts, to the conference's community on my observations, thoughts and experiences... as well as your insights.  I'll be bringing a little bit of everyone I interact with into my multiple-times per day check-in.  I won't use names, unless you want me to, so your deepest insights, no matter how great or small, your identity will be kept confidential.

So here's the skinny as I make my final preparations:  My two Monday appointments (late afternoon and dinner) have both been cancelled.  Conflicting schedules is the culprit on one, family obligations, the other.  And I feel perfectly at peace with the free time now afforded me to enjoy my first evening in San Diego flying solo... so whether it's heading to the Gas Lamp district or going to the gym then dinner in one of the hotel's eateries, it's just as it should be!

And that's my theme for the opening of the year's Response Expo.  Be at peace with whatever comes your way.  I consciously and deliberately live my life with this in my mind and heart:  Desire everything.  Require nothing.  Be happy with what shows up.  I read that in one of the Conversations with God books nearly a decade ago, and it stuck.  Obviously.   So that's my initial take on Response Expo 2009.

I'll have something more tomorrow morning before I get on my flight, I'm sure.

Have a great night!

-Peter