The dangers of vendor presentations
February 22, 2008 by John Proffitt · Leave a Comment
Vendor presentations are good for shows like NAB or CES or Macworld or other shows where vendors are supposed to be there to hawk their wares, even on panels.
But at a conference like IMA 2008, this is a bad thing.
I’m sitting in a panel presentation that’s full of vendors hawking their particular services. And they’re not talking about authentic engagement with the audience, they’re talking in broadcast, eyeball-catching terms. It’s not real, it’s marketing.
IMA needs to avoid this in the future. Let the vendors have their booths or even chuck flyers in the conference bag, but putting them on panels wastes time and isn’t illuminating. Put my peers up there — the ones doing the real work with real tools.
For the last 15 years I've done what comes naturally to anyone with degrees in English, earth science and education: I taught high school for a year then worked as an IT pro in healthcare, banking, consulting and government contracting (of course!). But I also spent nearly 5 years in Alaska's largest public media company, taking the traditional radio / TV / statewide news operation online and realizing traffic gains of more than 700% in just 18 months. Now I'm the Director of Digital Engagement for KETC / The Nine Network in St. Louis, focused on real and virtual community building around issues of public importance. Learn More