Transformation 2010 is not just the amalgamation of the 4A’s Media and Leadership Conferences. It’s a unique opportunity to get everyone—managers, creatives, strategists, media, digital, production—into the same room at the same time to discuss the pressing matters of the day. Collaborate with and ask questions of one another. Listen to leaders who have first-hand experience in transforming their own businesses to meet the emerging needs of a new era. Be a part of the bigger picture, the solutions to the time-consuming age-old questions of monetization and evolution.

Find out more!

We wish you, your family and friends safe and happy holidays!

The 4A’s New York office will close on Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 1:00pm and will resume normal operating hours on Monday, January 4, 2010.

If you have an urgent information request that can’t wait until January 4, 4A’s Research Services professionals will be on hand to help on a limited basis during the holiday week. Information specialists will be available Monday, December 28, Tuesday, December 29, and Wednesday, December 30, from 9:00am to 5:00pm EST.

To reach 4A’s Research Services during the holiday week, please call this special phone number during the above hours: (212) 850-0817, or send an e-mail to 4AsResearch@aaaa.org.

You will also be directed to the above line by calling the main 4A’s phone number (212) 682-2500.

Since announcing the launch of the 4A’s Transformers contest, we’ve received a ton of positive feedback and lots of people saying they’re interested in entering. But time is running out!

We realize that it takes time to distill your brilliant idea into a concise, five-minute presentation, so we understand why you’re waiting to send your submission.  But don’t wait too long.  What better way during the holidays between merry-making and gift-giving than to put a big red bow on your Big Idea!

The Deadline for entries for Transformers is Tuesday, January 12, 2010.  We really want to give anyone—all of you—the chance to present your great idea for transforming advertising as we know it at Transformation 2010, in San Francisco, February 28–March 3.

Remember: If your idea is selected, we’ll pick up the tab for your travel and accommodations (roundtrip coach airfare and one night at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square). Just be prepared to wow us. We know you have it in you.

Hey, are you tired of the same stuffy old-fashioned conferences that so many of us are forced to attend time after time? Don’t you wish you had an opportunity not only to dive into real, tangible case studies but also to discuss directly with your industry peers where you think the business is heading?

It’s time for a transformation. And to that extent, the 4A’s is pleased to present Transformation 2010, a hybrid show based on the best content usually on display at our annual Media and Leadership Conferences. Learn from real world examples of agencies and other top leaders that have looked deeply into the cores of their business plans and transformed them to match the new financial, economic, and environmental realities of the time.  Discuss these changes with your peers during our incorporated “Conversation Breaks.” And — if you have a really, really big idea on reshaping the business — maybe you can even get on stage and share it!

If you care about marketing, advertising, media, and business leadership, you’ll definitely want to be at Transformation 2010, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square on O’Farrell Street, February 28–March 3, 2010. In the meanwhile, here’s a sneak peak at our agenda.

See you in San Fran!

Remember last year’s 4A’s Leadership Conference?  The facilities were awesome, and everyone worked hard to create a great program as always, but there was a definite undercurrent of uncertainty plaguing attendees and casting a shadow over the show.  What was happening to the business?  Were agencies going to be shut out of  “digital” (intentional use of scare quotes there), or would they learn how to successfully transition to a new era of interactive, rich media and content?  And what of diversity and inclusion?  It was still very much “old school” in a sense.

As Chairman Tom Carroll remarked at the close of the conference yesterday, look at how far we’ve come in just a year.

On the community side, the re-branded “4A’s” is looking to expand its wide array of membership services to international professionals and academic institutions and students all over, while next year’s mash-up of the Media and Leadership Conferences will get everyone in the business together and onto the same page.

Meanwhile, phenomenal speakers such as Cyriac Roeding and David Pogue extolled the virtues of — and took to the next level — the worlds of Mobile and Web 2.0.  In a serendipitous coup, we caught Tim Armstrong just as he makes the controversial transition to AOL and got to have Jonah Bloom ask him just what he’s thinking.  David Jones reminded us all about how we need to put CSR at the heart of our business models, not sequestered in silo. And not one but three specific panels/events — including Dan Weiden’s impassioned plea — focused not just on diversity but truly on bringing new talent and voices into the industry.

Things aren’t perfect.  The economy is still giving everyone fits of anxiety, but maybe they really are starting to look up a bit.  If you are familiar with me at all — either at work or via my other blog — you know I am one of the world’s biggest pessimists at heart, so to come out of an event feeling a bit uplifted is a bold statement indeed.   Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get back to work!

Posted By: Ted LaBarbera, Web Editor, 4A’s

Read the transcript at the 4A’s website:
http://www2.aaaa.org/events/transcripts/Pages/042809_hill.aspx

In what is now a popular tradition, this year’s annual Leadership Conference will kick off with a Workshop for Small and Mid-Size Agencies (SAMS).  The workshop begins with a roundtable discussion and small breakout groups for attendees to get together and discuss their business models, best work, opportunities and issues…plus brainstorming suggestions on “new realities” strategies to pursue when they get back home.

The SAMS roundtable will result in community camaraderie, peer learning and tangible tips, tools & tactics, including:

• How do you convince a client to market aggressively in a soft economy?
• How to improve the efficiency of agency services without deteriorating service quality on essential activities
• Agency Compensation—what is working and what is not working?
• Facilitating tighter integration of offline and online marketing elements

We look forward to seeing you at the SAMS roundtable. Come prepared to brag about your agency! Share your great thinking on the industry’s new realities.

Posted By: Tom Finneran, Executive Vice President, Agency Management Services, 4A’s

The conference ended with an energetic and mostly hopeful tone, beginning with Bob Schieffer’s entertaining stories and thoughtful insights and ending with a spirited panel of media company  owners. The panel on social media was very popular by attendees, judging by the amount of twittering going on during the session.

I’m sorry that I didn’t manage to get a book because after hearing Bob Schieffer speak, I’m sure that it’s a great read. After spending 52 years as a reporter, he said he’s always had an opinion on the stories he’s covered, but this recession is one time that he does not. Some bright spots exist: We’ve seen that crowds can count and make a difference. There’s been a rejuvination in politics. He spoke about recent election and previous candidates and their campaigns. Other topics he covered were traditional news media and their power. His final remarks: We have never been a nation that is afraid. We didn’t descend from fearful people. Optimism is in our DNA and we must remember to never lose faith in ourselves. What could have sounded as cliche coming from someone else was inspiring and was met with loud applause and a standing ovation.

This could have been a tough act to follow, but the next panel was also really great. The moderator, Josh Bernoff of Forrester, was fantastic. He kept the panel from going off-topic and maintained a good flow. In discussing social media, the panelists stressed how social media is not a campaign, but rather an effort. A campaign has a specific goal, while social media is about an ongoing relationship with consumers.

The final panel repeated some things we heard in the other days sessions about the recession bringing opportunities. The main words were change and opportunity. The heads of media companies all believed that now is the time to adjust the focus, change models and streamline current functions. They believed that the recession will leave us with a model that emphasizes accountability.

Author: Rebecca Samson, 4A’s Research Services

“What’s the registration count?”

If I had to pick the single most asked question that I get in the run-up and wind-down of any 4A’s conference, that’s it.

This year, though, the question is especially loaded, given the fact that the bad economy had forced other associations to announce the cancellation of some of their big meetings. For good or bad, the 4A’s Media Conference has become an industry bellwether, and so the number of participants matters greatly to all.

Before a single speaker hit the stage at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside for this year’s Media Conference, pre-show press coverage either played it straight (Attendance Down 40% - 50%) or played it somewhat sensationally (Attendance Down 40% - 50 %!!!!!).

As we head into the final half-day of the conference program, I’m asked once again, “What’s the registration count?”

Officially, our total conference registration number is 736. Last year in Orlando, our official final tally was closer to 1,100 (specifically, 1,064). The pre-show headlines got it right, so they could simply recycle them for their post-show wrap-ups.

I hope, however, that editors and reporters choose to focus their attention on something other than the number of attendees at this year’s Media Conference. It’s not because I want to obscure that fact that the numbers are down. Truth is, the numbers ARE down, they’re down by about 30%, and that’s dramatic (sort of, I suppose, if this was any other year than 2009). But I don’t think that’s news.

News would be the 4A’s cancelling the conference altogether. News would be the 4A’s switching the live tradeshow into a virtual one.

Or, better yet, the news coming out of this conference is: Despite the wide shadow that the gloomy economy cast over this year’s proceedings, there was still a sense of optimism and a renewed sense of purpose to get back to work.

I saw this in the standing-room-only crowd in our kick-off program on Wednesday, and I heard it during the myriad conversations between attendees that happened in the hallways and exhibit hall throughout the conference. And I read it in the Tweets and blogs that were posted by press and conference attendees alike. (Even the critical posts, which asked important questions).

As Nancy Hill said in her opening remarks, the downturn in attendance is probably the new reality for industry conferences in general, given the tough economy. What Nancy didn’t mention from the mainstage is that the attendees of this year’s conference represent the most-senior-level agency staff from 4A’s member agencies. They are the decision-makers, and their presence confirms the industry’s commitment to learning from and teaching each other.

Would we have liked to have had more attendees? Um, yeah, of course. But the numbers themselves are not the only–or even leading–indicator of the success of this conference.

For us, this conference was a success because it sparked conversations; it fulfilled an early promise we made to return to New Orleans; and the final attendance number was not zero.

Author: Kipp Cheng, SVP, 4A’s Communications

The question of how to deal with today’s economy came up a number of times today. Panelists were posed with the question of how to get clients to spend money during these budget-cutting times.  The common response was actually optimistic. Some people expressed hope that now is the time to search for opportunities and focus on what we can do and not what we can’t do. Marc Goldstein believes that just as we, as an industry adjusted to major game changes in the past, it can be done again. When DVR turned things upside down, we adjusted and became more efficient and effective. After dabbling in content integration a few years ago, we actually became pretty good at it through creativity, imagination and innovation. In light of the economy we have to do more with less  and again be more creative and innovative. We should look at the downturn as an opportunity to try new things.

Michael Mendenhall from HP also was hopeful that we can emerge stronger from the downturn than when we entered by maintaining a strategic focus. And while budgets are under pressure, digital media is in a better position to drive efficiency like nothing else. He also thinks that the opportunity exists to reach consumers in an unprecedented way. The recession has simply given their efforts a greater sense of urgency.

Another panelist agreed with these ideas and explained that the recession is the right time to take risks and try new things. You only do great things when you take a chance.

Author: Rebecca Samson, 4A’s Research Services