This past September I attended the Interact 2008 conference here in Washington, DC. This conference was an interactive media marketing event that focused on the topics of creativity, strategy and technology. The conference included speakers from such companies as Google, Saatchi & Saatchi, Adobe and Trollback + Company.
Given our location, anytime there is a conference that even comes close to focusing on our industry it always ends up revolving around Government. This refreshing change is a good sign that others are recognizing the large number of businesses in the DC area that do not focus on Government. I think it was a good start, but unfortunately this is where my positive remarks will have to end. I thought I’d give my take on some of the bigger things that I felt didn’t work.
Only One Track
They should have set multiple tracks that attendees could choose from given the number of speakers that they tried to fit into the two day conference. On both days the conference hovered only momentarily on interesting, but spent much of the time covering mundane and commonplace topics. For the next event, I recommend splitting presentations into tracks based on the level of experience one has in the industry. Sitting through a 15-minute presentation on how to use META keyword and description tags (a presentation by Network Solutions, not Google) is not something that I consider a good use of my time and money.
Too Many Speakers
I don’t know if it was just a way to increase attendance or what, but they scheduled way too many speakers for a two-day event. I think I counted around 45 speakers over those two days. Many of the speakers also had sponsor booths so I’m guessing there was some kind of deal there. That’s fine, but at least review the presentation before giving them access to the mic. One speaker started spouting something out about “Web 4.0″ (I had to walk out for a few minutes at that point), and there was even one case where a speaker didn’t even show up.
Given this overload, speakers had only about 15 minutes each to present, and most of them were working off what was supposed to be one-hour presentation. This meant that the handful of speakers that actually were good ended up just hitting the next button at dizzying speeds so they could get to the end of the slide before the hook yanked them off the stage.
No Breaks
This is a carry over from the number of speakers, but given the lineup we basically had to sit through the following schedule each day:
- 1-hour keynote
- 3 15-minute presentations (topic 1)
- 3 15-minute presentations (topic 2)
- 1-hour panel
- Lunch
- 3 15-minute presentations (topic 3)
- 3 15-minute case studies
- 1-hour panel
There were no breaks between anything. There was supposed to be time for questions, but that didn’t play out right either. What you ended up with were truncated presentations with very little information, and no time to digest it or talk about it with any of it with other attendees.
Unqualified Panelists/Speakers
This was scattered throughout the two days, but there was definitely one panel that made my jaw drop. A question was posed about giving advice for those looking for jobs in the interactive industry. The CEO of one DC-area company basically responded with “learn everything.” She said that you should know Flash, ActionScript, PHP, Java, HTML, CSS, Database Administration, InDesign (yep she said that)… she said a few other things, too, that I can’t remember. What she did is give out a recipe for mediocrity, and then followed with “It’s very difficult to find people with all these skills.” I just ended up writing her name down in my notes with the word “inept” next to it. Most of the others on the panel were nodding in agreement, and eventually all said something along similar lines.
I’m going to end it with these three things since they were the major points that stood out. I’m voicing this with the hopes that the feedback gets considered for future Interact conferences.
Will I go to Interact 2009? I’d consider it since I see it as supporting the industry in our area, but first I’ll be taking a very close look at that agenda to make sure they don’t screw it up like they did this one. Or maybe we should just get a booth, and then I can have some time on the mic.