AlwaysOn opening night

Started in NY tonight with Tony Perkins and Bill Cleary doing a double act where they presented video blogs from Davos and San Francisco respectively. These were a bit like "You've been framed" only not as consistently amusing but did set the tone for presentations that are now sure to be laced with video for the rest of the event.

While videos clearly add an element of interest and production not previously encountered in Powerpoint slides, I can't help but think it's cheating a bit to rely too much on them.

They were followed by Peter Hirshberg from Technorati giving a similarly light hearted, video laced presentation about web 2.0 and their new product built in association with Ogilvy.

Not exactly sure what that product is as it wasn't really that clear and no demo was forthcoming.

The main theme, as to be expected was all about how social media is taking over and the need for publishers and advertisers to take an active role in the "conversation". The intro's were obviously designed to be lightweight rather than in depth. Let's hope tomorrow brings a little more substance on what and how publishers and advertisers can engage rather than lots of people simply urging them on.