The end of the year is when most people make their predictions. I've decided to stick my neck out with a few choice predictions for the year beginning Monday, September 1. I'm sure I'll be wrong with some of these. But, I'll bet I won't be THAT wrong with most.

Can-cun. It is an artificial city in the Yucutan Penninsula. The word 'can-cun' means "nest of snakes in the Mayan tongue. Some 33 years ago, all that could be found in abundance on the north-eastern most tip of the Yucutan Penninsula, when a group of international investors and a corrupt Mexican government conspired to carve out a stretch of jungle and make it a resort destination. Today I went through a village called Valladolid a few miles from Chechen Itza. There were TWO Internet stations branded with the Yahoo logo.

A few weeks ago I brought up the issue of expectations as one of my pet peeves and I feel that this week we need to focus on it a little bit more.

"When do we need to go live?" is usually among the first questions we ask whenever engaged by a new client for an online campaign. "Yesterday," is almost always the reply.

I don't think you'll disagree, we've all been searching for something to hang our hat on. Have you heard the positive news of predicted eTail success? Last week, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced that Internet advertising totaled $1.692 billion in the first three months of 2003. Are you sitting down? This represents the first time we've had an increase quarter to quarter in two consecutive years.

Have you ever been in a dinner conversation with friends and heard someone exclaim about their favorite television commercial? Unfortunately, most advertising is judged by that, its entertainment value, since - as we all know - measuring brand retention is a far less sexy and, well, less entertaining matter. I'm continually impressed by how many times that conversation includes those most vocal not knowing what the ad is for.

Although contextual advertising -- advertising found in or surrounded by content that has affinity with a product or service, such as articles or search results -- has been around for years, suddenly what was once old is new again and the tactic is hotter than that night that the lights went out and the air conditioners stopped humming.

This past week was REALLY strange. First of all, I spent much of this past week reading about, and watching, the newest reality show that has captivated the nation called, "Who Wants To Be A Governor?" The show stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gary Coleman, and Larry Flynt as Sacramento hopefuls as they battle their arch-nemesis Gray Davis as well as all forms of rationale thought!

Our industry has been under consistent pressure over the past few years to make online media fit into traditional planning and buying processes and models. We want this. It makes it easier for clients to treat online media like any other medium in the mix.

What a week it's been. I don't know about where you are, but Boston has been a rainy mess for the past couple of weeks. To top it all off, my modem got blasted by lightening. I spent almost three days on dial up. Sure we online advertising folk boast that almost half the online population has broadband. But what about the other half?