Sherrill Mane began her career in research. Over time, at companies like Nielsen and CNN, Sherrill evolved from researcher to sales marketing strategist. In her current role as senior vice president for industry services at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Sherrill is responsible for IAB industry relationships and member activities, including the establishment of standards, best practices and growth. In her interview with me, she talks about IAB's standards of measurement, the future of television, the Internet landscape, cross-platform and the IAB's ground-breaking study with The Harvard Business School.

According to the behavioral, attitudinal, aspirational OTX LMX Study: "The 24 hour day has consistently given way to 30 hours of daily activity, as consumers multi-task everywhere (home, work, on the go) at any time, while diverting their attentions across multiple media platforms to communicate, gather information and be entertained."

Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer for Turner Broadcasting, is a legend in the media industry. Over the years, Jack has helped form industry standards and has demonstrated the value of research for the media marketplace. In my interview with him, Jack talks about such cutting-edge research topics as cross-platform measurement; the future of C3; his current initiative, "TV in Context"; how to insure good quality research; how to groom the next generation; and, looking ahead, some predictions for the next five years.

The first quarterly MPG/Media Contacts-sponsored Collaborative Alliance of 2010 was held at the venerable Helen Mills Theater on March 15th.

Mark Lieberman, Chairman and CEO of TRA, is acutely aware of how the market valuates media and how advances in technology can help advertisers get more information about their media effectiveness.

Bruce Goerlich, Chief Research Officer for Rentrak, brings his extensive agency research experience to the supplier side to help further strengthen the role of set top box data in media measurement. In my interview with him, Goerlich discusses Rentrak and its many data sources, the role of set top box data as a metric, how agencies can post on STB data, dramatic changes in the industry in the past five years and, looking ahead, some predictions for the next five years

The Federal Communications Commission recently launched an examination of the future of media and the information needs of communities in a digital age. Some sobering trends over the past decade should influence the FCC's ultimate findings and affect how we receive and value local broadcast information in our communities in the future.

Mr./Ms. CMO: Now is the ideal time to ask your agency how the television game is changing. A well-allocated upfront budget is a safety net to ensuring the 2011 media plans you approve in the next few months are effective when they go live next year at this time.

Manish Bhatia, a member of Nielsen's Media Product Leadership team, is on the forefront of new Nielsen measurements. In his interview, Manish talks about his career with Nielsen, the company's set-top-box data and cross-platform developments, innovations in television and the Internet, and offers some predictions for the next five years.

I was reading an article in The Wall Street Journal entitled "MacMillan To Rev Up E-Books" and there it was again. That haunting, promising, mysterious, beckoning, larger than life but transportable, cost incrementally sensitive (though worth it) "new/special content" tease: "Macmillan, one of the nation's largest publishers, said it will issue books it expects to be best sellers in an enhanced and more expensive electronic book format. The special editions, which will include author interviews and other materials, such as reading guides, will carry a list price slightly higher than..."