• by October 2, 2000

SMAAC (Streaming Media Advertising Advisory Council), a group of advertising and technology professionals dedicated to standardizing streaming media advertising, took its first steps at a meeting last Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000, to address three of the most pressing issues in new media advertising.

The event, sponsored by online entertainment company eYada.com, included panel sessions addressing the three topics cited as most important by the SMAAC Steering Committee last Spring: Audience measurement, ad models -- buying and selling, and ad serving/technology.

Attendees included marketing firms, streaming media companies, and traditional and interactive advertising agencies debating the future of streaming media advertising during a half-day forum.

"Streaming media advertising is a debate of convergence versus divergence," said Bob Meyrowitz President of eYada.com, during his keynote address. "Either we come to consensus now about how to standardize advertising for this $20 billion dollar industry, or we will lose out on the opportunity to maximize its potential."

SMAAC will be forming sub-groups over the next few weeks to discuss specific topics proposed through panel discussions. Research continues in the streaming audience measurement, ad models, and ad serving/technology work groups.

The audience measurement panel featured Joan Fitzgerald, Director of Marketing, Arbitron; Bill Piwonka, Vice President of Marketing, MeasureCast; and Richard Kellner, Director of Eastern Sales and Marketing, Nielsen Media.

"Our panelists recognized that they, as competitors in the market, they will need to work together to determine the best metrics," said Jon Mandel, panel moderator and Co-Managing Director, Chief Negotiating Officer, Mediacom. "The streaming industry has an opportunity to combine the in-depth demographic and psychographic descriptions panels provide with the behavioral and e- commerce tracking capabilities of interactive ad tracking to create a new metric."

Panelists debating ad models were Mike Agovino, Managing Partner, Katz Interactive; Nick Pahade, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Beyond Interactive; Bill McCarron, Vice President of Media Services, Verizon; Kim Vasey, Senior Vice President of Radio Edge, MediaEdge; and Dave Bialek, Vice President of Sales, eYada.com.

"Our debate was focused on determining who is best positioned to buy streaming media: interactive or traditional shops," said Coleen Kuehn, panel moderator, and President of Media.com. "Panelists concluded that it would be a hybrid of skill sets from both, and that educating clients about streaming media is key for them to fully understand what the medium is and how it can benefit their marketing efforts."

The ad serving panel included Warren Schlichting, Chief Executive Officer, Hiwire; Tom Des Jardin, Chief Executive Officer, Lightningcast; David Rosenblatt, Senior Vice President of Global Technology Solutions, DoubleClick; and Joh