• by May 3, 2004

Ladies and gentlemen: Today is the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Leadership Forum in New York City. It's a chance to hear about some of the most topical issues in the online world from the brand marketer's perspective. That, in itself, is significant as more marketers are turning to online media though clearly, the broadcast and cable upfronts are still getting the lion's share of the media dollars.

Marketer attendees include American Express, Bayer, Citigroup, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford Motor Co., JPMorgan Chase, and Novartis. Agency types from Avenue A, Digitas, Deutsch, and Tribal DDB, among others, are also making the scene.

The program is packed with panels and networking opportunities. For starters, creative guru Bob Greenberg, chairman-CEO and chief creative officer, R/GA, keynoted the event speaking on "Creativity In A Multichannel World."

The IAB unveiled the results of the latest round of cross-media optimization studies with Ford Motor Co., ING, Universal Video, and Verisign. Individual breakout sessions include America Online's strategy for reaching Hispanics online; advertising in the broadband context; the evolution in online creative; and reaching consumers through online multi-player games.

Most notable, I think, is a panel discussion on the role of measurement and ratings in online media. It's likely to be a hot panel given shifting media compositions and the declining legitimacy of Nielsen TV ratings.

The event is soldout, so if you're not at the W Hotel, you can read about the day's events right here and in the MediaDailyNews tomorrow.