After a great reception last night where I had the chance to see some old friends (David Berkowitz, Dan Perry, Lee Odden, Cam Balzer) I'm just desperately trying to finalize what I'm going to be
talking about in just over an hour. One of the challenges of becoming known as a pundit in the search space is that it never stands still. It's becoming more than a full time job just trying to keep
up..Is Microsoft buying Yahoo..aren't they? You never have a chance to hone your punditry because you're always forced to consider new material. Someone asked me last night why the search space is
as dynamic as it is. In all my years, I've never been asked that exact question. After thinking about it, I realized that it's because search is at the nexis of so many things. It's not only at the
center of virtually every online activity, but online in general is rewiring our society. In a storm of social change, we're sitting right at the eye. And sometimes we get caught up in the details of
the industry: who's buying who, what's happening at Google, what's the new beta platform at Microsoft, that we forget that not only do these things change our industry, they potenially change
everything. For example, the Google/Doubleclick deal is an important development in search and online, but if one looks to the future, it's also a conbination that can redefine how advertising
messaging is presented from this day forward. Anyway, I'd better log off and get ready for today. We'll be gathering for breakfast in a few minutes. It promises to be a fun 3 days...and this
afternoon I get to go on a Florida Everglades airboat tour. How cool is that?
