• by Kelly Samardak , June 17, 2008

OMMA Video, Marriott Marquis, New York

June 16, 2008

I have to be honest, I wasn't able to hit OMMA Video until yesterday afternoon. I mean, heck, I had to get all those scandalous Vegas photos together, which I still have more of, so definitely check back on the Flickr set. Needless to say, when I walked into the ballroom at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, the scene was much more sedate, to say the least.

I showed up at the very end of the Adobe Lunch & Learn, which was something I REALLY wanted to get in on as a big Adobe fan. It must have been great because people were taking root in their seats, continuing conversations, laughing, and gnawing on oddly shaped rolls. I grabbed one on the way out the door since I forgot breakfast.

Chock full of expert panels and wall-to-wall with videophiles, resistors and entrepreneurs, this proved to be a highly informative session. I know I've said this before, but I love when panelists actually disagree. In real life, not everyone from every company is going to agree on the best content, the best ad formats, the best way to do business and price things, so it was refreshing to hear the panels offer up different pricing and opinions.

When I walked into the ballroom I was excited to see on the panel James Kiernan, vice president, group director at MediaVest, whom I had met on the JetVegas debacle. He was supposed to sneak a word into his panel for me, but he didn't. So you'll never know. They had a lot to say about differing metrics and what is quality measurement.

After the metrics style panel came "Format Wars," which was my favorite. An audience member asked which formats were most effective. Now, come on. You're going to ask representatives from different formats, which is more effective? Of course they're going to say their own. And they didn't disappoint.

The Video Search panel was another eye-opener because it sounds like everyone is still struggling with how to get your videos found. An attendee asked, as someone just now really getting out there with video, how to pull out the meta from her videos so they're more findable. Searchable is one thing, right, but is it findable (eh... ehh??). Another question was about work going into standardization of search terms. Supposedly, work is ongoing, but isn't standardization of anything in a user-generated content world nearly impossible? You can't standardize humans. Especially rebellious ones. Anyway -- you can see what our talented writers blogged about at MediaPost Raw (yikes!).

Want to standardize your party and get it covered in Just An Online Minute? Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com.