• by Tameka Kee , July 22, 2008

OMMA Behavioral cocktail party, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco
July 21, 2008

Because my fingers are too slippery from this NYC heat, we got Tameka Kee, sassy search enthusiast and writer extraordinaire, to give you the lowdown on OMMA Behavioral in San Fran! - Kelly

What do you get when you add coconut shrimp, open bar and a room full of behavioral targeting types? You get a bunch of buzzed cookies, that's what!

Ok, so my lame joke was just that, lame. But the post-OMMA Behavioral cocktail reception was anything but. Set high atop the Hotel Nikko, we (well ... okay, I) sipped on vodka and cranberries (which I just found out are called Cape Codders!) and debated the fate of ISP-side BT firms like Phorm and NebuAd.

A trio of lovely ladies, including Cindy Alvarez from Loomia, Sportgenic's Marti Funk and Molly Kittle of Bunchball (yikes ... talk about Web 2.0 company names) held court near the entrance to the party. They were in deep discussion--sans drinks no less--so I had to find out what was making such compelling conversation. "We're talking about how we all measure success and influence," said Kittle. "How we go about reaching influencers, and how our clients all have different views of who an influencer is, and what engaging them means." Hmm ... myself and many others were definitely under the influence of something ... and engaged, even, with the not-stingy bartender in his maroon vest.

Meanwhile, Greg Macowski of Golden Data Mining and I danced over the subtly sweet, succulent and yet crunchy cocktail shrimp. He reached, I reached, I dropped shrimp, he avoided staining his pants--it was very "Dancing With the Stars"-esque. Acxiom's Dana Robins managed to hold court with our own Jeremy Haft and Ross Fadner (events sales and programming, respectively), letting them know how to make the next OMMA Behavioral even better. (More alcohol, and perhaps even cocktails with the lunch break, I'm guessing).

It wasn't all fun and games, actually. For example, I found out about a company called FrontPorch, that's actually doing ISP-side targeting correctly. Think back to the last time you stayed at a hotel. Did your in-room WiFi feature a green and yellow banner at the top? Then you may have been behaviorally targeted by FrontPorch for the duration of your stay, and according to Derek Maxson, lawmakers have had no problem with the way the company does its business.

Lastly, my companion (Teresa Buyikian, marcomm maven extraordinaire from Ignited) and I just had to comment on Kristen McCullough (of Akamai) in her fabulous, Pucci-esque dress. She lit up the sea of blue business suits and sensible shoes (my own included) in a swirl of purple, pink and white.

Throwing a party, expecting some misbehaving and you want it covered in Just An Online Minute? Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com

Set your behavioral targeting on the Flickr pictures!