So, if you've never been, you won't know. But if you are in the know, it is the place to start scouting: Demo, the conference that happens several times during the year, where venture capitalists and the like go to see technologies that are on the "horizon." Here are just a few that could impact our world of brand, content and technology.

So, the latest buzz concept to fall into my lap is this idea of "generous" brands, the crux of which is that brands need to be more human and generous in their relationships with their customers. Sigh. Where to begin? First, while I appreciate our need to compartmentalize, identify, or label in order to make sense of our world, come on, people!! After all this time in the business, you mean to tell me that this isn't what we have been striving for -- or at least were pretending to be striving for? If not, then there is a larger …

Let's talk about a topic near and dear to my heart: original online video content. And please note, this is a not a commentary on recent litigious events in the industry, this is about consumers and their appetite for video content online.

Being a solo act these days, I spend a lot time pondering the unanswered questions of my professional life like, Is technology X going to disintermediate market Y? The one that has really plagued me of late has been, what is the true value -- to the consumer, of course -- of behaviorally targeted ads? In other words, if ads were smarter, would response rates increase?