Because of this coupled with all the recent hoopla on behavioral targeting, something dawned on me. Many times email is a cop-out. It is a hell of a lot easier to email someone versus direct a sensitive question to them in person. We are so used to processing so much information - be it imagery or words online. Our world has changed to the quick sound bullet "conversation" laden with abbreviations and acronyms.

For most of my clients, I'm a PR guy. I've been involved in some kind of "strategic communications" since 1987. So, I have a special appreciation for the power of images, messages, and well-executed campaigns. I mention all of this as prelude, because we're currently knee-deep in an era of media hyperbole, and I firmly believe that it will affect the world stage in the coming six months.

Rules of engagement; best practices; sequential liability; impression counting... these are all things that those of us active in the industry have discussed, or have heard discussed, for a very long time. Years ago these and other issues were brought to the fore by attentive media nerds and seasoned publishers alike as necessary foundations for a stable and sustainable business. Without these issues being discussed, problems they raise being elucidated, and solutions to those problems being found, reliable protocol for conducting business would never really materialize.

In the last few weeks, I've read numerous articles about how the advertising climate has made a distinct turnaround. This second wave of growth is exciting. It brings with it a maturity that demonstrates the direction we are headed, and there are two things I want to point out which signal this direction.

Isn't this quote from yesterday's AdAge just precious? "If Google can slice and dice [information]," said one b-to-b publishing executive, "and give highly qualified users to very targeted advertisers, then what do you need a trade publication for?"

If you're reading this Friday morning or midday, chances are that you probably have some more work to do and you're kind of procrastinating on this, the mother of all getaway days, as you think about your weekend plans.

The first few days of my week have been spent on the bucolic, humid, mosquito-infested shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the Spring iMedia Buyer's Summit, where the "crème de la crème" of the online media planning and publishing business meet and discuss the latest activities and trends in the online media and marketing space.

Recently, I re-stumbled upon one of the age-old questions in advertising that I have yet to see anyone solve. The question of which comes first - the media or the creative?

Many moons ago, I wrote a column on how online DR advertisers need to balance negotiation for performance based ad deals and going rates in the marketplace, in order to ensure that a CPC or CPA deal will actually clear. It is possible to negotiate a performance based deal that will encounter clearance issues because of other ad contracts a publisher might have in place that pay the publisher more handsomely.

While several of you are most likely on the West Coast for Ad:Tech, some of us have remained on the East Coast. Speaking of which, I was happy to see Mark's Spin on Friday in regards to the success of the 212 networking party in New York. After reading it, I felt the need to chime in.