I spent the beginning of this week in Boston attending the annual conference and trade show of CTAM, the Cable Television Affiliate Marketers trade association. I hadn't been to a cable meeting in years, so I spent a lot of time just watching and listening and trying to take the pulse of the industry. It was a very good conference with some very good speakers. And, for someone that has spent most of the past years attending conferences focused on the Internet, I heard a lot of folks and perspectives that I hadn't before. Here's my brief report....

"As I look forward, I'm very optimistic about the things I see ahead." That quote, believe it or not, was originally attributed to Bill Gates, but I want to use it to summarize my outlook on 2009. While I sat down to pontificate about the coming year I realized I have a hint of optimism flowing through my veins right next to a healthy dose of reality. While the economy is still in flux, with a number of issues still facing the average consumer, I think we may see some stability, not growth, in the coming year. A year of …

In a world of consumer control, what is the most important thing a marketer can be? It is becoming more and more the norm that people choose not only what commercial messages they will view, but what message they will pass along to their peers. So what is it that marketers must do to be effective in this new reality?

On our best game, we plan for business and get to market; we move with clarity from strategy to plan to brass tacks. It all ties together. But, given the potential to miss the mark and disconnect horribly, there is an open, perpetual conversation about strategy vs. tactics. In almost any business circle, it buzzes. You can jump in on this confab almost any given day of the week. What is the talk?

The blogosphere has been getting attacked with increasing intensity by comment spammers who leave seemingly thoughtful feedback. The latest breed of spammers is investing the time to manually process writings and other content, and then leave unique comments that pass for partially engaged, albeit random readers. Except they never fail to link to e-commerce and affiliate marketing sites, often selling junk like prescription drugs, insurance or online gambling services. These are the lowest of shills. They're cheap salesmen who act genuinely interested, come into your space, and then deliver a meaningless pitch.

I recently heard WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrel's talk on the emerging global economic crisis, which included an analysis of how advertising and marketing services were likely to fare. It was an excellent speech, without question the most comprehensive and well-thought-out analysis that I have heard to date on the subject. I won't go into detail on what he said, because I certainly won't be able to do it justice, but Sir Martin did make one point which really stuck with me. When he talked about how long a global advertising slowdown might last, he added a big caveat: "Don't …

A number of advertisers have come out and acknowledged the economic environment by either freezing or reducing ad spending in the fourth quarter, and many advertisers are delaying their plans for spending in Q1 and Q2. All that being said, these are the kinds of times where innovation thrives. By tackling the problem from a new vantage point, you can create opportunities for success that you may not have thought of before. Put even more simply: Why does everyone think spending money is the best way to market a product?

Being on the bleeding edge is not easy -- not for a publisher, not for an agency and certainly not for a marketer. Talking to teens is also not easy. And in many ways the two difficulties compound each other. What I mean is that talking to teens can be difficult because they live on the bleeding edge, as far as marketers -- and probably parents -- are concerned. For marketers to reach teens effectively, they have to go out there on that edge and meet teens where they are living.

With ad:tech upon us, I have been thinking about moms. That's right -- moms! I guess you never know which way a hyperlinked mind will take you.