That's what Medialink LLC President-COO Wenda Harris Millard asked her OMMA Global New York panel. Putting aside the entire terrestrial and satellite radio industry, Millard's point is that technology is changing so fast that anything and everything can become a media platform in and of itself - hyper-connected, of course. While cars are an obvious one given all the mobile communications being infused behind the wheel, Millard noted that we may finally be near the apocryphal digitally connected refrigerator that can call the story when you're running low on supplies.

From tablets to smartphones, consumers bringing their devices to bed with them has created an entirely new daypart for publishers to sell advertisers. As a result, the behavior is directly responsible for lifting engagement levels among New York Times readers, according to Denise Warren, SVP & Chief Advertising Officer at The New York Times Media Group. (Grateful for the lift, Warren made sure to thank everyone at OMMA Global who admitted to consuming content in bed.) Also worth noting, The Times has found that tablet devices are more commonly being shared in households, compared to phones, which family members tend …

If you do, you're probably the reason why The New York Times' engagement is up. At least that's what New York Times Media Group Senior Vice President & Chief Advertising Officer Denise Warren just explained after asking for a show of hands to see how many nocturnal iPad users were in the room. (Quite a few, it seems.)

One of the things that I love about hearing the digital gurus inside big, old school media companies talk about how the world is changing is how they suggest that they've figured it all out, and that it coincidentally works well within their particular model. Take the keynote MTV Networks executive vice president-digital media Dermot McCormack has just given. McCormack acknowledged that things have shifted dramatically from MTV's original days when all it needed was to put some content on the air and it could attract an audience. McCormack said MTV Nets' new model could be viewed as …

Well, the overarching theme of OMMA Global New York is "hyper-connectedness." And just to prove how hyper-connected he is – and how much "the world has changed – afternoon keynoter Dermot McCormack said he was watching this morning's keynote by Union Square's Fred Wilson on his Android phone. McCormack, who as executive vice president-digital media at MTV Networks, knows something about being hyper-connected. But despite all the amazing technology that's available to connect us to things, he says, "There's still only 24-hours in the day." "I think Google is working on that," he quipped, "but there's still only …

Is social media making individual editors obsolete? Well, MTV Networks doesn’t think so, and, according to its EVP of Digital Media Dermot McCormack, MTV is the most social brand online. That’s why they recently brought back Matt Pinfield, host of MTV’s alternative music program 120 Minutes from 1995 to 1999. He curated content then, and -- albeit with more help from social sharing platforms -- Pinfield is curating now. McCormack thinks Pinfield’s reemergence is a great example of a smart media company (again, MTV) repurposing old resources to new ends. Still, what does Pinfield have that a million tweeters and …

So, given the nature of the new “connected” consumer (see previous post), how can marketers best help clients achieve their goals? First, “understand what a client is trying to accomplish,” says Paul Isakson, director of strategy at Colle+McVoy. Once that’s crystal clear, marketers had better have a good bead on the consumers they’re trying to reach. It’s about “designing strategies based on their behavior,” according to Isakson. As for measuring return on investment, well, that’s not so easy, Isakson admits. Marketers are dealing with clients who are trying to put dollar values on Facebook and Twitter interactions, he says. …

I don't think I focused enough on Faith Popcorn's belief that human DNA is being changed because of media. I say that, because the impact media has on human evolution is one of my favorite subjects, but for all the scientists I've spoken to so far, none has agreed with the notion that media has had any impact on our physiological evolution. But Popcorn, who is not a scientist per se, is convinced that it's happening, and she cited the addition young media consumers have to digital media, particularly pornography, and text messaging, as an indication that they are …

I just learned a fascinating new factoid to add to my treasure chest of folklore about futurist and cocooning-coiner Faith Popcorn. Popcorn has built an incredible consulting practice around mining pop culture as a lot of mystique associated with her name, her practice, and her theories. The new fascinating factoid that she just dropped on stage during the opening panel at OMMA Global New York is that her dad "was CIA." If true, that kind of makes sense that she'd be his progeny, because she's really good at taking intelligence and turning it into actionable information. The information …

What is technology doing to us? For one, consumers are much more inclined to scrutinize the world around them, says Sheryl Connelly, Manager of Global Trends and “Futuring” at Ford Motor Company. Along with politicians and business leaders, that’s making life a lot more interesting for brand marketers. Also, regardless of tax brackets, technology is making all consumers “time poor.” According to Connelly, “We all live with time poverty,” which is only being exasperated by mobile, tablets, faster connection speeds, increasingly connected social experiences, ever more rapid recommendations services… You get the idea. Meanwhile, there are more “things” competing for …