A month after the fact, what do industry insiders think of AOL's decision to offer TV-style guarantees on audience delivery for its video ads? It was "a step in the right direction," said Chris Whitman, Integrated Investments Manager at Universal McCann/J3. It's "a way to do a reach buy," he acknowledged on an afternoon panel at OMMA Video. Sure, it's "ultimately about connecting audiences," said Steve Kerho, SVP of Analytics, Media & Marketing Optimization at Organic. "If it moves more money into the business, then we're open to it," added Kenneth Lagana, Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Lifestyle at …

That's what Gary Reisman, Principal & Owner of NewMediaMetrics, believes. When asked by panel moderator Tim Hanlon, CEO & Managing Director of the Vertere Group, LLC., whether or not TV "owned" video, Reisman said, "It's a one video world."

Tim Hanlon, CEO & Managing Director of strategic consulting firm The Vertere Group, is a natural salesman. Pitching his late-afternoon panel, "Online vs. Offline/Buyer vs. Seller: Is Video Advertising Cross Platform, or at Cross Purposes?" Hanlon warned OMMA Video attendees: "We're going to challenge your ability to stay awake." Closing the deal, the self-described "weary veteran of the agency world" admitted: "Honestly, I don't think we're going to solve any problems here, today."

That's how Vetere Group Chief Tim Hanlon got things going on the "Online Vs. Offline" panel he's moderating at OMMA Video.

Word on the street is that this year's digital upfronts, or "newfronts," could end up creating $100 million to a billion dollars in business. If accurate, is that incremental? Hard to say, admits John McCarus, Senior Vice President of Brand Content at Digitas. 'It's going to take [awhile] for us to get our arms around the [impact]," he said on a late-morning panel at OMMA Video.

Forget the NewFronts. Under Terry Semel's (well-compensated) stewardship, Yahoo was putting on Web-centric upfronts years ago (2007), according to Beth Lawrence, former Yahoo-ite, and currently EVP of Ad Sales and Media Solutions at The Weather Channel Companies. Unfortunately, it was before video, Lawrence explained on a morning panel at OMMA Video, and, as such, "an idea before its time." As Lawrence recalled, there was a "massive audience" in attendance, but the menu options (display advertising, display advertising, and display advertising) failed to capture anyone's imagination. In fact, as Chet Fenster, fellow panelist and Managing Partner at MEC Entertainment, added, AOL …

Big news coming out of OMMA Video?! Presently onstage is Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise. (If you're not familiar, Machinima viewers watched over 1.6 Billion videos in April, making them the number one all-time Entertainment Channel on YouTube.) Asked about the latest funding rumors, DeBevoise divulged... "We're in the process of looking at that." Yep, there you have it folks, Machinima's taking a good hard look! Alas, DeBevoise declined to "talk specifics."

That's more or less what Allen DeBevoise, the CEO of Machinima is saying during his opening Q&A at OMMA Video this morning.

Some full discloser to kick off OMMA Video: Conference MC and MediaPost columnist Catharine Taylor doesn't give a "you know what" about a digital cable box, anymore. No, at least for the time-being, Taylor and her family are getting all the content they can handle through their other digital devices.

OMMA Video programming chair Cathy Taylor kicked today's show off with a personal anecdote many of us can relate to.