MediaPost Chairman Ken Fadner reminded Chicagoans why they're referred to as the Second City (even though, population-wise, they're actually third behind New York and Los Angeles) during his opening remarks at OMMA RTB Chicago this morning. The venue, the chi-chi Metropolitan Club, high atop Chicago's Sears Tower, "was" the tallest building in America, when MediaPost began planning this conference, but another building out east has surpassed it now, Fadner said.

That's what Jen Brady, founder and CEO of Fred & Associates just said at OMMA RTB in Chicago. She sayid it has no place in branding right now because the industry hasn't made it applicable for branding.

One mistake with native advertising can be a disaster -- for a number of parties. Speaking at OMMA Native, Steve Rubel, executive vp of global strategy and insights, for Edelman, says, “As bullish as we are about the marketing opportunities of [native advertising], we are conflicted about this. We visited 30 different publishers, and we were just troubled about the efforts around disclosure.” He says its like cars coming towards each other on a two way single lane road with a double yellow line. “If one car messes up, you are dead, and the other guy is …

Stop the native train (!), says Steve Rubel, EVP of Global Strategy and Insights at Edelman. "As an industry, we're going waaayyyyy too fast," Rubel told OMMA Native attendees on Tuesday afternoon. Regarding native, Rubel described the lack of transparency within the publishing industry as "troubling." Along with more caution, most necessary is the gathering of far more consumer feedback before publishers and agencies move ahead with their native ad strategies, according to Rubel. Even more striking, Rubel bet on publishers to win the native ad game. In fact, it's foolish for brands and agencies to think they can win …

When it comes to native ads, Jason Clement at TBWA\Chiat\Day says, screw scale! "I think scale is the wrong thing to be focused on," Clement, Executive Director of the Digital Arts Network at TBWA\Chiat\Day, told OMMA Native attendees on Tuesday afternoon. You "shouldn't be trying to justify [native] on some cost metric," he said - you should be "looking to go deep!" That means you, young media buyer! Otherwise, "We pee in the pool," Clement said, referring to those marketers who are diminishing the promise of native advertising by trying to make it scale so aggressively. "That's what we did …

Putting content aside for a second, the experts have turned their attention to user experience here at OMMA Native. For native advertising to work, its delivery has to "replicate" how digital publishers deliver the rest of their content, according to Justin Choi, CEO of Nativo. "Readers don't want to be whisked away to another site [after engaging a native ad] if they weren't expecting that," Choi told conference attendees on Tuesday afternoon. If marketers turn native ads into something that works like banner ads, Chio warned, consumers are going to ignore them just as adamantly as they do banners.

In many publications, the "wall" between advertising and editorial is crumbling, if not disappearing -- according to critics. Speaking at OMMA Native, moderator Rick Kurnit, president/partner of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, says to help keep stuff seperate -- from a legal point of view --  there need to be less communication. For example, he advises clients there should no emails between advertising and editorial staffers.Concerning native advertising/sponsored content, Ellie Boragine, advertising and commercial counsel of JetBlue Airways. “This is not about legal or technical compliance. It’s about respecting our customers. Would they feel there is a …

So, is a "newsroom" something every brand needs? Justin Silva, Social Media Manager at The Archer Group, says, "No!" Why? Because most brands don't have enough content worth sharing on a regular basis, Silva told attendees of OMMA Native on Tuesday. Wrong, said Chris Perry, President of Digital at Weber Shandwick. "Absolutely, yes!" Perry said. Brands need newsrooms because it's the only way they're going to be part of "the conversation." Added Perry: "If you want to be seen, you need newsrooms." (Weber Shandwick markets tools for brands to run their own newsrooms, Perry noted, but insisted he was only …

When it comes to standards for native advertising, M. Scott Havens, president of The Atlantic, speaking on a publisher panel at OMMA Native, said sponsored content on Atlantic.com should be as good as the editorial content. If so, people will read or watch it, and share it. Advertisers work on ad content  only with marketing staff at The Atlantic. He noted the company has a fast-track committee to review each native ad, which he and other stakeholders serves on, to look at legal, compliance and any other issues that might keep it from running. Typically, the ads are approved without …

What do publishers need before jumping into native advertising (without sending readers running)? Firstly, the ability to create truly "great" branded content, Andrew Gorenstein, CRO of Gawker Media, told attendees of OMMA Native on Tuesday afternoon. To make sure of that, Gorenstein said Gawker "invested heavily" to create its own production studio. Addressing the other side of the quality spectrum, Gorenstein said: "It won't work if you're just [publishing] some 500-word piece of marketing boilerplate." Christine Osekoski, Publisher of Fast Company couldn't agree more. "They'll call 'bullshit' right away," she said of readers and their attitudes toward thoughtless native ads. …