So, I know most of you have been contacted by people you know and don’t like on one of the social networks.  Gotten a friend request on Face Book from the middle school bully or asked to recommend a disgruntled ex-employee on Linked In?  Has an ex “stocking” you on MySpace and living their life in “public” in hopes of getting a reaction from you? All of these things are changing the face of relationships.  It’s has become an additional layer of ourselves that we need to manage like every other aspect of ourselves.  It’s not second nature, but something we need to start considering because it’s amazing how you can track someone’s existence by their actions on one of these sites.  Scary but true. 

People are not thinking twice about entering personal information and think that the isolated bit of information is harmless.  In most cases it is.  But it’s the aggregation of that data that becomes dangerous and Face Book is the biggest culprit.  It’s easy to see pictures of people even though they didn’t upload any.  It is easy to see what people say to each other on their public spaces.  People’s taste in movies, books they read, travel destinations are on display for all to see.  You even get a posting when a “friend” changes their relationship status.  This I’m sure you agree is convenient in the marketing of becoming single again.  Amazing. People are now able to live their life as public as some celebrities.  I consider Face Book to be the National Enquirer – Friendship Edition.  I would imagine this is especially true when you’re from an obscure place in North Dakota where there few people and you actually know your neighbor…but how well do you want to know them? These scenarios I mentioned are all truly the exception to the rule.  

Not all contact ends in unhappiness.  For example…since joining FB, I’ve attended an elementary school reunion and keep in contact with people that I would have otherwise possibly never seen again.  Go St. B’s!!I also keep up-to-date with old college buddies, old friends and old co-workers.The moral of all this blabbing…watch what you put on-line. When all the pieces are put together, you may find yourself too exposed.

OK, so I’ve always admitted that I’m a sucker for good marketing.  This week I’ve fallen victim to the Pokey widget on FaceBook.  Not only do I have two real dogs of my own, but now I’m adopted a virtual Rottie name Rex.  I have to feed him, play with fetch with him, pet him…everything but clean the poop thankfully.  And who is responsible for this widget?  I have no “official” idea.  But I can tell you that the only brand name you see is Science Diet Dog Food when it comes time to feed him.  When you finally do, he dances around on his hind legs as if anxious to get started on his chow.   

Clever.  Over the past week of adding Rex to the family, I’ve been brainwashed into thinking this food will make my dog happy.  Thankfully I know better about dog food quality and only give mine organic given that crazy Chinese dog food atrocity a few years back…but if I didn’t….I’d be hooked on this brand.  Now I find myself feeding all of my friends hungry digital K9’s….I can’t help it.  Science Diet has hit me where it counts…my dogs (real or not). If you in the FB neighborhood, stop by and feed Rex.

This was year two for the digital mother-of-all digital shows and the showing was quite disappointing.  Not that last year was a big spectacle, but it surely had many more attendants and many more reputable corporate partners that were affiliated with it.  I attended a few of the sessions that sounded quite impressive on the agenda…much like an appetizing dish that sounds great on the menu but doesn’t quite cut it when it arrives at the table.  I am used to working in the Hispanic and Latin American markets and that is no reason to accept mediocrity.  In fact, we have a larger struggle with much more to prove than our general market counterparts.  The presentations lacked luster and preparation for the most part.  Many times, the audio-video equipment did not even work correctly throwing off the presentation and unfortunately the presenter setting the downward spiral for the sessions. 

The roundtable discussions were great in concept.  I would like to see general market industry trends factored into the mix as this year the show tried to hard to remain true to its Hispanic focus.  The vendor fair was a poor showing as compared to last year.  I believe the decision to make it free of charge was a smart move, but not one that seemed to have made much of an impact as the room seemed empty and filled with the same 25 faces of years past.  Only difference is that they’ve all gone to work for the competitor. All in all, ad:tech Miami is a great opportunity for non-industry people to network and get a “cliffnotes” version of what is going on in the US Hispanic and Latin American digital fronts.  What is going on you ask??  Nothing that isn’t already going on in the rest of the world….Search, Mobile and Multiplatform Intengration. 

What I did learn is that both markets have a lot to learn about social networking and other not-so-new advances.  At the conference, there was no real presence of  myspace, Facebook or Hi5?  I also see that the slow US economy has changed the playing field making digital in Latin America much more attractive than the quickly dwindling US Hispanic budgets (digital included).  There were many display and ad network vendors with nothing to teach…that’s “so last year!” What this market really needs are these big multi-national social networking properties that are willing to invest time and money in the education of this marketplace.

So, in the last year that I’ve been gone, a lot has happened. I made the cross-over leap to general market.  I used to spend most of my time fighting for the very existence of Hispanic digital marketing, but to actually do it has been a treat. In these 10 months, I’ve worked on some interesting projects and have had a good chance to see life on both sides of the great divide.

I’ve had a chance to work with large and small budgets and with Clients where you don’t have to justify the existence of a digital strategy. I’ve seen technology implementations that operate entire banking channels to online media campaigns that include SEM, display and social marketing strategies.  I’ve seen multi-platform integration done first hand and know about the trials and tribulations of “going live”.

Why is this important to you?  Simply put…because my perspective is that much richer. My experiences have changed my viewpoint and for that reason, I will begin sharing what is my vision today. For this reason, my blog will enjoy many enhancements in the coming days…so stay tuned.