J. Bloom's Report from RE: Think

Jonah Bloom writes, over at AdAge, about his recent experience moderating an extremely high-level panel at the recent RE: Think conference. The verdict? Yet another call to those traditionalists who need to wake up and smell the convergence.

I'm inspired, of course. But, yet again: I start to wonder who are these digital sleepyheads? Is it really the problem that those traditional media owners are simply ignoring the Internet? Or, worse, are they tring to stuff it into a box? I'm beginning to have my doubts. There have been armies of speakers, months of conferences, piles of articles and many, many bold pronouncements by CEOs and CMOs. I think the idea is here. There are certainly some details that need to be communicated (ie: search and display ads should live in the same department). But: what the heck is the hold up? How come we haven't really moved past the 30 second spot?

I'm beginning to think that the challenge in front of us is not so much evangelism, but project management. Or, management consulting. I believe that what is holding up the true embracing of digital technology by the marketing department is not so much a lack of willingness to move from old school to new, but the astounding number of hurdles that exist inside the corporation itself.

The digital agencies that are able to not only speak the language of the technophiles, but also corporate speak will go along way in the next generation of the revolution. They are the ones who will take the dreams and turn them into real plans. Not quite as sexy as charting new territories, for sure. But certainly practical and necessary.