Upcoming Conferences

Is anyone going to the PSFK Conference on 9/18?

Technically, I'll still be in school but will be wrapping things up around this time. I've been reading PSFK for a while and looking at the list of participants/attendees, I'd really love to go. But, because I'm not working and a student, I'm not sure if I could swing the co$t. Does anyone know of any special discounts (aside from the hotel one listed)?

The Connection Planning Conference is coming up in October. Mark your calendar for this "Polygamous Marriage".

AP, CP, IS: The Strategic Triumvirate

Adam Crowe over at Imagination gives us another link related to connection planning, in addition to account planning and interactive strategy. Thanks, Adam!

Connection and Transmedia Planning

As you may or may not know, I am in Miami Ad School's Bootcamp for Account Planners. Part of the program involves lecture, where planning directors/VPs come in from various agencies (some have been Carmichael Lynch, Leo Burnett, and draftFCB) and speak on various topics.

While the majority of the lectures have been truly meaningful and eye-opening, there has yet to be a lecture devoted solely to the future of advertising, and specifically, the future of planning. Everyone knows that we're living in a changing world - (but hasn't it always been changing?) - where people control when and how they're touched by ads, where tv is losing its power of reach, where people create the ads and control the brand (to a point).

Should I be a little wary of my future if no one has talked about connections or transmedia planning? Hmm...

I've been hearing more and more about connections planning, or transmedia planning being the future of planning as a whole. I haven't done enough research to have a firm handle on what it is, though in general I can say it is using the insights of traditional planning while considering the contact points for the business/brand. I've been told it's account planning + media planning. Don't listen to me because I'm too green on this.

Here are some sources to bone up on connection(s) planning:

The Account Planning Group
No-Duh, Big A-ha

and transmedia planning:

Henry Jenkins
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide by Henry Jacobs
Talent imitates, genius steals (Faris Yakob, Naked)
the fruits of imagination (Jason Oke, Leo Burnett)

I ordered Convergence Culture so I'll come back and post on thoughts as I read.

Plannersphere on Ning

We all know about MySpace by now. (If you find yourself in the minority, well, you are an insect living under a very large and heavy rock.)

Recently, I came across yet another social networking site called Ning. I've only just joined, but what seems to set Ning apart from MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, etc. is that the focus is on social networks as a specific (online) entity. MySpace and the like are in general, social networks, but how well do they unite people on specific platforms?

MySpace and Facebook are individual-specific. MySpace encourages users to personalize their pages, which is probably one reason (among others) teens are addicted to it. Now Facebook is in the personalization game, offering various applications for users to add (i.e. Moods, which allows users to display their current mood).

Of-course, creating or joining groups on both of these sites is possible. However, it can become an inconvenience when you belong to several groups and are finding it difficult to keep up with each group's comments, discussions, etc.

Ning makes it simple. In a clear, navigable design, you can easily view the main page, your profile, members, discussion forum, photos, and more. The focus is not on you, the individual, but the shared interest/idea behind the group. True discussion -- interaction and communication is the emphasis here.

The group I just joined is on, what else? Planning. See Plannersphere.

By the way, Faris Yakob, strategist and "digital ninja" at Naked Communications, created this social network.