Advertising Discussion
Back in 1996 I started the i-advertising discussion list, a moderated email discussion list enabling online advertisers and publishers to exchange ideas, share experiences and learn from each other. Over the years I grew that community to over 12,000 members in 90 countries and acted as the group’s moderator, chiming in when needed with nuggets of advice. Then as an industry we got the One-Two Punch…
1. The bubble burst around 2000, causing a mass exodus of talent from the digital marketing space.
2. 9/11 happened a year later, which caused what few advertisers were left to freeze their adspend until they could figure out what was going to happen to the market and their segments.
A third factor has affected discussion within the industry - overload. In the earlier days folks got about 10% of the email volume they get now. These days it’s a chore just to keep your head above water and stay current by reading, let alone participating in discussions online.
While I still moderate discussion lists, I’ve opted to run much smaller, tighter communities. On the subscription side, I’ve also found that I get the most value from closed, by invitation only groups - some as small as 50 people in size.
So where do folks go for advertising discussion? One list that has survived is the LED Digest, run by Adam Audette. The list size is large but the topics are good, useful and moderated.
The reality is that many folks just don’t have the time to participate in email discussion lists anymore. The noise level is just too high and their commitments are many. In terms of keeping current on digital marketing, I turn to my closely knit network of relationships that I’ve formed over the years, I speak regularly with them by phone (and at times email), and I monitor a plethora of RSS feeds via Google Reader. Some of the articles I find you’ll see links to on this blog, so you may want to pick up the RSS feed for i-advertising.
Where do you turn to for good discussion in age where nearly everyone worth talking to is overloaded?