Learning LatAm By Osmosis: Three Different Sermons for the Price of One!

Each ad:tech Miami session I've seen follows the same painful format: a moderator introduces himself, then steps aside as each panelist gives a mini-presentation.

It's like watching antsy children read book reports out loud. But unlike their grade school counterparts, each presenter stretches his time allotment as long as possible.

This afternoon I livetweeted ad:tech Miami's Social Media and Consumer Generated Content in Latin America: Exploring the Value Proposition.

Here is a synopsis of what each panelist had to say, taking into account the following three generalities:

- Latin Americans (LatAm) are social people. Possibly more social than the rest of the world. (This struck me as more of a cultural conceit than a verifiable fact, but nobody in the audience contested the stance. Possibly because they were all either of Latin origin, or very eager to cozy up to those of Latin origin.)

- User-centricity is the new fetish. Each panelist cited his company's user focus at outset. (Anton Chalbaud, pictured at left, emphasized Sonico's user-centricity by attesting to his company's "INSANE" focus on real people.) Gone are the days when a quick buck, whatever the means, was a virtue.

- Mastering the elusive art of interactive media, especially digital, is considered crucial to taming the LatAm audience. (Especially now.) As Lucas Morea put it, "The audience is receptive." Marketers should teach users how to create and publish content.

Now. On to the meat of the matter.

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ad:tech Miami Press Room Faux Pas

Open power outlets are rare, and rarer still in the press room. Never, ever monopolize an outlet to charge your computer and cell phone at the same time -- while you, Considerate Guy, attend sessions.

It's evil.

ad:tech Miami Exhibit Hall Full of Activity, Requisite Distraction

After you've walked through the exhibit of just about any conference you begin to think you've seen everything. Thankfully, the intellect and sense are never let down. While the Miami ad:tech conference is a smaller conference compared to its Big Brother New York, Big Sister San Francisco and cousin Chicago, if you're not actually from somewhere in Latin America or Mexico, you feel a bit like you are in another world.

OK, so it's not that extreme but it's far different than being at a New York, San Francisco or Chicago conference and in a very good way. Anyway, enough blather. On to the pictures.

Some Nights at ad:tech Top All Others

OK, so why write about it when you can just look at the pictures? So...go here and you'll get to wallow in the social activities of ad:tech Miami's first night. But if you're more the type of person who just wants to read about it, here's the rundown...

There was food. There was alcohol. There were lots of beautiful people. There was a pool. There were people in the pool. Drinks were dropped. Drunk-speak was the only language spoken. And then there were the...[redacted].