Interact 2008 September 29-30 Washington DC

I attended Interact 2008. They had a ton of speakers from shops like AKQA, Sapient, Razorfish, Adobe, R/GA, Google, Cisco, etc.

Taking it all in–and boy was there a lot to take in–here are the conclusions I came to.

Traditional advertising is a one-way dialogue.

Print: “Read me.”
Radio: “Listen to me.”
TV: “Watch me.”

We dictate what people should know, think, feel. We don’t care what they have to say. And we don’t want to know. Traditional advertising is completely about the client. I’m talking to you. But I’m not listening to you.

Interactive advertising is a two-way dialogue.

Mobile/Web: “Interact with me.”

We want to know what’s on users’ minds. The good, the bad and the ugly. You are talking to consumers. And they are talking back. They are expressing themselves. You are building an experience so they interact.

Everyone’s creative. Creatives. Account folks. Brand planners. Studio peeps. Administration. Even consumers. Involve consumers. Let them be a part of the conversation, the experience.

Why do we depend on media to advertise our projects? (i.e. banners to promote a new site, emails to promote a new benefit.) How come we never ask users or involve users in spreading the word? Bloggers? Gamers?