The rest of the conference was so jam packed that I didn’t get a chance to do much else other than participate, let alone write a decent blog post. Anyway so many of you have asked me how the rest of Stream went so here's a wrap-up of the highlights.
Friday morning started with a bang. After breakfast I went straight into a discussion called “Its 10pm: do you know where your data is?” held by Esther Dyson. The conversation revolved around consumer privacy issues and how companies like Google and WPP are using and storing data. The general vibe was that WPP in particular wants to ensure that they are ethical in their treatment of consumer’s data and this is particularly relevant with their recent purchase of 24/7 RealMedia which has the potential to raise concerns about privacy. Thankfully for them, at the moment Google and DoubleClick are taking the majority of the mindshare on that issue.
The next discussion I went to was Sir Martin Sorrell’s much anticipated talk entitled “All I need to know I learned from cricket”. It was interesting, although I got the sense that Martin had the topic slightly thrust upon him. Either way he is a superb speaker and it was fascinating to hear his insights on the future of international business. Ironically I also spent a lot of the presentation checking the cricket score on my phone - thankfully South Africa beat Pakistan in the first test ;-).
After a really good lunch, it was time for my discussion on “How marketing and technology can help to make social development in Africa sustainable” (I'll put the PPT on the Ninjani.com site soon). I hadn’t done a very good job of promoting my session and with about 10 discussions running concurrently in a conference of 200 people, I only had 7 or 8 people in mine. However I was completely thrilled that both Martin Sorrell and Esther Dyson were part of that audience. In fact having two people who I respect so much in my audience actually made me super nervous, something that doesn’t happen to me very often. Overall I think it went really well and I’ve already had 3 emails from the attendees with offers to help out and connect me with the right people at some major brands.
Next was the much vaunted tinfoil hat competition which I had been entrusted to organise. I won’t go into too much detail on this one, but here is a pic as a bit of a taster…
The rest of Friday afternoon was spent getting to know more of the other attendees before Craig Davis’s talk on “The World’s Top 10 examples of Digital Creativity”. Craig is an absolute legend. He grew up in a small Australian town of 27 000 people and 35 000 kangaroos and is now the Worldwide Chief Creative Director of JWT. I also had a bit of a chat with him whilst roasting our marshmallows later that eveing and what struck me was not so much how brilliant he is, but what a down to earth and genuine guy he is.
After dinner on Friday night we had the Extravaganza at the Club Med amphitheatre. It was a crazy evening with everything from Diabolo juggling, to Greek dancing, a mentalist, a guitar hero show down and finally Maestro Itay Talgam leading the entire audience in a massive rendition of a multi-lingual Frère Jacques. Quite an experience.
By 11:30 the Extravaganza was over and I think after a long day everyone was feeling a little sleepy - but that didn’t mean it was bed time. On the contrary, the night was just beginning! My good friend Caroline Morgan had organised the Midnight Cooking Madness which saw us all feasting on a variety of weird and wonderful foods. We even had an opportunity to decorate our own cupcakes.
Being the last night, Friday turned into a bit of a bender and the open bar was beaten to within an inch of its life. I eventually got to bed at about 5:30 after having some awesome conversations with some truly remarkable people, particularly Jacob Septimus from Berlin Cameron, another legendary guy.
On Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed at about 10, determined to catch a few discussions and make the most of the final day. I did manage to listen to some interesting stuff but I’d by lying if I said I was on top form. Sleep depravation from the last 2 days was dragging me down and only the help of a talented espresso-wielding barman got me through the day.
I rounded off my stay in Greece with a swim in the sea which was lovely and the salt water definitely went some way to curing my lingering cold. Whilst malingering in the ocean I had another chat with Daryl Arnold, Group CEO of Profero. Daryl is a great guy and it seems we have a lot in common. Not only do we both run eMarketing agencies, but it turns out we both saw the opportunity in South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, and made some money off the queues by selling them drinks and snacks. What a coincidence!
My favourite thing about the whole experience was the people. I was truly blown away by the levels of talent and intelligence at the conference. But the thing which really struck me was how cool everyone was. I kind of expected a certain amount of aloofness given the power players in attendance, but I experienced absolutely none of it.
The people of WPP and its clients and suppliers are a magnificent bunch and as down to earth as you could wish for. I would like to really thank WPP and all the organisers for inviting me and making this possibly the most memorable business experience I have ever had. I will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come.
So that was Stream and my trip to Athens in a nutshell. I could literally regale you with tales all day but I’d better get some work done.
To check out more about Stream 2007, visit the site or search on Flickr for photos tagged with Stream2007.
After dinner on Friday night we had the Extravaganza at the Club Med amphitheatre. It was a crazy evening with everything from Diabolo juggling, to Greek dancing, a mentalist, a guitar hero show down and finally Maestro Itay Talgam leading the entire audience in a massive rendition of a multi-lingual Frère Jacques. Quite an experience.
By 11:30 the Extravaganza was over and I think after a long day everyone was feeling a little sleepy - but that didn’t mean it was bed time. On the contrary, the night was just beginning! My good friend Caroline Morgan had organised the Midnight Cooking Madness which saw us all feasting on a variety of weird and wonderful foods. We even had an opportunity to decorate our own cupcakes.
Being the last night, Friday turned into a bit of a bender and the open bar was beaten to within an inch of its life. I eventually got to bed at about 5:30 after having some awesome conversations with some truly remarkable people, particularly Jacob Septimus from Berlin Cameron, another legendary guy.
On Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed at about 10, determined to catch a few discussions and make the most of the final day. I did manage to listen to some interesting stuff but I’d by lying if I said I was on top form. Sleep depravation from the last 2 days was dragging me down and only the help of a talented espresso-wielding barman got me through the day.
I rounded off my stay in Greece with a swim in the sea which was lovely and the salt water definitely went some way to curing my lingering cold. Whilst malingering in the ocean I had another chat with Daryl Arnold, Group CEO of Profero. Daryl is a great guy and it seems we have a lot in common. Not only do we both run eMarketing agencies, but it turns out we both saw the opportunity in South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, and made some money off the queues by selling them drinks and snacks. What a coincidence!
My favourite thing about the whole experience was the people. I was truly blown away by the levels of talent and intelligence at the conference. But the thing which really struck me was how cool everyone was. I kind of expected a certain amount of aloofness given the power players in attendance, but I experienced absolutely none of it.
The people of WPP and its clients and suppliers are a magnificent bunch and as down to earth as you could wish for. I would like to really thank WPP and all the organisers for inviting me and making this possibly the most memorable business experience I have ever had. I will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come.
So that was Stream and my trip to Athens in a nutshell. I could literally regale you with tales all day but I’d better get some work done.
To check out more about Stream 2007, visit the site or search on Flickr for photos tagged with Stream2007.
Muti
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Your first rendition of Frere Jacque was in 1981 to a very amused fellow passenger on a SAA flight to the UK. I'm glad you still remember the words.
Posted by relative on 2007/10/08