ADM Association for Downloadable Media Elections - Chairman Nominees Weigh In
The elections are happening now for the ADM - the industry association formed this July by leading podcast and vidcast companies and individuals to help standardize advertising and audience measurement to monetize this new “portable” content.
The elections end November 23rd and there are two contenders for the Executive Chairman role. Chris MacDonald, President & founder of Libsyn and IndieFeed and John Furrier, founder of PodTech Network.
I want to hear their perspectives on the role they’ll play if elected Chairman and have asked them to guest blog their responses. I’m running for Vice Chairman and will be their “second in command” supporting their initiatives and offering my experience from being a founder advisor to the Internet Advertising Bureau.
Chris and John, please give us your ideas and opinions on the following:
- Why are you running for this top leadership position?
- What are the three biggest goals you hope to accomplish first?
- What do you think is the least understood element of the ADM’s charter?
- What would you ask of the industry to support you if you get elected?
- Who would you like to have involved in the ADM that is not currently a member and why?
Thank you!
Chris MacDonald said,
November 16, 2007 @ 8:27 am
Why are you running for this top leadership position?
ADM is in a development stage that I would characterize as its delicate infancy. Essentially what you have is a group of motivated, talented individuals from a wide swath of the new media landscape, who all want to work together to advance this growing downloadable media industry. I am running for the leadership position to provide what ADM needs most right now, which is a structured, collaborative role that channels our collective strengths and interest into measurable results. I have a good deal of operational experience I hope to bring to bear on the position. Also as both a new media publisher and employee of perhaps the largest RSS media distribution company, I think I can articulate and represent the variety of interests that our members share.
What are the three biggest goals you hope to accomplish first?
1. Campaign for the widest amount of individuals and organizations to increase reach through membership.
2. Develop cost-effective initial primary research that best demonstrates our industry’s collective impact.
3. Reach out to peer organizations to ensure we are optimizing our effectiveness through partnership.
What do you think is the least understood element of the ADM’s charter?
Unlike many trade associations that cater to a specific profession or guild, we encourage corporate, publisher, advertiser, measurement and advertising intermediary membership. This is because we are not designed to address only issues surrounding one vertical group. Instead we are combining resources to address the natural but unproductive friction caused when a new disruptive medium offers new choices to more established industry players. ADM exists to facilitate the rapid adoption of primarily advertisement-supported downloadable media. We wish we could provide support to address other unrelated issues facing many of our members, but unfortunately we cannot be all things to all people. We think that this charter is the one we need to tackle now, as a group.
What would you ask of the industry to support you if you get elected?
The reality is that we are all motivated self-interested members, in the best sense of the concept. What I hope to achieve is an increasingly keen understanding of the overlapping patterns of interests represented within our industry. Then it will be less of an exercise in asking for support, and more about channeling outcomes in alignment with pre-existing interests. I don’t expect members to take on initiatives, standards, campaigns, etc. that don’t serve their core objectives. I would however ask interested industry members for a minimum investment in their time to understand where they want to go and how we can help.
Who would you like to have involved in the ADM that is not currently a member and why?
We already have a tremendous member roster that includes top-tier technology, broadcasting, traditional media, radio and television measurement companies, and some of the best new media publishers out there. Could we have more members? You bet. I wish we had even more publishers who want to monetize (as they are the content gatekeepers) and serious representation from the oldest traditional broadcast companies.
John Furrier said,
November 19, 2007 @ 10:56 am
Why are you running for this top leadership position?
Back in 1996 I remember how important the early industry players were to the overall success to what we see today in online advertising. Groups like the IAB were critical to helping those industry pioneers create the online advertising industry. Today, podcasting and downloadable media are in a similar situation. There is a large ‘macro shift’ in the media and advertising business, and my vision is that new advertising solutions have arrived - web 2.0 advertising. In 1996 it was the web 1.0 that created access to information via web sites and search engines. Today it is new web 2.0 technologies like podcasting, social networks, and social media that are creating new relationships among users and advertisers. New web 2.0 solutions and new media practices are going mainstream and many new advertisers and publishers are looking for scalable solutions and standards. It is a great time to be an innovator in the emerging online advertising area.
I am running for this position because being part of the founding team of the ADM I have been impressed with the high quality individuals and organizations involved. The group is passionate, diverse, and experts in this new media - the team of members are pioneers and have the right stuff to build an new industry - that’s exciting. I feel compelled to contribute my vision, industry contacts, experience, and knowledge to this important new shift in the market - the next generation media advertising leaders, solutions, and standards.
What are the three biggest goals you hope to accomplish first?
There are many things to do but I would say that my guiding principles and goals would be the following:
1. to establish a great working board that can create an agenda for the creation of a thriving ecosystem for this new industry
2. focus on external education and opinion shaping on this new form of advertising of downloadable media - podcasting, social networks, and social media. New web 2.0 solutions and new media practices are going mainstream and many new advertisers and publishers are looking for scalable solutions and standards. Education and information on the emerging online advertisting and downloadable media market.
3. Secure financial support and establish a business model for the ADM to fund the expansion of the AMD vision and mission. This is all about building on the foundation that has been established by the founding members. Having the ADM funded allows the industry, entrepreneurs, and companies to continue to develop the solutions that advertisers and marketers are looking for.
What do you think is the least understood element of the ADM’s charter?
That the ADM is not about just podcasting. It’s about the global web 2.0 online media and emerging digital advertising movement. It’s not about the iPod but instead the iPod generation.
What would you ask of the industry to support you if you get elected?
I would ask the industry to seek to understand that the new emerging media industry is developing, and to support the AMD and it’s list of new startups and established players who are investing in creating new solutions and standards.
Who would you like to have involved in the ADM that is not currently a member and why?
There is a great list of firms supporting the ADM today. I would add that I would envision 100% participation by vendors who’s business depends on online advertising and web 2.0 related solutions.
Association for Downloadable Media » MacDonald and Furrier Weigh In - Nominees for Chairman of the ADM Answer Questions said,
November 19, 2007 @ 8:43 pm
[…] a tough choice so I asked them both to answer 5 questions for us and they are posted to my blog. (we did it before this excellent blog was built by our […]