Digital Thought Leadership Outside of Area Codes That Begin With 9 or 1

I had the good fortune to speak at the Las Vegas Interactive Marketing Association's "Behavioral Bustle" event yesterday, and I am so glad that I did. It was great to meet such a smart and energetic bunch of people doing so many innovative things with digital.

And it got me to thinking about how coastally biased our industry is. There's seemingly a major digital event every week in NYC, LA and SF. But what about the Second Cities? We're not talking about small markets. Over 110 people showed up to hear me drone on about privacy issues with BT, and these are not digital dabblers. The industry in LV is apparently very strong, particularly in the area of BT.

LVIMA's head, Shawn Rorick, put on a great event featuring Specific Media and DrivePM, both of which put together great presos on the state of the industry and where it is heaed. Liberty Callas of DrivePM did one of the best presos on the topic of BT I have ever seen, explaining nuances and really getting to the heart of one of the most critical issues: scalability.

So why is our industry so coast centric? It made sense perhaps 5 years ago during the digital nadir, I mean, you have to fish where the fish are.

But the digital ocean is now truly global, and markets like LV -- and DC -- and Portland -- and Seattle -- and Atlanta -- and Minneapolis -- and Chicago -- and St Louis -- and Dallas -- and and and are growing dramatically, and are clearly underserved. Wander on over after you read this to Lee Odden's Online Marketing Blog for a more complete list.

Fortunately, the associations for these markets do seem to be getting some sponsors, but the rest of the world needs to wake up to the dollars and minds being showcased in cities other than those served by SFO, LAX, and JFK.

And thanks again, LVIMA!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to write.