THE REBOOT DIDN’T TAKE
As a practicing professional in the Hispanic digital media industry I’m really excited to see significant participation of digital companies in the upcoming AHAA conference. This makes perfect sense given that Hispanic digital advertising continues to establish its importance in the industry… Hell, even the title of this year’s conference (:CTRL/ALT/DEL_reboot for the future) makes a reference to the use of computers!
However, I’m very disappointed to see that the list of nominees for the “Media Planning Executive” award does not include any individuals that focus on interactive work. In fact, with the possible exception of Caleb Windover, none of the nominees can be considered an expert in the Hispanic digital space (which by the way means more than doing a CPM buy on Univision.com).
Given that last year’s AHAA conference in Chicago was all about interactive, I find this to be a tremendous setback for the Hispanic digital advertising industry.
Are there really no digital media planners worthy of a nomination? With a list of nominees that is made up of leaders in the traditional advertising space (congratulations by the way!), it seems to me like the “reboot” theme didn’t take at least when it came to the “Media Planning Executive” award nominations. I urge executives in the digital media planning industry to come forward and get noticed, you deserve it.
On a happier note, I want to congratulate Rafael Urbina for being nominated under the “Media Executive” category. Batanga is a great example of a digital property that has certainly made more than a splash in the Hispanic advertising industry.