I first posted about the ADM on April 17th. They had just released their “Advertisement Unit Standards and Downloadable Measurement Guidelines.” I got a lot of heat for my “critical” comments. (My Post is here.) Interestingly, apart from 3 quick puff pieces on April 18, 22 & 23 the ADM has gone silent. If this was such a monumental achievement why have they gone quiet for 2 months?
Again, my criticism is simple, there is a lack of leadership in the ADM. They acquiesced to a bunch of Venture Funded companies who – given recent activity – can’t figure out exactly what they do – much less lead an industry trade group. I wonder where your $1000 or $150 went?
Some might say I’m against the ADM – not at all. I like the basic premise though I have to admit, a bit of “I told you so” comes to mind. Anyone who wishes to criticize my comments, make sure you first address the over 60 days of silence from this “game changing” trade group.
Update: For the record, I like those who are in management positions in the ADM, my honest opinion is they realize they need to focus on keeping their startups afloat rather than the trade organization. I am curious – given the anniversary, will most members be quick to pay this year’s fee?
A good question Mike. I asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago on FriendFeed. (http://friendfeed.com/e/2457ee98-8199-482d-a549-90acfe3de137/Association-for-Downloadable-Media/) Last year I advised the people I was working with to avoid this group. I recommended investing the time and money planned for ADM into building a stronger community and a better product. Unfortunately, I was overruled. My cohorts were afraid that if they didn’t buy in (at the organizational rate of course) that they would miss the boat on something. Sadly it seems as though my instincts were correct.
Rob, It would seem that unfortunately my original thoughts – though criticized – were on target. I just wish the ADM could secure real leadership and move forward. It is a true opportunity wasted.
Chris MacDonald and Susan Bratton’s names are listed as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee. Hopefully one of them will provide a bit of transparency on recent ADM activities by either commenting here or posting something the ADM blog.
If the ADM were remotely legitimate don’t you think they’d respond to this post? I too have been warning against getting involved with ADM since it was first announced. They appear to have little traction and furthermore, not only won’t they tell us where the money has gone, they have accomplished little if anything to show for the investment they claim to have collected from members.
Hi Guys
I was just informed of the post, so happy to respond.
Sorry to leave you with any impression that ADM is not active on several fronts. Allow me to address the funding concern. Just wanted to assure you that absent some non-profit association legal work, some minor fees associated with maintaining our members web service and post office box charges, no funds have been spent since spring, where we did use a moderate amount of money during the ad-tech event (things like printing costs for some physical banners, leaflet distribution, and some party items for the rooftop event held at Kiptronic. Absent that we have most of the member contributed funds in a secure Bank of America account, accruing interest. I believe we have approximately 70-75% of all member funds not spent.
The next question is where we could apply these funds to continue leverage our industry. We are being extremely careful about making the right set of decisions. Many of the activities to date have been co-financed or supplemented by third parties (ad-tech for example graciously provided booth space in exchange for our ability to introduce our members to this valuable networking environment.
Even though some project activities have slowed relatively, probably more due to the summer season than anything else, we are working on the following projects:
-committee work to explore engagement as a factor to influence ad buys (early stages)
-exploration of primary research opportunities, including how to possibly pay for these projects
-documentation of terminology work to ensure we are all articulating from the same playbook (optional to consider, of course)
-documentation templates to help publishing members close orders, including an insertion order, terms and conditions, and additional collateral
Very shortly you will hear some interesting news relating to ADM helping members get in front of the advertising community. We are working very hard to consider some logistical challenges associated with this project so please be patient, we think it will be a winner (if we can get all the piece parts managed) 🙂
It’s great to know many of you care enough to wonder about ADM when it is not showing elements of public progress, that is very encouraging. For those of you who are a bit more pessimistic about ADM’s impact, we look forward to showing perhaps you but certainly the rest of the world otherwise.
Hope you all are having a peaceful, happy and productive Summer, feel free to drop me a line, I will try my best to be available to you to discuss any comments concerns or suggestions.
Cheers
Chris