People that not only have the power to change the media industry but, because of the power of the media industry, also to change the world in which we live in - Edward Borgerding, CEO, Abu Dhabi Media Company

Abu Dhabi Media Summit an invite-only event featuring the cream of the cream in the media industry seems to have made ripples across the industry. With the top brass from NewsCorp, Google, AOL, Microsoft et al under one roof, it might have been silly to expect anything else actually. Our very own SIME Chairman, Ola Ahlvarsson was also around for the event this week, and inspiration seems to be an unsaid theme in all the 4 days from March 9-12, 2010. Below is his recount of the keynote by Rupert

The first day of Abu Dhabi Media forum. A World Economic forum like super elite gathering of media dignitaries where people like Rupert Murdoch, Eric Schmidt, Esther Dyson are chit chatting in the corridors with the royalties of the region ( disclaimer: I don´t consider myself being one of them but am very happy to be a fly on the wall J).

The opening statement by the BBC anchor

“ The people in the room are the smartest in media in the world. The media industry can change the world more than any other industry, over these days we will find out which future you will shape”.

Welcome Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch was clearly interested in the Arab region where he sees that old traditions if they are good are compatible with a sky touching modern skyline. He felt that the region has drawn from its strong past while pointing at the future….

“ There is a creative wind blowing from the dessert and it reeks of technology but it is easy to be blinded by the bling of technology and forget what is really interesting – content. What is an e-reader without good journalism or authors telling stories? Only meaningless toys. People will be drawn to creativity wherever they can find it and furthermore they will
add their own creativity. It is about unlocking creativity more than about technology. If you tell a good story people will listen. Avatar has already brought in close to 3 billion USD, it was produced to a large extent in New Zealand…

So how do you foster creativity in a region ( like the Arab world)? Well it takes money. You also have to create a market place where creativity can be funded and exit. The advertising market must be fair and transparent, copyright laws in place, international competition is essential to make the local companies and thoughts globally competitive. But it also takes individual freedom where governments must have a gentle touch if they have to interfere with creativity. The potential asset of creativity is larger than that of oil. It is also cleaner, endless, creates jobs, excites and ultimately creates a better world.”

For one, I am looking forward for tangible ways to help the media dinosaurs shift the bandwagon into the new spectrum, live in a new world where things have changed upside down. Media companies have more unsold ad inventory which they are not able to connect to good content or revenue model. People are paying less for “traditional” digital advertisements, and concepts such as behavioral
re-targeting and sharing analytics of visitors seems to be more relevant serving as a better investment for those advertising dollars. All in all, the landscape is interesting and we are looking forward for more personal recounts by Ola in the coming days.

Some coverage of the summit can be found here, here and here