Adtech Day 1 - New York is a Walking City

The flight from Atlanta to New York was pleasant with a great ending as we passed by The Statue of Liberty and Manhattan.  I’m kicking myself now for not having the camera ready.  The shuttle trip from LaGuardia took almost an hour, but I did enjoy the trip as I got to see a large portion of the city first-hand. 

I arrived at my very “dated” hotel and checked into my very small room.  There were no more rooms at the Hilton for the conference rate and I decided to save a few bucks by staying in a close, but not as nice hotel. 

The exhibition halls were open so I decided to cruise on over to the Hilton and check out the booths.  I was blown away at the large number of exhibitors.  I’ve been to a few Internet conventions but none as large as ad:tech.  It looked like everyone was giving away an iPod so I made sure to drop my business card in every bowl hoping to win.  As for swag I filled a free bag with pens, notebooks, and other odd freebies.  The booths that did the most creative thinking were the busiest.  One exhibitor set up an oxygen bar and another had a team of very tall women dressed as dominatrix cops.  I thought about trying the oxygen bar and kept my distance from the leather garbed women.  I couldn’t think of anything positive they might do with those sticks. 

I spoke to a lot of people including Ross Geier with Didit and Grant Kravitz from Boss Dev.  Out of all the exhibitors I spoke with I liked them the most and found their services interesting and useful. 

After I filled my bag with goodies I took to the streets and walked to Times Square and then back up to Rockefeller Center and watched people ice skate.  This is a walking city and I can’t imagine how someone could live here and be fat.  I walked several miles today touring the area and I never strayed more than a mile from the hotel. 

I’ll post pictures and a summary of the first big day of adtech Tuesday night.  You can find me at the conference if you want.  I’m the guy with the laptop.

Scott Thompson
NextModo.com