At the generally fantastic DLD Conference in Munich, where the future of media and communications are the major subjects, the first speaker of the morning gave a demonstration on how not to make a good impression.
Andy Wood, CEO of a company called Image Metrics, gave what can only be called a sales pitch for his company. Image Metrics has some extremely cool technology, no doubt about it — especially the real-time facial animation that is scarily accurate and opens many possibilities for creative folks.
Had Wood shown the technology and then discussed its implications, he’d have had this high-brainpower audience listening and learning. Instead, he relentlessly threw commercial and branding messages at the crowd.
I did hear several people talking in the hallway about the interesting technology he showed. I also heard wisecracks about his misguided pitch. Whoops…
on Jan 22nd, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Overt self-promotion on panels is usually high on the taboo list for conference presenters, so I’m surprised that Wood broke such a cardinal rule. Either the organizers didn’t set the ground rules for Wood or his staff didn’t properly prep him.